Perfect Dark

You know what�s funny? Even if Perfect Dark were just a series of new GoldenEye levels to play out on your N64, I�d still recommend the cartridge. Of course PD is much, much more than that but because of the staying power and overall value of GoldenEye, Rare�s newest first person shooter feels eerily familiar. Even upon entering Joanna Dark�s game world for the first time it�s as if the cartridge were a permanent fixture in your N64.

As any Nintendo 64 owner will tell you, GoldenEye was a superb mixture of narrative-rich single player missions and action-packed multiplayer gaming. Although EP originally scored it less than that (9.5 out of 10, for those keeping score), it has become obvious over time that GoldenEye was a perfect game for its day--a game that would go on to stand up to months, even years, of play.

Flash forward three years of unnerving anticipation later and the surrogate sequel to GoldenEye finally hits store shelves. For Perfect Dark to make any kind of dent we knew long ago that the game was going to have to offer some truly innovative solo player mission gameplay as well as the best multiplayer options this side of Quake III, Rainbow Six, Team Fortress II and Unreal Tournament. Not surprisingly, after three long years, Rare has risen to the occasion and delivered on all counts. Perfect Dark is magnificent. Until now, GoldenEye was arguably the best reason for gamers over the age of 16 to own a Nintendo 64. No longer.

Not Quite Perfect

I want to get my complaints out of the way right off the top. I don�t have many issues with Perfect Dark but the problems I have with the game are significant. Firstly, the cartridge is plagued by frame rate sluggishness. The game is so choppy in certain scenarios it�s virtually unplayable. Pitting four players against each other in an arena already inhabited by eight of Rare�s �bots (called Simulants here) is an exercise in futility.

Another gripe I have is Rare�s insistence to keep their FPS characters firmly on the ground at all times. Joanna and her cohorts cannot jump in the game (they can fall, however). The argument is that this is not a platform game so why should the characters be able to jump? My argument is that by now we�re all getting quite accustomed to the advanced mobility found in shooters like Quake, Unreal and Half-Life and for the developers not to include the ability to perform cool jumping maneuvers was a tremendous oversight, regardless of the 3-D physics hassles this would have undoubtedly posed for Perfect Dark�s programmers.

Perhaps the least significant of my problems is Perfect Dark�s inescapable familiarity. Throughout my playtime with PD, I couldn�t shake off how much I wanted to return to the James Bond vibe of GoldenEye. Although the story and levels of Perfect Dark rival those found in its predecessor, in the end I think GoldenEye�s cinematically refined storyline and ripped-from-the-screen environments provided a little more satisfaction than Perfect Dark�s original offerings. Let me epilogue this admittedly nit-picky complaint by saying that Perfect Dark does offer way more environments (including some GoldenEye favorites) and its story is told through sophisticated voice-infused cinema sequences, which are much cooler than reading plain old files from HMSS.

Okay, On With Why You Must Own This Game�

It is the future. A hi-tech company named dataDyne Corporation is profiting from a series of technological breakthroughs that are too suspicious to sit comfortably with Daniel Carrington, the head of the elite security force, Carrington Institute. To fuel Carrington�s concerns, a frightened dataDyne scientist contacts Carrington and spills the beans about the insidious plans the �corporation� has for the planet. Carrington sends in his most qualified operative, Joanna Dark, to investigate.

Perfect Dark�s solo game is a well thought out adventure that places you in the middle of an intergalactic conflict. While early levels in the game adhere closely to GoldenEye�s earthbound sneak and chase formula, it doesn�t take long for Dark to find out that behind dataDyne�s technical might is alien know-how. To add weight to the narrative structure of the one player game, at certain points, you are partnered with individuals (some otherworldly and some not), who will help you complete specific missions. You also are given access to a plethora of cool weapons (some otherworldly and some not) and a very sweet hoverbike that will zip you from one end of a large level to the other in a fraction of the foot-speed time.

Through the progression of the story, all sorts of cool spy stuff is revealed. Playing a level in the dark? Try slapping on a pair of nightvision goggles and all becomes clear. Want to see ahead of your position without throwing Joanna Dark�s lovely body into harms way, then you�ll want to test out the groovy CamSpy, a mini-device that hovers into position and allows Ms. Dark to grab snapshots of all sorts of illicit activity from anywhere in the level--just don�t let the CamSpy get seen by the enemy or all hell will break loose. How about going �Predator� on your opponents and cloaking yourself? Yep, this game�s got that too. Every level offers up some tasty new treats that really get your mouth watering for the multiplayer games. My favorite? The awesome Combat Boost, which throws Dark into a hyper cool, �I can see every bullet,� Matrix-style, slow-mo mode. So slick, Rare.

As you might expect, a huge array of weaponry is available in the game. A bunch of truly menacing explosive-projectile weapons like Rocket Launchers, Super Dragons, Devastators and the appropriately entitled, remote control missile packin�, Slayers, join a predictable assortment of sniper-equipped bad boys. My favorite weapon to use (and this wasn�t easy to choose), is the incredible Laptop Gun. I know it sounds ridiculous but this deadly device actually folds out from an innocuous laptop casing to reveal a rapid fire laser blaster that is lethal in Dark�s hands but even more dangerous when it�s dropped and used as an automatic sentry gun. Marvelous!

It�s all well and good to have these terrific touches opened up during the course of the solo-player missions but I�m telling you, the reason why Perfect Dark matters is its abundance of multi-player options. GoldenEye held our attention for months and months after we finished the single-player game because the deathmatching was just too much fun to stop playing. �Course, everybody knows the old �Rare threw the multiplayer games in at the last minute� story about GoldenEye. With Perfect Dark, Rare took a look at the multiplayer gaming being offered by other FPS games out there and decided to do it up right for the console crowd. Not only is Perfect Dark so outfitted it will make you forget about any other FPS game you�ve ever played on a TV-based videogame platform, it�s rewarding enough to impress the PC-playing diehards out there who wet their pants every time a new skin becomes available for Quake. I should know, we have more than our fair share of PC shooter fanatics in the Playground and all of those people are just quivering in their booties over the polish and finesse of Perfect Dark.

I want to restrain myself from puking up a wordy feature list for all of the stuff you�ll be able to tinker with in PD�s multiplayer arenas but I do have to point out some of my favorite stuff. Firstly, the game features those darn cool Simulants that come in a variety of flavors (from pathetic MeatSims to the frightening PreySims who will stop at nothing �til they have your head on a stick). This means that now you don�t have to wait for three friends to come over to kick off a couple hundred rounds of deathmatch heaven. Perfect Dark also offers team play, so you can work with human or Simulant partners and take on groups of other human-Simulant combinations--so cool.

Obviously, there are a ton of great multiplayer arenas in the game. Some are based on levels uncovered in the solo missions, some are exclusive designs for this cart and some are ripped right from the GoldenEye catalog. All of the levels are intelligently constructed and feature height advantages, dangerous platforms to traverse, elevators, secret spaces and plenty of nooks and crannies to camp in. Long story short, you won�t be getting bored of the scenery any time quick.

There aren�t just deathmatches to keep you entertained in Perfect Dark either. Rare has obviously lost some productivity time playing competitor�s products on the PC over the last three years, because they�ve added just about every multiplayer variant you can think of to Perfect Dark, including squad-based gaming (you can command your Simulants to do all kinds of danger work for you), capture the flag contests and my personal favorite, King of the Hill mode. King of the Hill is really cool because you have to race your opponents to a specified area on the map and then whoever gets there first has to protect that area from all of the threats around them. Fun stuff.

I�ve referred to the adventure of Perfect Dark as the solo-player game, but in actuality that�s wrong. You can play all of the missions in the game with another human or Simulant helper(s) by your side in Co-Operative mode. The extra firepower certainly comes in handy during tougher missions. Another twist on the mission-based gameplay is the opportunity to play the Counter-Operative mode. This is another tip of the hat to The Matrix, in that one player can assume the role of Joanna Dark, while the other player can play the game as any of the baddies around her, one at a time. If Joanna kills a human�controlled baddie, the next closest enemy instantly becomes playable. If Joanna gets past her human controlled opponent, the player can choose to force his character to take a suicide pill and then the player will automatically zap into the next closest baddie to Joanna. Amazing!

Oh, and just like GoldenEye, each of Perfect Dark�s missions are structured to provide more difficulty each time you beat a challenge level. If you�re just starting out you�ll be in Agent mode and you�ll have three simplistic objectives to complete per level. If you�re on your second go �round through the game, you�ll be promoted to Special Agent and now there are more objectives to complete as well as tougher baddies to slay. Make it to Perfect Agent mode and you�ll be pitted against super-genius AI opponents and have a series of very complicated objectives to complete in each mission. The gameplay goes on and on and on�

What About Aesthetics?

Perfect Dark is, without question, one of the nicest looking Nintendo 64 games yet developed. Rare has learned to master lighting, coloring and texturing in storage-impaired N64 cartridge environments and their collective experience making lookers like Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Jet Force Gemini and GoldenEye really shows here. There are ample examples of colored light-sourcing, lens flaring, reflections and more smoke and haze effects than you can shake a stick at. In the animation department, be prepared for articulated characters that deal with spot-specific bullet wounds with wincing authenticity. This is a game rated for adults so if parents do catch their kids playing it, the blood spattered walls and bullet ridden hallways will not be impressive. For those of us over 17 who have been weaned on cutesy colorful Nintendo games, this adherence to violent realism will come as a shocking, yet disturbingly satisfying, surprise.

I hate to clamp so ferociously to what is absurdly obvious, but there are more signs that the Nintendo 64 has reached an advanced age than just the frame rate fumbles on the cart. As pretty as Perfect Dark looks in relation to the rest of the N64 library, this is one butt-ugly shooter when compared to the high-resolution marvels being offered up on the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast. Even comparing the looks of Perfect Dark to PC shooters like Half-Life and Unreal Tournament will make N64 owners shudder with regret. As great a game as Perfect Dark is, the absolutely amazing content on the cart only makes us imagine how much better served Rare�s imagination would be on more powerful hardware. Perfect Dark is superb, Nintendo, but it�s time to roll up your sleeves and show us what hardware secrets you�ve been hiding. We want to get �N� to the next level of detail.

Just as Perfect Dark�s visuals tower over most of the N64�s library, the game�s soundscape also manages to outclass the competition. Synthy-spacey compositions and espionage-inflected sneak-tunes make up the game�s musical selections. The game features a slower paced theme and also a hysterical, adrenaline-infused �run, run� ditty for each level. Most of it is atmospheric, cool stuff, but some of it sounds suspiciously like Axel Foley-ish, 80�s leftovers by a Harold Faltermeyer wannabe--kinda weird for a game that takes place in the �future.�

The big deal with the sound is the amount of voice work that�s in the game. I don�t know how Rare is able to compress all those cool textures and lighting effects and still have room for voices on the cartridge but somehow all of the people and �people� you encounter in Perfect Dark have something to say. Joanna Dark has a sexy, Lara Croft-ian English lilt, Carrington has a slightly familiar Bond-ish brogue and later on, one of the friendlies you meet up with has a distinctly Yoda/Grover/Ms. Piggy style gargle. Not content to stop there, Rare has also employed the use of Dolby Surround technology to create a fully three-dimensional audio-environment for each level. Bullets will ricochet to the left, creatures will jump from behind you and down the hall you�ll hear the braying of automatic rifle fire. Brilliant!

Although the disc-based game systems offer cleaner sounding experiences than what you�ll find on this compressed to the max cart, it�s still a wonder how Rare manages to up the ante time and again. I can�t be the only one sitting on pins and needles wondering just what Rare will get up to with the storage space of DVD at their disposal.

Perfect Enough

I loved Perfect Dark. I play it in my dreams when I go to sleep these days. That�s the sign of superior game content and the latter stages of interactive addiction (for me, there is no cure). It has flaws. I know this. The system that the game�s made for just can�t keep up with the quality of the experience. It�s that simple. If you can look beyond that and just sink into the gameplay (easy to do), you�ll forget all about the other wicked fast and powerful game machines on the market and enjoy this game completely and utterly. This is Nintendo�s grand master plan�ha-ha-ha-ha-ha�

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