Perfect Dark

"Superb Semi-Sequal with Perfect Multiplayer"

Perfect Dark, by my opinion, is still the best N64 game, if not certainly the best I have, and thats quite a few. Goldeneye was great (in reference to this I am pointing to the semi-sequal aspect to the game, mentioned in my title. Perfect Dark is not a sequal, it is its own game with own characters and own story, but it is made by the same people and developed in the same format, and released as a great follow up to a great game, so I may refer to it as a semi-sequal), luciously developed levels to be played again and again and the best multiplayer around, for about 6 months Saturday afternoons in my house consisted of Goldeneye tournaments with my mates. You can't improve on perfection can you? Well great as Goldeneye was, it wasn't Perfection, because Perfect Dark is much better. I flicked on my TV, switched on my N64, and watched, as the 3D 'N' logo evolved into a futuristic Perfect Dark backing logo, and then straight into the cinematics of the first level. As soon as I'd got over that, I wandered around the Carrington Institute. Then i discovered the gadget trainging, holotraining and firing range. It was over an hour before I started the actual game, but I was quite content. Im trying to say here, that aswell as being a great game in its own right, it has all these extras which just make it great, and so theres ALWAYS something to do, and if they were this great, what would the game be like?...

Id read the backround story on a computer in an upstairs office (another thing to do in the carrington institute! character profiles, backround story and building/object descriptions at the touch of a button!), and I watched as Joanna was dropped off by a Jumpship on top of the Datadyne tower, in search for Dr. Carrol. Weary at first, I moved around a bit, shot the gun a couple of times, reloaded and...wait a mintute...the reloading! No-more disappearing off screen and reappearing with more ammo, you see Jo's hand but the new ammo into the gun, in a new stylish way with every gun), I then tried out the secondary function of the gun! Yes, each gun, at the press of a button, can do different jobs, whether it be a magazine discharge, a sentry gun posting, a single shot or a three-round burst, these guns have them all. As I went into the mission I found another little thing that made a huge difference, the characters talked! Unlike Goldeneye, you dont have to stare at subtitles, you can hear the abuse from the guards as they drop dead, you can make witty remarks at the bad guys...this was great!

I wont bore you with all the delights of the game, you can find them out, but I'll move onto multiplayer. At first I couldnt get two-player working-but all controller had to do was press start! Apart form this minor-hiccup which I'm sure no-one else would make, the multiplayer was surprisingly self-explainitory, yet so detailed. What drew my attention was an option of simulants....YES! You can play against endless possiblities of combinations of Computer controlled opponents, with the most realistic AI (artificial intelligence) that I've ever seen, whether to play against or with, and you can also control them at the touch of a button! Then there are challenges you can play against them to win new levels and guns, which are great, and then I moved to multiplayer with other people. OH so-many more options, choose your own time, score or team score limit to the accuracy of 1 point/minute, instead of pre-defined ones. Make a custom list of your own weapons....from a list of over 40! (or is it 50...loads anyway!) Create endless possibilites of teams which you can give your own names, and when you select your character, not only do you have oh sooo many to choose from, but you can choose different heads to bodies! And then as I finish loads of great multiplayer games, On new levels, and classics kept from Goldeneye, I save my own player profile. Yes, on multiplayer (or combat simulator as it is described on the game) it can keep a track of your kills, deaths, accuracy, distance travelled, time taken medals won (another great feature) and many more options! Yes, in multiplayer, customise, customise, customise until your hearts content. And with the simulators, the biggest new thing of all, you never have nothing to do...

Well thats what happened when I first played, needless to say I found many more great options and features, but now I look back on it. Do I still play it? All the time, you never get bored of Perfect Dark, it has great lastability. Have I run out of things to do on multiplayer? No, and I never will, I still play it all the time, getting my player rating up (another great multiplayer feature), and everyone else who plays it loves it, as you can also customis it to their skill level. How about the levels? Ah. The only slight problem. It isn't really a problem at all, but with everything else being so good it sounds worse. I played the Goldeneye levels again and again, with and without cheats, and still think they're great. To this day I still might play them instead of Perfect Dark. The Perfect Dark levels are great, since they didnt have to follow an already defined film plot one could say that they could developed as seen fit, and this is very true, but playing them again, they dont have the same return attraction as Goldeneye. I still play them, but to re-play (not necessarily play in the first place), I think I prefer Goldeneye. However, the great option of playing levels WITH another player is great, or even have the other player as the enemies and play two-player levels like that is great aswell, so maybe it isnt so bad as it seems.

A few last things whcih I love. I wont spoil anything, but now I have completed it I have bonus levels, extra cheats, extra guns, extra characters, all which make you persivere. And I still wander around Carrington Institute, reading the full story on the upstairs computer, and, and I love this bit, watching the full cinematics from the game. Yes, every level has a cinema scene at the beginning and end, and someytimes in the middle, which you can watch all at once at the end, I think it's over 40 minutes long, certainly a long time anyway. This is another great thing. Another great thing I havent mentioned is the graphics, the expansion pack makes them extra crisp, and things like being dazzeled if you stare up at the sun is also great. And while on the subject, the music, little as I would usually say it counts for, is great. With an eerie, futuriscic edge, it is quick, slow, anxious, creepy, anything it needs to be to suit the level your on. Also you can select which songs you want to be played aswell, so if theres songs you dont like, you can skip 'em! And another thing which I was annoyed at on Goldeneye, you couldnt jump. Now thats fair enough on a 1st peerson shooter, but when theres a gaping big hole in the middle of the temple which people can shoot through but just cant fall through, that was slightly annoying. Now you can! Jumping is still a no-go, but falling/jumping down from ledges, staircases, ladders etc. is now part of the game

So why did I only give it nine out of ten? Well you not allowed to give fractions,and nothing can be perfect...

Or can it.....?

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/18/01, Updated 03/18/01