"Along with GE, Perfect Dark rocks the FPS world!"

Perfect Dark is so close to perfect, it's hard to say that it's not perfect. I have only experienced one minor fault, but that fault doesn't happen very often, and is solved easily, which I will discuss in the gameplay section. Running with the same system as Goldeneye, of course it is going to be better in some aspects since it has been beefed up. Put together tons of levels, tons of enemies, tons of weapons, tons of playable multiplayer characters, and tons of options, and you have tons of quality. That's to say the least. Let's get on with the review.

Gameplay (9.6/10):
The gameplay of Perfect Dark is nearly perfect. What more fun can a person have than running around a very big level, shooting and punching enemies that actually talk, all the while doing fun missions and getting to use some of the most awesome guns? I mean, what can be more fun to walk up to an enemy, and in his reaction to seeing you, he whips out a grenade and yells ''Catch this!'' and then the grenade blows up and you get the red screen of death because you were laughing too hard at the goon? Whooa, long sentences here. Anyhow, I was talking about a minor problem above. That problem is framerate, and that only happens when you have too many bodies on the screen or explosions. The latter is hard to solve except to wait for the explosions to end, but for the former, there is a fun-filled solution. The solution? Kill the people! There's your too-many-bodies problem solved. Moving on.

Story (10/10):
The storyline of Perfect Dark is absolutely great. A guy named Daniel Carrington, who is in charge of Carrington Institute, contacted aliens called Maians back in 1985. Just now as another army of aliens called Skedar are the Maians getting involved. You get to play Joanna Dark, Carrington Institute's best operative, as she goes through area after area of pure fun. If you've played GE, you will like this as well, as it has some added features...a lot in fact. Even if you haven't played Goldeneye, you will still like this title. Back to the story now. I won't spoil it for you, so you will have to read a guide or something to find the rest.

Graphics (9.9/10):
Don't get me started on the graphics. These graphics have to be some of the best on the Nintendo 64. The only thing that could have made the graphics better at all is if the characters' mouths moved when they talked, but this is almost unnoticable, as the characters play the physical motions of their attitude. If they are nervous, they will look nervous. If they are happy, they will look it. If they are pissed, they will look pissed. Everything looks very realistic, and this makes for a very involving game.

Sound (10+/10):
Perfect Dark's sounds and themes are about as perfect as they get. There isn't a single music track that I dislike, and every weapon sound is very fitting. If you are using a weird alien rocket launcher, you will know it because of the shrieking rocket. If you are using an alien rail gun, you will know it by the drone of the shot. The sounds couldn't possibly get any better, especially the Maian voices! Those are simply hilarious and you have got to hear them. If you can't or don't want to buy the game, at least download an MP3 or a video somewhere that has a Maian voice in it. It's even more fun to kill a Maian.

Challenge (10/10):
The challenge is perfect. It is evenly set out to much different extremes than Goldeneye. Agent mode is easier than Goldeneye in most cases. Special Agent is about the same as Goldeneye's Secret Agent, and Perfect Agent mode is far more difficult than Goldeneye's 00-Agent mode. Some of the Perfect Agent levels are practically impossible to beat unless you are extremely skilled at First Person Shooters and have tons of experience with them. Even then, the AI is hard to get used to. The enemy will do whatever it takes to avoid your shots while, at the same time, trying to kill you.
In multiplayer, you can play against Sims. In increasing difficulty, they range from Meat-Easy-Normal-Hard-Perfect-Dark. The MeatSim is pathetic. About the only weapons they are even remotely dangerous with are explosives. That's only if they get close to you, and that's rarely, because the MeatSim is prey to even the worst gamer. On the other hand, a DarkSim is a very dangerous force. They move like greased lightning, can hit you across the arena in the head with the most inaccurate weapon, and they always know where you are.

Replay Value (10+/10):
Replay value of this game is almost infinite, as few of even the best gamers have truly completed the game to this day. Combat Simulator is different every time, and even if this game didn't have Solo missions, it would still get a 10.

Buy or Rent?
Are you KIDDING? BUY IT!!!!!

Overall Rating: 9.9

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/11/01, Updated 07/11/01