That Skintight Suit Joanna Dark Wears Has Got To Itch Like Heck

Author's Rating:

Pros: Graphics, Sound (big-time), Gameplay, Multiplayer, almost everything.

Cons: The frame rate can get absolutely horrible, glitches often kill you.

The Bottom Line: 
If you liked Goldeneye 007 at all, even the slightest bit, you will most definitely enjoy Perfect Dark...it's all that and a bag of Doritos, baby.

Author's Review
The first thing you notice as you begin to play Perfect Dark is its remarkable similarity to Goldeneye 007. Well, guess what! The game is made by the same people at Rareware, and the control system is based almost entirely on its predecessor. A sequel to Goldeneye in spirit only, Perfect Dark surpasses the previous King of First-Person Shooters by far in every category except frame rate. Graphics are better, sound is amazing, the number of guns available is impressive...the list just doesn't seem to end. But anyway, let's get on to the heart of the review, shall we?

First off, the game itself does not begin in the first level. You actually start off in the Carrington Institute, Joanna Dark's workplace. Although the game itself doesn't tell you, the booklet encourages you to walk through the Carringotn Institute, where you can familiarize yourself with the controls, and go through training simulations against unarmed and armed opponents, device training, information databases, and a firing range where you can earn medals on weapons you use in either the Solo Mode or Multiplayer Mode. Once you feel you've mastered the controls, the next mode on the list are the Solo Missions.

The storyline is actually a good one for an original shoot-em-up game. The Carrington Institute gets a call from one Dr. Carroll, asking to be rescued from the Datadyne Corporation (who you soon learn are the bad guys). Joanna goes to rescue him, and as she does, more and more (and more) situations arise that she must deal with. All in all, there are over fifteen different missions, as well as four bonus missions (some of which are very difficult). There are three difficulty levels to choose from - Agent, Special Agent, and Perfect Agent. Agent is obviously the easiest - you can basically run through the entire level, ignore all the bad guys, and win without too much trouble. Special Agent is more difficult, but it's not too much to handle if you're even a decent player. Perfect Agent, however, is extremely difficult. This is the heart of the game, and I'll take time to explain exactly how the levels work. Instead of just running through the levels trying to make it to an elevator or whatever, there are certain objectives that must be completed for you to advance to the next level. Screw up one and you gotta start over.

The simulants in Perfect Dark are also extremely smart for polygonal people. Their only fault is that they are pretty much deaf, and once they shoot, they aim at that spot for their entire spurt or whatever. Unlike Goldeneye, you can't run right up to them so they can't shoot you. The guys will not shoot you, they punch you, kick you, and laugh when your vision become extremely blurry and you can't see where the heck you're going. If they're in trouble, they will run/limp/call for help, and occasionally they will check a fallen guard to see if they're alright (if you're a decent aim they won't be...hehehe). All in all, these guys are good, and are not to be taken lightly.

The Multiplayer Mode of Perfect Dark is quite honestly astounding, absolutely huge, and nearly perfect. The famed Goldeneye four-player mode returns, with the big addition of Simulants - computer people that run around trying to make havoc and killing people, just like you. Some are pathetic - the Meat Sim barely knows what a trigger is. Then you have Perfect and Dark Sims, guys who will bust your *ss unless you're good. The number of guns you can obtain here is quite large, as long as you've used them in the Solo Mode, or the Challenges. Another part of Multiplayer Mode is the Challenge Mode - 30 mini-games where you have a specific type of scoring mode (i.e. Hold a Briefcase for 30 seconds, get one point, and try and get ten points altogether).

The third mode in Perfect Dark is the much-anticipated Co-op Mode - two players can team up and tackle the Solo Missions, the second player playing as Velvet Dark or another character you can unlock by getting good times on Solo Missions. This is fun for a while, but it's more fun to play the missions alone, especially if you're partner sucks and ends up killing scientists that need to be kept alive or something like that.

The last mode is Rare's only falter - Counter-op Mode is where one player plays Joanna Dark, and the other plays various bad guys. The whole concept is ruined by the fact that both players can see where the other guy is, so the element of surprise is ruined, and the player playing the bad guys only gets half of the health he deserves.

In general, the graphics in Perfect Dark are excellent. Lighting effects are amazingly real - shoot a light out and the lighting in the room will be affected by it. The guns reflection is very life-like, and the clipping, while definitely there, is not nearly as bad as Goldeneye's was. However, if you ever run into a large pack of guards (8 or 9), or play with 8 simulants who happen to group into a large room with you at the same time, the frame rate gets extremely slow - it gets nearly impossible to play the game.

Perfect Dark's sound is exceptional as well. Walking sounds different from running, and the surface you tread upon will affect the way your footsteps sound. Guards will often utter comments of surprise, elation, or dread as they stumble upon you and either kill you or die trying. They do swear sometimes, but Rare has kindly included a language filter to eliminate this. Explosions are a highlight as well - great, full, rich sound, not to mention some nice colors too (look at the flames fly! HAHA)!

Overall, Perfect Dark is the king of first-person shooters. The only game I've ever seen that comes close is Half-life, but that game has a definite advantage considering it has a lot more power (the power of a PC) to utilize. But considering everything (especially the fact the Rare has pretty much maxed out the cartridge capacity on this game), you can't beat oh-so-sexy Joanna Dark.