Nintendo 64
Publisher: Nintendo
Review By Chi Kong Lui
Review Date: 6/26/00

Article Discussion Forum

First Impressions:

Graphics:

The game may be on an aging platform and the updated GoldenEye engine used may start to look worse due to wear (especially when frame rates drop in situations with complex architecture), but the overall audio-video presentation still holds up pretty well even against some of today's more cutting-edge games. In terms of visuals, Perfect Dark compensates with diverse textures and some inventive special effects that revolve around the different X-ray, infrared, and night-vision modes. Throw in life-like animation with the same complex hit-detection found in GoldenEye (enemies react very vividly to being shot in particular appendages), furthered by the rock-solid feel of the controls, and you have a game that plays great regardless of time and space.

Sound/Music:

The game manages to keep up with the Jones by compensating in a couple of ways. For example, in the sound department, Perfect Dark kicks things up a notch by supporting Dolby Surround sound. The surround sound effects aren't as readily apparent as I would have liked, but most sound effects and character voices are crisp and convincing.

Gameplay:

There are two major weaknesses that have plagued recent Rare titles -- like Jet Force Gemini and Donkey Kong 64 -- that also rear their heads in Perfect Dark. They all suffer from uninspired character designs. In the case of GoldenEye 007, Rare was able to dodge the bullet because they had the benefit of using super spy icon, James Bond, along with all the other colorful characters from the movie. Unfortunately, the new cast of characters created for Perfect Dark is grossly inadequate when compared to the ones from GoldenEye. The lead player-controlled protagonist, Joanna Dark, exhibits few emotions beyond being clueless and bland. The only sparse signs of individuality lay in her Lara Croft-like English accent and different outfits she sports from mission to mission. The supporting cast gets a similarly shallow, nothing-below-the-surface treatment. Joanna's boss, Daniel Carrington, and her arch nemesis, Cassandra De Vries, seem no more interesting than stuffy corporate executives; also with English accents. There are other characters like the enigmatic hitman, Mr. Blonde, and the President (why is it that we can only get African American presidents in fantasy sci-fi?), who simply reek of genericism.

What's even worse are the non-human characters. The uncleverly named, Elvis (how many times have we heard that one before) -- who looks like your average bulb-headed aliens with big eyes -- is supposed to be serve as sort of a running gag and sidekick-style comic relief, but really comes off dull as dirt. The remaining non-human characters like the hovering mini-robot, Dr. Carroll, and the insect-like alien enemies all seem lifted right out of Jet Force Gemini. The developers at Rare must have seen the movie Starship Troopers one too many times because starting with Jet Force Gemini, all the enemy alien races they've created have always been insect-like. Couldn't they have come up with a more imaginative alien species that hasn't already been over-saturated in pop-culture?

The second major weakness that seems to befall Rare's efforts including Perfect Dark is the storyline. Again, this problem wasn't an issue with GoldenEye because its plot benefited from the backing of a Hollywood screenplay. The results were much more consistent and progressive. As for the story cooked up for Perfect Dark, not only is the alien/assassination/conspiracy plot unoriginal and muddled, it's also poorly integrated into the one-player missions. Most stages shift dramatically from one location to the next and the cut-scenes, coupled with plain-text mission briefings, are barely adequate for fleshing out the rather complex storyline details in-between stages. By the latter-third of the game, I wasn't even sure if the stages made sense in the context of the overall story. I simply went about accomplishing my goals per stage and didn't really care too much about the final outcome.

As for the major strengths that Perfect Dark exhibits, they prove to be characteristic of other recent Rare titles. First is the one-player level/mission design. Despite being motivated poorly by the storyline and being occasionally convoluted, the multiple objective-based missions are wonderfully well thought out with a nice mix of timed, patterned, and random events that makes playing through them different and refreshing each time. A wide variety of different weapons and items per stage also keep things exciting (the X-ray-shoot-through-walls, alien Far Sight weapon must be seen to be believed). And like its predecessor, GoldenEye, each stage in Perfect Dark can also be played on three difficulty levels; each progressively harder than the next with more mission objectives and improved enemy abilities. At its most difficult setting, missions boast an extremely complex list of objectives and the gameplay is tough to a dizzying pace. But by the same token, there are few gaming experiences that are as addictive and satisfying as conquering these difficult stages. The level of pain and joy involved with beating the game at its near-impossible setting is best described as cathartic (anyone who's ever gotten the invincibility code by beating the second stage of GoldenEye under the two-minute five second mark knows what I'm talking about).

Enjoyment:

I felt the single-player experience was hurt by the boring characters and story, but for those who enjoy a serious challenge (like I do), Perfect Dark's higher difficulty levels make successfully completing missions very satisfying. But it's really the multiplayer experience that really makes Perfect Dark loads of fun and worth the price of admission.

Multiplayer:

The second area that Perfect Dark truly shines in and is representative of Rare's signature is the multiplayer modes. Whether you're talking about the two or four player modes, no other console game to date has as many modes and options. The sheer amount of features is simply exhaustive. For two players, all the single-player missions can be replayed cooperatively via split-screen (the second player assumes the role of Joanna's sister Velvet Dark). There's also the Counter Operative mode, which follows the same split-screen format with the exception that the two players are pitted against one another. The experience is sort of like playing as Agent Smith in the Matrix. The counter operative player inhabits one of the ordinarily computer-controlled enemies and tries to actively stop the other player from completing the mission. Once the counter operative character is killed (the life-bar scales are tipped considerably against the counter operative), he or she immediately subsumes another character and continues the hunt. Both modes are very interesting and open whole new dimensions of gameplay. So it's rather unfortunate that in both modes, the frame rates suffer tremendously and the severely choppy animation mars what are, otherwise, two innovative options.

Where Perfect Dark will not be denied (at least not by this critic) is in the Combat Simulator mode. This is the mode where up to four humans can participate in different kinds of multiplayer-style games that can be reconfigured to near countless possibilities. There's the usual free-for-all type of deathmatches of the 'Combat' and 'Hold the Briefcase' variety, but where Perfect Dark really starts to come out from the shadow of GoldenEye is the in the team-oriented modes. Most online gamers will be familiar with options like 'Capture the Case/Flag' and 'King of the Hill', but my personal favorite is 'Hacker Central'. In this mode, players or teams compete to first locate a hand-held datalink device and then use it to hack into a stationary laptop located elsewhere. Each successful hack tallies up more points. What really turns the heat up in this mode is that hacking into the laptop is a frantically slow process that leaves you defenseless against your opponents for close to 30 seconds. It's an amazing mode that requires good defensive teamwork and is probably the most intense of the other modes.

Including these multiplayer modes was impressive enough, but Rare goes beyond the call of duty and adds another feature, computer 'bot' opponents dubbed 'Simulants.' What's remarkable about the Simulants is that not only can their difficulty levels be adjusted; they can also be assigned several distinct personality types that range from cowardly to kamikaze. Yet, battling with these Simulants isn't always fun and can get old quick for a number of reasons. First, the discrepancy in ability between the Easy Sim and the Normal Sim was too great. Easy Sims are, for the most part, inept and perform in a semi-intelligent manner. Normal Sims, on the other hand, are extremely deadly. Boasting cat-like reflexes, a deadly aim, and an unmistakable ability to spot human opponents instantly (while you struggle along in your tiny window), these anything but "normal" Sims can become frustrating rather quickly. And don't even get me started on how annoying the always in-your-face, disarming Fist Sims are.

So actually, it's not the inclusion of the Simulant personalities that blows the roof off the game. What makes Perfect Dark a big winner is the option to mix and match up to eight Simulants and four human players (for a grand total of 12) into multiple teams for any one of the multiplayer modes. So rather than repetitively going at it head-to-head with four buddies in free-for-alls or limited two-on-two style matchups, players can setup all kinds of different teams. Possibilities range from six teams of two to two teams of six. Although putting in all eight Simulants with all four human players at once would wreak total havoc on the framerates (to the point where matches would be nearly unplayable), anything less than the maximum (factoring in also the human to computer ratio) usually proved to be pretty decent and playable. Almost all the level designs are fantastic and playing any one of the multiplayer modes with a variety of different teams is a surefire way to get any gamer's competitive spirit going. Perfect Dark is easily the most advance, elaborate, and entertaining multiplayer gaming experience on any home console and I can personally attest to how fun this game is.

Overall Impression:

It's been a long wait for Perfect Dark and I can't help to feel slightly disappointed that Perfect Dark isn't, well…'perfect.' Like most of Rare's other recent releases, weak characters and an unoriginal storyline hurt the game most. Luckily for Perfect Dark, the damage was not irreparable. Good level designs coupled with an extraordinary amount of high-quality multiplayer modes and features raise the bar considerably and keep the game ahead of the pack. Perfect Dark may not attain the same level of artistry and represent the same kind of milestone that GoldenEye achieved in its heyday, but the game is still a blast.

Marketing Efforts Towards Women:

Nintendo is putting much effort into marketing Joanna Dark as the next big pixelicious babe to an older, more mature audience. The already much publicized movie trailer -- that has been making rounds on television spots and on the Internet - features a provocative scantily-clad spokesmodel in the same vein as the real-life beauties that have portrayed Lara Croft. Though the good news is that despite the obvious "sex-sells" tone of the ads and the "girls and guns" theme that has become so popular in the industry, Joanna Dark's actual appearance in the game is more respectable and dignified. As a female character, Joanna Dark isn't perversely proportioned like Lara Croft and she isn't forced to endure a wardrobe that would make most individual's blush. She's portrayed as an intelligent and capable secret agent. The bad news is that outside of her work skills, Joanna Dark isn't a very remarkable personality. In fact, she comes off fairly bland like the rest of the cast of characters in the game.

About Gamecritics: