Perfect Dark Zero

"Next Gen Launch Day Disappointment"

Before I start I would just like to say that I am not a lifelong fan of the original Perfect Dark nor do I hold any biases toward or against this game or the series.

Perfect Dark Zero (PDZ) is a launch day title from the highly anticipated X Box 360 lineup. Since the lineup featured mostly sports games and was not what one would call a stellar list, PDZ got a lot of attention as the premier action/FPS game of the launch. I bought this game before the 360 had been released and was excited to try it as soon as I got my console. I was severely disappointed. This game doesn't offer anything new to the “next generation” and it is actually a step backward for the FPS genre.

Graphics: 7/10

The graphics in PDZ are decent, for a current generation console. The character models don't look particularly detailed and the environments look overly colorful and fake. The gun design is nice and detailed in your hands but other than that everything feels like a little bit of the same, which is not acceptable from a next generation title. Before I am misunderstood, I think that the graphics are fine but they are not what I expected from a next gen game, especially after seeing games like Call of Duty 2 and Kameo: Elements of Power. Although they could have been improved, the graphics are not what hold this game back.

Sound: 4/10

The only reason I gave the sound as high as a 4 was because the gun shots and effects sound great. Other than that the sound in this game is terrible. The music sounds like a mix of retro funk style and new club beats, not a good combination. The voice acting is actually worse than any game that I can remember in a while. The enemies have annoying children's' cartoon-like voices and they never say anything interesting, let alone anything worth hearing. Joanna and her father sound absolutely terrible, like a bad voice actor with a bad voice too. As if this wasn't bad enough, the person you have to listen to the most is Chandra, who gives the mission briefings and periodically talks to you over your headset. Her voice makes me want to mute the game. It is a high pitched, whiny squeal with a fake accent. It is by far the worst voice I have ever heard in a game.

Story: 2/10

Story? What story? This game has no story even worth listening to. The plot is so poorly explained and boring that I found myself skipping the mission briefings because I didn't care what it was about or what was going on. There's no need to hear the objectives anyway because you can access them at any time during the mission. With games like Half Life and Halo showing us that First Person Shooters can not only have plots, but really good and intricate ones at that, it feels like PDZ really dropped the ball in this area.

Gameplay: 5/10

Probably the most important, and the most influential, area when rating a game is the gameplay. And while this game is pretty fun, there are a bunch of things that really hold it back. The weapons are great and the secondary modes of fire really add a lot to the game. The cover system is also awesome. It is tactical so that you can avoid enemy fire, but realistic in that when you go to shoot you have to move out from cover somewhat and are open to attack. In some games, you shoot while hidden and it is very unrealistic. The levels are also pretty large and varied; making for what you think would be some great battles and firefights. But these fights are not fun because of the aiming and the stealth aspects of the game.

The aiming is very slow and takes away from the gameplay significantly. While the game does feature a lack of noticeable auto aim, it doesn't make up for it with enough sensitivity in the X and Y axis. I constantly found myself switching to the shotgun for the area effect of the blast because my crosshairs just couldn't keep up with enemy's movements. It gets even worse when you are zoomed in; the reticule moves even slower. Many of the action sequences in the game are hindered by the slow aiming and really hold the game back from making you feel like you are in control. There is no worse feeling in a first person shooter than having the right weapon, the drop on your opponent, but you can't aim fast enough to catch him in your sights because you can't turn the sensitivity any higher.

The other gameplay downfall is the stealth aspect of the game. Like most first person shooters, PDZ features an awful lot of enemies, but rather than use unique gameplay events or sequences to have you fight them, the game employs a lot of stealth aspects. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with stealth, it is just very hard to implement stealth into a first person shooter, and do it well. One of the best examples of how stealth was well incorporated into a first person game was The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. PDZ, however, does not do it too well. You are just supposed to time the enemies patrol patterns, crouch and run behind them. And if you get caught, they trigger an alarm where thousands (it sure seems like) of enemies come after you. And since there is no in game save feature, if you die you have to restart the mission. This makes the game very frustrating.

Tilt: 7/10

Because this game contains multiplayer co-op and online modes, the score is tilted a little higher. I don't really play multiplayer games or online games so I won't go into detail about them, but they add another element to the game and increase its replay value. I'm sure fans of the original will like the game simply because they are fans of Joanna Dark and the Perfect Dark series so that also factored into my tilt score.

Overall: 5/10

Perfect Dark Zero has some nice weapons and weapon effects as well as a great cover system. However, the less than “next gen” graphics, poor aiming system, and lack of a comprehensible storyline really make it a disappointment. Maybe it doesn't seem fair to grade it so strictly, but for a next generation game the graphics should be better than current generation games, and I have played NES games that have a more in depth storyline than this. Hopefully, these problems can be fixed if a sequel is to be made in the future, but for now this game is at best a rental, but should be low on the lost of launch day games you look in to.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/21/05