Perfect Dark Zero

"As good as the original? No. A extremely superb game? Yes."

Perfect Dark Zero

Introduction:

Perfect Dark Zero. Just thinking about this game makes me smile, and grimace in certain areas (although there are very few). I have been waiting for this game for quite a while, ever since the original was released in fact. The original set a standard for FPS gaming, and in some areas is still above the time, even though it was made so long ago. I was expecting PDZ to take all of those, and improve on them. Sadly, it's missing a few key areas, but overall improving in all of the most important parts, while missing some of the extras.

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Graphics:

Now, taking this from a console standpoint only, this is one of the most impressive looking games you can find on the counters of any store. How does it compare to PC games also? Quite well, although not as greatly. The framerate is crystal clear and smooth, and only slows down 1-2 times in game, and that's only for SP when all of the action is happening at once. The small little details like bullet holes, and water look great, although some textures aren't up to par, and the grass is horrific. The character models are quite good, although aren't up to the par they should be. Now, the weapon skins are just unbelievable. Simply stunning, the best I've ever seen in an FPS, any game in fact. They have real time reflections and lighting, and reload and sound with great style. There are some classics, as well as new ones. The cutscenes are nowhere near the quality where they should be, and even have some bad framerate for no apparent reason. The character models do not move and look as well as they do in game, and they almost seem like they were rushed. Also, while in 3rd person viewpoint, you get to see your character models who are also great.

Now, the graphics in Multiplayer are noticeably downgraded, but still fare well to the SP experience. The good thing about this change is that there is absolutely no framerate problems in MP, at all. The weapon models look a bit less jawdropping, as do the character models. The textures are also a bit less dramatic and eye-pleasing, but still get the job done. Overall it is a small downgrade in the MP, but nothing to get all fussed up about up. Overall the graphics are some of the best you can find on the consoles, and are definitely one of the best you can find for the 360 launch, but they still do have some texture problems and a few graphical glitches.

9/10

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Audio/Soundeffects:

The soundeffects are some of the greatest you can find in a FPS, and the Audio sounds are excellent. The guns pack a new variety of sounds: Silenced, Rockets, Grenades, Reloading, etc., they all sound magnificent. The soundeffects of punches, bullets hitting things, melees, and other actions are are well rounded, and sound great. The menu sounds are great, although the music just keeps repeating, and isn't anything to rave about. That brings me to my next point, the music. Some will love it, some will hate it. It has a techno/70's/80's kind of feel to it, but it just doesn't fit in with the game's slow paced action. In some instances it does, others it doesn't. The enemies in the campaign sound great, and I have even noticed a few quote changes in some of the scripted parts, such as communicating into a radio. These actually change the gameplay, and make it more suprising, and add replay value. The enemies talk to eachother and discuss taking cover, telling their other AI friends where Jo is located, and even give groins of pain when and where they are shot. The voiceovers are over-dramatic, and even annoying at sometimes. Why Rare changed Jo's voice to an American one still haunts me. The other actors such as Jack, and Mai Hem seem overacted, and not believable at all. This and the music are my only problems with the Audio, the game soundeffects are just unbelievably defined. Thanks for keeping to your old sound effect roots Rare.

9/10

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Gameplay:

The gameplay is really where PDZ shines. PDZ is a total improvement over the orignal's gameplay, while keeping to it's roots and adding new, and helpful features. The SP is not cream of the crop, and has almost no story. It jumps around too much, and seems very rushed. But the story isn't where it's all at, it the gun-play, the introduction of gadgets to objectives, the multiple routes, different objectives for different difficulties, added weapons, Co-Op, and many other great things that keeps PDZ fun, time after time.

Let's start off with the good ol' gunplay. The variety of different weapons add to the nostalgia, and make the game what it is, and excellent FPS, you discover new weapons, and get better ones as you progress through the game. In fact, they even have this nifty little feature that adds to the replay value, and lets you play levels in different ways each time. The weapons you beat the level with, (in your inventory when the level ends) get added to a choose-able weapon set that you get to choose to use before you take part on the mission. You start out with the little P9P, but once you've gotten to the last level of the game, you can have pretty much every weapon in the inventory, that is if you kept different weapons until the end of the the level! Now to the gadgets, they allow you to go different routes in levels, sometimes to bypass some enemies, and sometimes they are needed for objectives. You don't just go up to the objective with and press A though, you have to perform a mini-game with each of the gadgets before it is possible for the gadget to do it's trick. Another thing that the game introduces to add replay value is not only increasing the enemy difficulty on higher difficulty levels, but also adding more, and harder objectives. They don't incorporate into the whole story of the level, just minor objectives meant for the more advanced players. On higher difficulties, the enemies take much more damage before dying, and their accuracy increases by a lot, almost too much. These difficulties have sometimes been so overwhelming, they seem almost impossible, by the number of enemies, the low amount of ammo given, it keeps you on your feet the whole time. That's the only way the SP can be experienced in my opinion. The Co-Op is not only online, but offline, this adds very little to the story, other than two people playing at once. Sometimes it will split you up in 2 different areas depending on the level's story, and you will each have separate character models. If one person dies on Co-Op, you will have the chance to revive them using a gadget called the Revive Kit. Overall, this part of the game is really where it keeps everything running strong, and makes you want to burst out of the chair/beanbag that you're playing on!

10/10

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Controls:

The controls aren't as refined as most want them to be, but this is because of the lack of auto-aim, and the sheer amount of practice you need to put into them before they become a part of your hands, or controller that is. First thing, you have a numerous amount of control settings willing to give everyone something they like. There is inverted, sensitivity options, swap sticks, and many other things to test out. They even have the automatic look-ahead just like GE and PD. Now, since there is no auto-aim, in the beginning there will be a lot of missing before you get the hang of it, and headshots never get boring during online play. Overall, some hate it, and some love it. I love it, because it's meant for more professional players, and for ones who are willing to give the game a chance, and get used to it.

9/10

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Multi-Player:

Now this is my favorite part of the game! Although there are some flaws, most are overlookable, and don't change the gameplay that much. First of all, there are ranked matches and player matches, and ranked matches come equipped with a leaderboard! Now this may sound good and all, but the ranking system is very, what would you call it? Crappy? Ya that's it. One thing it quite frequently match players up against eachother unevenly, number wise. You get a match going with 5vs1 or even 10vs1. It does this because of the different ranks everybody has. If you are higher in rank, you will be the poor guy playing all by yourself against all the other players. This is easily fixable, and I can see it happening soon through an update over Live. Now let's talk about the connections. The multiplayer has almost NO lag whatsover, at least none that I notice. I have even had 500 ping one time, and still noticed no difference. This game has one of the best netcodes I've seen in quite a while. One problem is that sometimes it's quite a hassle to join online games. When trying to connect sometimes it automatically won't let you join the game, saying there is a network problem. This happens to around half the games you try to join, and gets very frustrating. Also, you can change the team colors to Teammates: Green, Blue, or White. While enemies always stay Red.

Now to the gametypes, and settings. There are a total of 8 gametypes. 4 are in one category and 4 is in the other. The two categories are Dark-Ops and Deathmatch. Deathmatch includes Killcount (FFA Deathmatch), Team Killcount (Team Deathmatch), CTF, and Territitorial Gains (you must hack varies ports around the Map, the longer you have them, the more points you get). And then there's Dark-Ops, the CS style game where you get to buy weapons before the game, and have only one life to keep per round! Dark-Ops includes Eradication (Elimination), Onslaught (You must defend a base from other people), Infection (One person begins the round "Infected" and must kill the other enemies and "Infect" them), and lastly Sabotage (You must destroy/defend small canisters around the map). Overall, there's something for everyone, and it plays out great in every mode.

In MP there are 6 maps, each including different looks and sizes. Each map has 3 different pre-set locations to play on. Some are small and some are big. There's Desert, Tower, Temple, Urban, Old Town, and Subway. There are 2 vehicles to choose from, and only a few maps are available to use them in. The MP is extremely balanced, as good as it gets, with almost no overpowered weapons. Overall this game achieves new height for the online mode, impressing not only me, but everyone who enjoys this game.

10/10

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Overall:

Overall I think everyone who enjoys slower-paced tactical FPS's will enjoy this game. I wouldn't get the game just for SP, as the MP outshines it. The game brings forth a new game to compare FPS's to: PDZ.

++++++++++9/10++++++++++

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/14/05