Reviews of Perfect Dark Zero

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Perfect Dark Zero is one of my favorite release titles for the XBox 360. The graphics are gorgeous, the main character (female!) has personality, and it's a good combo of shooting, stealth and puzzle solving.

We've been of course testing all of the release titles, but we keep coming back to Perfect Dark Zero just for sheer fun of gameplay.

First, the basic mission tree. You are Joanna Dark, daughter of a bounty hunter who follows in her father's footsteps. You're athletic, nimble, smart, and maybe a bit fool-hardy. The game is set in the future (Joanna was born in the year 2000) and you get an interesting mix of locales to explore as you take on your assignments.

The graphics in this game are simply GORGEOUS, as you might expect from the XBox 360. I highly recommend you play this on a HD TV I've done screenshots comparing HD to low-def and the difference is rather impressive. The water ripples, the light plays off the rippling water, the rippling water reflects on the textured brick wall, you name it. You get red and blue lights shining down from the ceiling and the lights color their surroundings and even combine where they cross.

There are of course some amusing issues this still isn't photo-realism of course. There are times that a red laser beam has slight "ripples" in it, for example. Still, the quality is far better than anything else on the market.

I suppose you could complain that Joanna goes running around in high-heeled boots and low-cut pants, but heck, I was impressed that her chest size was reasonably normal. Compared to most other video games out there, with their mostly-naked women with inflato-boobs, Joanna is quite demure!

The sound is aiming for a James Bond feel here. I think that is pretty clear from the intro credits. You get a boppy rock soundtrack through much of the game. The dialogue is reasonably well done, and you can't really say much about how gunshots sound. They sound like gunshots.

Gameplay is a mix between Splinter Cell and a FPS. There are times that being stealthy and quiet really pay off. There are other times that just running fast and blasting away will work. There are cool lockpick puzzles, too. I do get frustrated that you can't "jump" though. I'll see a nice, inviting open window at less than waist high, and I have to walk right by.

I have mixed feelings about co-op mode. On one hand it's fun to have two females working side by side and taking out the enemy. On the other hand, if one person decides to quit, it shuts down the whole mission. I really like it on other games where a person can pop in and out as necessary. This especially is helpful if a less experienced gamer is stuck and needs help just for a short while.

There's also deathmatch style gaming available, both on local gameplay and XBox Live. This lets you sneak around and head-shot your enemies with great glee.

We've played this for many hours and haven't noticed any problems with lag or crashing. There are certain moves that don't happen instantly for example, when you shoot from cover, you have to wait for Joanna to "rise from a crouch" before she fires. This is quite realistic. The game also has cinematic sequences when things go into a Matrix-like slo-mo which seems to be in many current movies.

If you play this game on easy mode, you can probably zip through all the missions in a single very long gaming session (say 14-16 hours). The harder levels of difficulty are of course more challenging. Really, though, all single-player gameplay is is just a training mode to help you prepare for live gameplay. Once you've gotten your skills sharpened on the computer players, prepare to take on the real challenge, with real live opponents!

Highly recommended.

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Seriously, this game on any system, not just the 360, is not fun to control and there's no feeling of accomplishment when you pass each mission. The feel of the character during movement and shooting is inexcusably remedial, very slow, very tedious to aim, and like others said it takes far to much effort to drop 1 guy.

The game reminds me of a poor man's Red Faction 2 for XBOX with noticeably better graphics, but as far as 360 goes, the other 6 games I currently own surpass PDZ in the graphics department.

So the reason for my title is that for those who game this game 5 stars...where exactly are you standards? I can think of at least a dozen shooters off the top of my head for the regular XBOX that I'd rather be playing than PDZ, and Doom 3 in my opinion has better grahpics than this game. Halo, Halo 2, Doom 3, Project Snowblind, Mace Griffin...the list goes on and on, and obviously Quake 4 and COD 2 for the 360 trump this game.

Do yourself a favor, even if you love spy-type storylines and you're in need of a shooter, rent it first and you'll see what I mean. It's maybe worth 10 bucks when the price comes down, but definitely not worth 40-50, and most definitely not a launch console seller.

I know everyone has their own opinion, but giving this game 5 stars, even if your basing it on the so-called innovation this game brings (which it doesn't), you skew the standard of a shooter so far in the wrong direction it baffles me.

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In PDZ, you take up arms as Joanna Dark once more, except this time as a teenager and a bounty hunter with her pops Jack Dark. Once her father is killed by the evil corporation of dataDYNE on a mission, and a conspiracy begins to unfold around the same company, Joanna teams up with Carrington Institute to try and topple dataDyne...and to avenge her dad's death as well.

You see the world through Joanna's eyes as she runs around blowing away enemies with an assortment of weapons including a shotgun, the Superdragon, a "Shockwave" sniper rifle (remember the FarSight in the 64 game? Well this is the equivelent of it), the DY .357 magnum, and many more. You get to use turrets, hover crafts, and this mechanical walker thing with an M60 on it so that was cool too. You can use ziplines to get from one building to the next, and you can even press up against walls for cover and precise firing.

Lets talk a difference between this title and it's masterpiece of a predessor on the Nintendo 64. For starters, in Zero before you can do a stage you have to select your weapons and make sure you have enough space in the item slots for it. So in essence, you could really only carry one assault rifle and one SMG. That is VERY lame in my opinion I don't play a first person shooter to manage inventory. Moving on, in order to unlock new weapons say a CMP150 SMG that wasn't in your beginning inventory -for use in other stages, you must complete that level while having the CMP150 as one of your current weapons; WHICH means you must toss a weapon, take the CMP, and beat the level with it to have it for further use. Another lame idea. So if you are currently wondering, yes I am missing a bunch of weapons in my inventory. However, Perfect Dark 64 didn't have any of this and equaled out for a much better experience.

The multiplayer is somewhat redeeming, but still no match for PD64. You choose a level, how big it is, your weapon set, character/team, bots, and gametype and go at it. There are some interesting games like Infection or Hacking, but it's been done before. However, this game pretty much took out the in-depth character & bot customization process the 64 version had as well as being able to command your team, and in turn, lost a lot of points and was almost lackluster. Furthermore, you must actually beat the game to unlock all the bots, teams, and characters to get the most of the multiplayer ahem, LAME!. However, it will still provide you with some fun if you and a couple of your friends are looking to just blow each other or some bots away. There is also a Co-Op mode which was pretty fun I'll admit.

I'm forced to admit, but this is the best looking game I have ever seen. Everything looks incredibly realistic, the lighting is superb, the characters look humanlike and move as fluid as one as well. The enviroments, be it vast jungles, dense cities, or huge mansions are truley breathtaking. Perfect Dark Zero definitley showed the power of the X-Box 360, and really set the standard for future games. HOWWWWWWWEVER, and this was inevitable to avoid on this review, was the fact that I despise what they did with Joanna Dark's look. She was never a punk rock chick, nor was she a supermodel she was grotesque in the 64, she was british, she was something that could pass off as a secret agent... sigh, why Rare, why?

The music has it's ups and downs. Some songs, like when you are..grr..managing your inventory..are techno-esk and remind me of the glory days of PD64. Then there are the heavy metal / rock sections which help you get pumped up for a big battle. Then, there are the actual rave tunes which truley ruined it all for me. It was ridiculous and didn't help the overall atmosphere of the game at all. The voice acting was good for the most part, except Jack Dark who was just annoying.

The ending was flat out bad, but from what I have seen recently, most games are. You destroy the main villian/CEO of dataDYNE (can't remember his name at the moment) who underwent some transformation and became something that reminded me of a Dragon Ball Z character with the kamahamaha blasts and super strength. Anyway, you kill him, and officially join Carrington Institute hence setting the stage for Perfect Dark 64... not worth it in the least bit.

And I'm not going to lie this game is hard, and then incredibly harder on other parts such as the Jungle stage. The good news? It's short, with a mere 13 missions.

With all the hype surrounding this game, and with the memory of how awesome the first game was, I'm actually really dissapointed in the overall experience I had. Perfect Dark Zero had it's moments of decently intense firefights and pretty good multiplayer, but for the most part it was just a run of the mill FPS albeit with excellent graphics. I suggest a rental, nothing more.

...Also, in the club mission, if you look around at the videos on the wall...they are the from Windows Media Player. It was Microsoft's own little plug, just like in Condemned.

Honest reviews on Perfect Dark Zero

I know, this game is old, I picked it up at launch. But after seeing it under the "recommended for you" category on Amazon, I felt compelled to warn others to NOT buy this game.

As a person who LOVED Perfect Dark 64, I was thoroughly underwhelmed by this game. I cannot describe what a totally different game it is. I'm not sure if Rare lost their talent, but manit is different, and NOT in a good way. This game has frustratingly poor level designit's laughable. It's so bad that if you don't move for five seconds, arrows light up on the ground to send you in the right direction. That should NOT be necessary. The plot is pretty clichedit's not helped that it's a prequel, but it IS thoroughly predictable, particularly towards the end. Of course, Carringtonn makes an appearancewith a thick Scottish accent not present in Perfect Dark 64 in any form whatsover.

Online play is extremely mediocre too.

Avoid this game. It's not worth $20.

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I am a HUGE FPS fan, and have played nearly every major game in this genre since the original Castle Wolfenstein and while not a fan of console versions of what essentially is a genre best left in the PC arena, the original Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64 was a spanker of a game.

I was thrilled when I read that a sequel was to be released, and rushed out to buy it, fondly remembering those late-nate PD gaming sessions, now to be converted into HD glory, with more features and thrills.

I tried so hard to like this game, I really did. However, beyond the hype and opinions of those who have never experienced what a great FPS should be like, here are the facts of life.

1 Awkward aiming. Unlike most console shooters, PDZ requires near-perfect aiming there is not much aim-correction for using the pad, and you play the whole game thinking 'I wish I had a mouse and WSAD keys..', which seems what the enemy must have, because they have less than no trouble getting headshot after headshot on you.

2 Crap storyline. Cheesy, dull, terrible dialogue. Only the youngest of gamers would be excited with any story-based content on offer. The stereotypes are on display and proud of their corny lines, reciting them with sarcastic gusto. Cut scenes soon are skipped.

3 'No jump' feature. Sounds silly, especially as the original didn't have a jump button, but with the new levels and their detailed environments, you might find yourself screaming at the TV when your hard-earned skin-of-your-teeth cinematic escape is marred by clipping an inch of your leg on a small rock and taking a busload of fire in the process.

4 bipolar AI. Enemies and friends alike switch moods between deciding to be tripping, hobbling cannon fodder to head-shot assassins. There is no feel of realism, no sense of game world stability, and the game never levels out between ridiculously easy and so hard the only way to move around a level is to perpetually roll.

5 Rolling\Cover. On that note, the 3rd person feature is a waste of time. The 'roll' feature, presumably, exists to help one stylistically evade the enemy's fire, but you never seem quick enough to dodge the bullets well enough. On harder modes, you'll find the only way to conserve health is to become this constant gymnastic ball, pausing only to inevitably take damage while you return fire. The 'cover' feature is awfull, and exists only on selected scenery little help when you actually NEED it. It generally feels like a useless addition for the game-enhancing-cinema-style-experience ethos that designers really ought to dump. The problem is that it has a split second pause before taking effect and that you have to be perfectly in position to do so. One problem of this is if you do it in the wrong place, you actually expose yourself to the enemy and face the opposite way a hail of enemy fire later and you're frustrated meat. Lastly, once you're actually in cover, you have a second's window to lean out, aim, and get off at a maximum 2 shots before the guy you're shooting at clocks you.. and don't forget the 2 or so guys coming around you to mash you up in close combat. After a few of these situations, you'll be using this feature rarely.

6 Dull multiplayer. I'm sorry but it's true. PDZ multiplayer feels half-paced and as an afterthought. There are a handful of options compared to the pages of game customisation the original had eg. slow time, game modes, etc.. None of this for PDZ.

7 No innovation whatsoever. Now THIS is the area I wanted the game to shine in, excusing the rest of its problems. Sadly, its a bog-standard affair that never excites and thrills the way its predecessor did.

There are other things I could mention, but honestly, the list goes on. Graphics are NOT the be-all end all, and I never experienced one moment of genuine excitement at the gameplay or game world. It does not immerse the play the way, say, Condemned does, having you gripping the controller in real thrill.

All in all, roll on Halo 3.