A disappointment to loyal fans of Perfect Dark and first-person shooter aficionados.
It was with little surprise that Perfect Dark became as successful as it did. With the same development team (Rare, Inc.) that released the original FPS masterpiece for the N64, Goldeneye 007, as well as pushing the system's graphic capabilities to the limit (even requiring the expansion pack to play the single player campaign) and introducing a solid, science-fiction themed story, Perfect Dark was surely a game that would stand the test of time in terms of establishing what future FPS have mimicked and will mimic.
The game offered a perfect blend of action, sneaking, espionage, and an engaging story for players to battle through in a large assortment of beautifully rendered levels and environments with a plethora of weapons and gadgets to achieve whatever mission needed to be accomplished. Your character, Joanna Dark, is an agent for the Carrington Institute that is battling the evil dataDyne Corporation from working with dangerous extraterrestrials (the Skedar) in uncovering a devastating alien weapon buried beneath the Earth's ocean. The result ends with the fall of dataDyne and a final showdown with Skedar warlord.
Unfortunately, this prequel for the Xbox 360 does not live up anywhere near the standards set by its N64 predecessor. Suffice to say, with so much firepower to offer from the Xbox 360, the game does little to make do with the obviously superior technology of the next generation console to make a awesome game out of it.
The story features Joanna in her early years as a mercenary, before she teams up with the Carrington Institute. She is an aspiring mercenary following the footsteps of her father, named Jack. Things go haywire during a mission when it is revealed that dataDyne is working to recover another ancient, alien weapon and when Jack is killed by one of their henchmen. Joining the Carrington Institute unconditionally to avenge her father's death and to prevent dataDyne from accomplishing its goal, Joanna goes single-handed against an army of foes with the fate of the world in her hands.
All this sounds exciting and it rightfully should be, but unfortunately the presentation is just not that great. The single player turns out to be rather short and there are several plot inconsistencies in linking up with the N64 installment. Whereas the N64 version had a cast of serious and dark characters, this installment seems to have characters inspired by a Saturday morning cartoon show. Even the characters that make appearances from the N64 game aren't properly presented – with Carrington strangely wearing a Scottish tartan throughout the game.
Despite the unrealistic aspects of the connections between the two stories and the bad presentation, it doesn't go without saying that PDZ does have its plusses. Strangely, even though the characters are represented a bit comically, the game does boast some pretty nice graphics and some neat touches to make the combat feel more real. Fast turns with your analogue stick will blur your vision a small bit, creating a sense of disorientation. Although, going back to the character models, they are a bit ugly when looked up close. But with so much action and fighting you'll be doing, you won't really notice unless you try to look.
The game does a decent job in offering a large assortment of weapons, with each weapon having multiple firing modes or uses which adds to creativity and unique game play. Along with that, the audio for the guns is done pretty well. All this adds to a fairly exciting, but short-lived game play experience that may keep you on the edge of your seat, at least for several hours. You'll find that once you're done, however, it's done. Some missions are worth playing again with the new weapons you earn. Other than that, there's not much to get pumped for.
What the single player lacks in substance, the multiplayer portion does a good job in making up for it. There are multiple game modes to keep you and your friends occupied and happy. If you're going solo, you can turn on combat bots (AI controlled players) to battle alongside or against you. With a nice collection of different multiplayer levels and games, you may find the multiplayer to be a lot more fulfilling than the single player campaign.
Overall, Rare, Inc. tries to capture the nostalgia from its first installment on the N64 but just does not quite capture it. You may find plausible amounts of entertainment and game play in the single player campaign and by all account there are. Just don't try to expect the same hard hitting game you once played before. On the other hand, if you're just an online shooter fanatic, then PDZ has you covered. Find PDZ to come in a standard version and collector's edition, which doesn't really yield in any benefits other than some free stuff that you'll be throwing away shortly afterwards.