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Xbox 360 | Action | Perfect Dark Zero

Boxart for Perfect Dark Zero
Perfect Dark Zero 84 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.50
  • SOUND: 4.00
  • CONTROL: 4.00
  • FUN FACTOR 4.00
  • AVG USER SCORE 3.5
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.2

Review: Perfect Dark Zero

Review by MAJORMIKE | 06/16/2006 | 15:00:22 PM PST

Johanna Dark returns to the gaming scene after five years, but it's a lukewarm welcome.

Released in the wake of GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark hit the Nintendo 64 with plenty of momentum from its pedigree, wowing gamers with a clever mix of first-person shooting and challenging game play. Now, five years after the original game appeared, Johanna Dark gets a second adventure--a prequel. And while Zero is enjoyable at its core, the nagging distractionss and brief one-player adventure are big disappointments.

Sub-Zero
Zero takes place before the first Perfect Dark game, and it finds Joanna as a hotheaded bounty hunter under the wing of her mentor and father, Jack. (Odd how Jack Dark is supposed to be bounty hunter extraordinar?, yet half the time Joanna is tasked with saving his life from enemies who can't shoot straight.) That's really all you need to know (or care about), for once the lead starts flying, it's strictly business as Joanna must smash her way through 13 levels set in various locales. At her disposal is one of the game's strongest suits--an array of awesome guns. Each firearm has multiple functions ranging from motion-detecting machinegun tripods to hand grenades to other weapons of mass destruction. The Dolby Digital soundtrack effectively brings these "tools" to life...just make sure to mute the 1970's cop-movie music score.

"She's Got a Gun!"
The game's awesome arsenal of firepower, however, is no match for the goofy rough edges, and this is especially true of the enemy A.I. After foes are shot in the extremities, they rub their wounds and then spring back as good as new. Another sore spot is the clumsy and awkward rag-doll physics engine: Defeated enemies crumple-up, contort into goofy positions, and generally behave more like human-sized pieces of styrofoam. Furthermore, some bugs abound--especially the occasional ventilated character that flies wildly around the screen like a punctured balloon. And characters are encased in a high-sheen substance that makes them look like plastic (plus their voice-overs make them sound like wimps). These annoyances detract from an otherwise enjoyable firefight.

Zero Sum Total
Play-wise, while the online deathmatches offer plenty of long-term value, the core solo missions are easy to overcome and offer little replay value. Overall, Perfect Dark Zero is a solid first-person shooter--it's certainly more user-friendly than Quake 4--but the nagging flaws push it a few notches below the greatness of its predecessor... not to mention justifying the $50 price tag. Diehard fans of the first game will probably give Zero a little more latitude.


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