Perfect Dark

Yeah, you are right. Perfect Dark IS modeled right after GoldenEye (though the rights for the James Bond games were swiped by EA at this time). However, the elements of GoldenEye still belong to Rareware, since EA hasn't even dreamed of recreating the original GoldenEye (though they are releasing their own version of the game next month; now they're buying up most GoldenEye knock-offs, like TimeSplitters).

GRAPHICS: Not really improved since GoldenEye's reign of terror, but there are some add-ons, such as how every gun has its own reload animation and now you can see your hand as you're holding the gun (unlike GoldenEye, where you could only see your hand on handguns. With bigger guns, you could only see the gun). Other than that, same stuff. Environments are pretty big, especially in the multiplayer levels.

SOUND: Improved over GoldenEye, but only slightly. At least this time you can hear your footsteps as you walk around. An amusing thing about the sound is how you can hear the simulants in the combat arena shooting at each other in the distance, letting you know there must be one heck of a blazefest going on across the building. The music is also gloomy and a little Gothic, but it's necessary. I think there's a function that changes music pace as tension changes, but that's an Expansion Pak extra. It wasn't built into the cartridge itself. I had to play without the Pak, so I'm missing all the yummy-ness the game was supposed to be built with.

GAMEPLAY: Again, same as GoldenEye, except this time, the Deathmatch multiplayer allows one player to pit themselves with or against teams of computer-generated beings called simulants. You can have up to 8 simulants, but in order to get that 8, you must work for it (preferably in the Challenges). The only gripe I have is how unfair challenges seem to be after a while, like this one I'm stuck on where I have a simulant to work with against one enemy simulant, and there are one-hit kills. That simulant seems to have a really big shield, but it can cap both of us easily. Also, you need the Expansion Pak for the N64 in order to live the entire Perfect Dark experience. Without that Pak, you can only do Challenges and Deathmatches. This is probably because there was enough information already on the cartridge, and everything else had to be loaded in through a different resource. Hey...that's why cartridges suck.

BOTTOM LINE: Though this is a LITTLE better than GoldenEye, I wouldn't say too much. It was modeled after it but it still feels a little...misplaced. Overall, you can check it out and see how nice it is, and it should be real easy to get used to if you've played GoldenEye before this. 8.5/10.

This game far surpasses it's inspiration (Goldeneye). It has a far higher replay value on account of more variations of simulants, and several different winning conditions. A "perfect" game for parties. If you liked Goldeneye, the only thing you won't like about this game is that fast animation isn't nearly as quick as Goldeneye.

I am addicted to this game. After beating it (completing everything, cheats, levels and the thirty horrible hard multiplayer levels - damn proud) I have gone into some sort of dvala, just waiting for Perfect Dark 2. I do have a life (gotta check, to be sure... yes I DO have a life, phew) but this game is simply something amazing!

10 of 10.

The year 2000 will always be remembered for the Y2K scare and the Sydney Olympics. But I'd like to look back at a game that pushed the N64 to it's limits. That game was Perfect Dark, from the makers of Goldeneye comes a game that some would call a sequel, but I wouldn't. it's a game that uses the same engine, and the same shell of a story, but instead, the hero has 2 Perky boobs on her chest instead of hair.

Joanna Dark is a 23 year old Secret agent on a mission to rescue an AI named Dr. Carroll. But what starts as a rescue mission for a Flying computer (literally) unfolds into a much bigger story, taking Joanna to a private villa where her boss lives, Chicago, Area 51, and outer space.

For the N64, The game was amazing when it came out. if you were a fan of goldeneye at the time, you knew PD was going to rock your socks off. the Single player mode was a vast improvement; the Guards would conversate and yell taunts while shooting at you, and their guns would sometimes Jam. They would get scared, and some would scream when they got shot. in goldeneye, all they did was groan when they were shot, and scream when you ran them over with a tank (And Goldeneye was rated T for teen. wonder where good ol' Jack Thompson was then.) Also, you don't just read the in-game Dialogue, The characters actually Speak! On top of that, there was a language filter, but it was more of a joke than anything, cause all it did was cut out the dialogue that had words like Hell and Damn in them, and sometimes that would cut out important dialogue to move the story along.

Multiplayer was probably the biggest improvement. In goldeneye the multiplayer was revolutionary, but in PD the Multiplayer was Amazing. if you didn't have friends, that's OK, PD had Bots! you could have up to 12 people (thats if you had 4 controllers and 4 players) and 8 computers running around killing each other. and unlike goldeneye, you could actually customize Weapon Sets, Character bodies and heads, and music! all in All, Perfect Dark on the N64 was probably it's best title.

Now, for the Xbox 360 Remake.

What can I say about this one? Well, it's not so much a vast improvement, although the 60 Framerate Per Second improvement was the best part.

As for the characters, they certainly made the jump. Their voices are much clearer and their looks are too. Joanna looks downright sexy and so do the female staff at carrington institute. One drawback? the distinct faces are gone. the weird databank guy in the one room? his face is as stock as the rest of the institute's male employees. Cassandra De Vries doesn't look so old anymore. Elvis lost his cuteness (I kinda thought he was) now he just looks ugly.

A few more add-ons; Achievements (shooting all of Daniel Carrington's wine bottles in the villa gives you the "Act your age, Joanna" achievement.) and the addition of online play. I haven't experimented with it yet, so i can't comment whether it's good or not, but i'm expecting it to be good.

Bottom line, I'm proud that Rare created this gem, and I only wish that they could release a good new PD game.

Make Joanna's Fans happy, Rare.

10/10

This is my favorite game for Nintendo 64. This game is basically Tomb Raider + Goldeneye + The Matrix. The graphics are great and the weapons and characters are also great. My favorite part of the entire game is the Multiplayer, its so much fun to play with 4 people. This is a great game.