Perfect Dark

"Hey, it's a pretty good game"

I must admit, I was a trifle disappointed when I received this game for Christmas. My assumptions of this game were groundless and unfair. After all, it gives you free cheats (which I didn't need this for), and a fun Multi Player option. Excuse the lateness of my review, I played this game for about a week before putting it away. Up until a few weeks ago, it remained basically untouched until I remembered that, ''Hey, it's a pretty good game.'' Now I'm playing it more than Oracle of Seasons. And these are the reasons why...

Visuals: 7
Everyone is harping about how great the visuals are. ''Oh, the legs move!'' Big deal. What do you expect? You think the people will glide and bounce around like they're South Park characters? Don't get me wrong, the visuals are good, good as I've seen lately on the Game Boy. The graphics during some of the mini-games are somewhat dull, but overall, the graphics are nothing short of amazing.

Sound: 8
The sound is probably the best feature of this game. The characters talk during the conversations (although the voices sound like they're underwater), the guards cry out in pain when they get shot, and Joanna's footsteps echo when you run. The guns sound somewhat weak but the rest makes up for that.

Ingenuity: 6
Ingenuity? How can you get more ingenious than the Nintendo 64 version? After all, the Nintendo 64 version is pretty much flawless. It's true, they couldn't get more ingenious. Even though you can check the bodies of guards you killed for ammunition and health, everything else has pretty much been done. The rumble feature is a plus. As well as the fact that all the peripherals this game takes advantage of. You can use pretty much anything with this game: IR Port, Printer, etc. You can even place it in the Transfer Pack and score yourself some cheats on the Nintendo 64 version. Although the game has its ups, it also has its downs. Max Danger? A pit of lava separating you and a boss? Spare me.

Replay: 5
If it weren't for the shoddy Solo Player, this game may have scored higher. The Multi Player is good and will keep you busy for weeks. The IR Port lets you trade unlocked maps with your friends. The Printer allows you to print off pictures that you can unlock also. The Solo Player, however, takes a bad turn. The guards are downright stupid and as long as you don't run and/or get in their line of sight, they won't bother you. That's what confuses me: this game can't decide whether it wants to be easy or difficult. Sometimes, the game is a breeze and then, all of a sudden, you're dead. You will cry in frustration after nearing the end of a level only to be ambushed by several guards at once. The game saves automatically and I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

As long as you don't mind radical difficulty swings, you should be fine. It's a decent game and although I was disappointed with it at first, I'm glad I picked it up again and started playing it.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/16/01, Updated 06/16/01