Perfect Dark is no a perfect game and the storyline and characters are not all that dark, but it strikes a nice balance between FPS action and campy Brittish humour.
PD requires the expansion pack but it is worth it. The graphic details are amazing for an N64 game. Rare has given you many visual options in the menus as well. 16:9 mode, hi res, cinema widescreen to name a few.
Unfortunately the N64 hardware isn't up to the task and the framerate chugs along well under 30 for most of the single player game. It is playable but extended sessions of corridor crawling can give one blurry eyes and even a headache as the FPS dip into the single didgits during heavy action.
Rare has a nice touch with extras and Perfect Dark is no exception. Hordes of multiplayer options along with single player hidden items, 3 difficulty levels, earned cheat codes are the most obvious.
It all would be for naught if it weren't for the stellar single player mode. The missions strike a nice balance of stealth and straight up shoot outs. In classic Goldeneye style the animations of the enemies are clever, movie-esque and help to immerse you in the action. Enemy AI is challenging but not brilliant. You can shoot a gun out of an enemies hand and he will reach for a gun on the ground. They duck and roll, sound alarms, call for help. All the good stuff that makes it not a straight blast fest , but a touch of strategy to the madness of shoot outs.
Rare offers a host of different control styles, you can even use 2 controllers for dual analog sticks in the single player mode. I stuck with the Dpad for movement and analog stick for mouselook and it works fine. There is a semi lock on auto target assist mode for shooting or you can manually target using one of the trigger buttons.
The story veers off in a sci fi bit a little too cliche for my tastes but luckily you spend most of the game shooting human enemies instead of the B-movie sci fi aliens.
The game has a fair amount of well done cut scenes and a nice camera affect that cuts closer to Joanna as the cut scene fades finally going into the first person view as the mission starts. A very slick way of immersing cut scenes and action.
Some of the missions are over too quick and the objectives seem arbitrary at times. There is a nice feature though if you fail a mission you can continue playing through the level just shooting bad guys to vent your frustration.
There are a bunch of neat gadgets to play with as well, some integral to the gameplay depending on the mission (Xray vision, Spy camera, crossbow) and others are key for combat (Infared, night vision, crossbow)
The sound as in most rare games is also top notch for an N64 title.
If it werent for the campy Sci fi elements and the chugging framerate, PD would easily be a 10 game. Unfortunately one can not ignore a framerate that dips below 20 too much. Considering MOST great N64 titles have framerate problems, I must blame the hardware and not the software makers.
PD is a must buy for any action FPS fan who isnt afraid to play c FPS with a controller. Hard core Mouse/Keyboard PC FPS players dont bother.
Create an Account
Member Login
