Perfect Dark XBLA Review
By - Craig H.
Almost 10 years has passed since Perfect Dark was originally released back on the Nintendo 64. During its time it was one of the premiere FPS games (along with Goldeneye 64) and paved the way for modern day console FPS’s. 4JStudios and Microsoft did an exceptional job at fan service and provide a reminder of where the modern day console FPS’s got their start.
For those unfamiliar with Perfect Dark, the story follows a British secret agent named Joanna Dark who is trying to figure out an alien conspiracy. During each of the story missions you will visit a bunch of different locations, use cool gadgets and have an arsenal of guns at your disposal. The game has never looked or played better and maintains a solid framerate for the most part. In some instances the game hiccups momentarily during 4-player split-screen games or when there is a lot of action on the screen. The game is almost 10 years old and the quality of voice acting shows it. Overall, the voice acting is laughably bad but that really plays to the nostalgia of the product.
The main story is broken up into 17 story missions with each mission’s success relying on your completing a certain objective. As you increase the difficulty you will gain more objectives as well as an increase in AI difficulty. On the easiest difficulty the enemies are merely speed bumps on your way to the objective and do little to threaten your life. As you increase the difficulty the AI gets considerably more difficult with most current FPS players feeling right at home.
After completing each mission your completion time is posted to online leaderboard’s to compare with your friends on Xbox Live. Depending on how competitive you and your friends are hours can be spent doing speed-runs of each level for bragging rights.
Each of the missions in the story can be played in two more modes besides the standard single player. Players will have the option to play in co-operative and counter-operative modes. Since most people understand co-operative gameplay I will describe the counter-operative mode. In the counter-operative mode one player is Joanna Dark and the other player is an enemy guard. The player who is Joanna Dark has one life and must complete the objective of the level while the player who is the guard must kill Joanna Dark and has unlimited lives. Both the co-operative and counter-operative modes can be played local via split-screen and online over Xbox Live.
Those who have fond memories of playing the original release on the Nintendo 64 can remember the single joystick functionality of the N64 controller and the limitations involved with it when comparing it to the dual-analog stick controllers of today. After putting hours into this version of the game I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this is exactly what the developers wanted back when the game was originally made. The game plays fantastic with the new control set-up and is actually more fun to play now then back in the day. Along with the standard control scheme you also have a “Spartan” control set-up for those familiar with Halo controls as well as a “Duty Calls” controller set-up for those familiar with Call of Duty’s controls.
The competitive online play for Perfect Dark, i.e. Combat Simulator, was made to be just a fun experience, like when we played it via split-screen 10 years ago. You can still play 4 player split-screen but you can also take it online over Xbox Live to compete with friends. Don’t worry if you don’t have friends online when you want to play because there is an inclusion of “Simulants”, or bots. You can fill in the lack of live competitors with these bots that have different personalities. These bots include FistSim which will use unarmed combat, JudgeSim who try to take out the leader, and MeatSim who are mere bullet collectors.
Overall, Perfect Dark is the best $10 value available on Xbox Live currently. The game has never looked better and the new controls make the game even more enjoyable 10 years after its initial release. Re-makes seem to be the “it” thing nowadays and other developers should take note on how 4JStudios and Microsoft handled this release. Their attention to detail and listening to what fans wanted has brought us one of the best downloadable games on the market.
Quick Synopsis:
Pros: Possibly the best remake on the market. Gunplay feels great with plenty of weapons to tryout. Multiplayer is just as fun as you remember from playing it on the N64 with friends. Online Leaderboard’s track speed-runs for each of the 17 story missions. Inclusion of bots to fill in for lack of players in multiplayer is a great touch.
Cons: Some framerate hiccups during 4-player split-screen. Voice acting is laughably bad (it is a 10 year old game though).
