"The. Best. FPS. Ever."

First of all, I would like to say that I was hoping for this game after perfect dark was announced. I loved playing golden eye and I was really excited. This game is not a sequel to golden eye. It is just the same type of game, but perfect dark is way better. Here is why:

Game play 10/10

The game play is great. The controls are nearly perfect. If you have ever played golden eye, you will be familiar with the control system. There are a couple different kinds of game play in this game. First, there is solo mode, which is a one player game (duh!) with three different difficulty settings. For beginners, there is agent. The easiest difficulty setting. Enemy AI is stupid, the enemies are really weak. Your weapons are extremely powerful. For more advanced players, there is special agent. This is basically the same as agent, with a little bit of perfect agent thrown in. in special agent, there are more objectives in each mission, and the enemies are a little bit smarter, and your guns do less damage. Then, for veteran players, there is perfect agent. This is what the game is all about. You will be put up against smart AI, your guns do almost no damage, the enemies have ridiculously high accuracy, and there are no shields at all. If you can make it through the entire game in perfect agent, you have bragging rights. For every gun, there will be a secondary function, and to activate this, hold down the b button for a short time. There is also co-op and counter op. co-op is where you and a friend (or a simulant) try to beat the game together! Counter op is the exact opposite. Player 1 tries to get through a level while the other tries to stop player 1 by killing him/her. There are also cheats to earn by beating certain levels or beating certain levels on a certain difficulty under a certain time. This will add to the replay value. Also, there are things you can do in the Carrington institute before you go into a mission. there is the device training, where you will work with the devices you will come across as the game progresses, there is hologram training, which is a place to hone your skills by improving skills and trying to kill enemies unarmed, and there is the firing range. This is where it gets interesting. As you come across new weapons in solo mode and combat simulator (multiplayer) you will unlock them in the firing range. Each weapon has a bronze challenge (easiest), a silver challenge (medium difficulty) and gold challenges (hardest). The bronze is just usually just getting points with unlimited ammo. The silver is normally just using the second function of the gun. And the last one, gold, is usually getting a large amount of points in a small amount of time with little ammo. But they all have exceptions.

Story 10/10

The story in this game is a really good story. you are a perfect agent for Carrington institute, and they find word that data dyne is up to something, so they send Joanna dark in to figure out what they are up to. Reveals that data dyne is in fact working with some alien race called the Skedar. Luckily, the Skedar's arch enemy race, the Maians, and team up with Joanna and the Carrington institute to try to take down data dyne and the Skedar race. You find yourself going to a variation of well thought out levels, finding new technology on the way. There are strange levels like area: 51 and even protecting your own base, Carrington institute! You will be put up against the Skedar race with nothing but your puny guns and a Maian soldier named Elvis that you rescue from area: 51. He doesn't really help you much. He is actually a pest sometimes. He will jump right in front of enemy gunfire!

Graphics/Sound 10/10

There is not much to say here about the graphics and sound, only that the graphics are the best on the Nintendo 64. They are better than any other Nintendo 64 game out there. The sound has many great tracks, while some aren't that good. The sound is very crisp with little to no flaws. I really don't think that anyone can say that the sound is bad because it isn't, it is very very good, and that is why I gave sound/graphics a 10/10

Replayability 10/10

There are many reasons why you should play through this game again. Like getting all of the cheats, or beating every level on every difficulty. It takes about 7 hours to a new player. But, if you consider beating every level on every difficulty, it may take up to a day of playing time! That's 24 hours!!!!! That's how long it took me

Multiplayer 10/10

The. Best. Multiplayer. Ever. Seriously, you can have so much fun with this multiplayer whether it be with the challenges, or a homemade scenario. You can even make your own character! This multiplayer will keep you occupied for hours on end, maybe even days. Everybody want to get the elusive perfect rating!

So that is my 1,000 word essay on why I love this game. So get out there and start playing. If you ever think about selling this game, don't. You will want to play it a couple of months down the road.
This game is definitely worth buying. Do not rent this or you will want more. Make sure you get the expansion pack

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/16/05, Updated 05/18/05