Perfect Dark

"A game that thought her bigger sister could save her..."

I was fooled into buying this game after reading one official review by some no name website. The reviewer claimed he had never bought a gameboy of any type and was convinced that no game would ever make him. Then he played Perfect Dark for GameBoy Color and was addicted. I was suckered into believing him...

Gameplay: 5/10

The gameplay takes the cake for being horrible. Rare realized that monotony could happen so they added variety to the game, "mini games"... Such as driving mission, flying missions, boat missions, helicopter attacking, and different layouts for boss battles. Sounds good right? Of course! But did anyone mention the difficulty? Hello no! The most thing you'll be doing in this game is dying(unless you cheat and use a GameShark). No lie! I died around 70 to 100 times, no exaggeration! I don't know how anybody can find fun over frustration. I am a stealth gamer, I don't run into a room full of gaurds and have my guns blazing... But no mastery of stealth could save me. Some might say, "You just have to be patient." Well when you catch a guard too late and he is already walking up the hallway and you want to subdue him, you have to wait for him to walk all the way up and stand at a post for 10 minutes and walk back down; other wise if you jump in on him he'll call guards or kill you with a few shots from his assault rifle you can't pick up...

Also to help prevent monotony, Rare added color-coded puzzles for the doors. Now this is about as fun as trying to pick out M&M's from Skittles (which isn't that fun to me). Then Rare has added an Academy sessions. This is the first level you get to play in... which is no walk in the park. Meanwhile, you have to stop and listen to Carrington lecture you and inform you on the obvious. After you get awarded and congratulated, you're shipped off to South America. You're spy plain is shot down, leaving you stranded with you're Falcon and a few medkits. I may have spoiled it for you but... I'm forewarning you. I could go on...

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics for this game aren't all that bad but aren't eye candy. The graphics kind of remind me of those choppy N-Gage first person shooters, but not as bad. The face to face contact is done well but not spectacular. I think I have said all that it represents...

Sound: 8/10

The sound seems to enjoy being the same as its neighbor. The scream of Joanna makes me laugh because it's shrieking and annoying. The gunfire is okay and the helicopter soundmakes me excited and a nervous wreck because I'm excited to shoot it down with my Falcon or other wimpy gun. The explosion sound like any other explosion on GBC, loud annoying noise.

Storyline: 9/10

The story is well done, giving you a light-layer background of Joanna Dark. Still her past is shrouded in mystery. All that is known is that she was flawless hence "Perfect Dark."(@-@) Witch cheesy names like 'Max Danger' and a Hispanic Chinese-star throwing bad guy, that storyline does pretty well, but of course it doesn't make up for the gameplay.

Replay Value: some

The default difficulty is unbearable for the average gamer and useless for the avid. I couldn't find myself playing this again for the solo missions but maybe multiplayer or "mini-games." Other than that, nothing else pleases me to play again...

This game thought her bigger sister for the N64 could save her... but it didn't. If you don't believe me and the other GameFAQs user review scores didn't fright you then I allow you to rent the game. Good luck, agent.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/04