Well, It's not Perfect But...

After scrimping and pinching and saving, and after much resistance, I finally stepped into the next generation and bought an Xbox 360. I had a limited choice of games to buy, so I decided to go with Perfect Dark: Zero. Do I regret my choice? I wouldn't necessarily say so, but I'm certainly not thrilled with it.

The original Perfect Dark, which was supposed to be a groundbreaking game in the tradition of Goldeneye, wasn't really as groundbreaking as it claimed to be, and was really more of a revamped version of Goldeneye with a couple of extra gadgets and actual voices, but was more than worth the ride. Perfect Dark Zero has the same problem in not being groundbreaking, but whether it's worth the ride or not is questionable.

Let's start off with the plot. Perfect Dark Zero is a prequel to Perfect Dark. While some have questioned the decision to make this a prequel, it really doesn't matter because the plot is so lacking it hardly matters. What plot there is is basically this: you are Joanna Dark, bounty hunter, and you have a vendetta against major corporations that are trying to take over the world. Yes, there are a few plot twists, and it's all slightly more complex that what I just wrote, but if you're like me, you'll give up on following the plot about a quarter of the way through and just play the game.

PDZ, being a launch title, had but one purpose: to show off what the 360 could do. In that area it succeeds. The environments are nice and glossy and beautiful, and there are lots of shiny, pretty things to look at. From secret science labs to outdoor environments, everything looks great. The characters look good as well, with fluid animations and the same glossy look as the environments. Graphically, to be it shortly, it's all good, and even great.

The sound is a mixed bag. The music is appropriate, but not memorable, the sounds of the weapons are cool, and the voice acting is terrible. Ok, being fair, the voice acting isn't as bad as the lines the voice actors are given to speak. But still, the time put into plot could have put into something more productive, like gameplay.

The controls are what they should be, plain and simple. Everything is responsive, and there is practically no learning curve, aside from having to learn all the functions of the weapons and gadgets.

So now we get into the real meat, the gameplay. This is your basic first person shooter that tries to be so much more, and that's where it fails. Almost every gimmick gives you a "been there, done that" feeling. The vehicles? Did it in Halo, and a slew of other games, and they did it better. Stealthily dodging cameras and the eyes of the stupid guards? Been there, done that, in Splinter Cell, except in Splinter Cell the guards weren't stupid. Riding down ziplines? Well, you get it. One cool thing is the fact that everything you do that's relatively cool gets a perspective from a few angles.

As mentioned before, the A.I. is stupid. You'd think that this would be a problem that might eventually be fixed. Too often I've picked off a guard while he's standing next to another, and the other doesn't react at all. Stealth is really a moot point, because setting off an alarm will simply bring out a slew of guards that can generally be easily picked off. It does get tiresome, but you can blast through the stealth if you choose to.

What does set the game apart is the weapons. Every weapon has a secondary function, and some even have a tertiary function. Simply put, a gun isn't just a gun in PDZ. A gun can make a holograph image of yourself to distract enemies, set up traps, or induce psychosis in your enemies. The designers really went crazy in designing weapons, and just playing with the weapons keeps the gameplay somewhat fresh.

As far as the single player campaign goes, the game has equal successes and failures, making it a small step above mediocre. While borrowing elements from other games is not a bad thing at all, as almost every game borrows some elements from a game before it, you have to give it a fresh feel. This game generally fails to do that. Did I have fun with the single player PDZ? I did, but once it was all over, the whole experience felt a bit empty. In a gaming world flooded with first person shooters, each one that comes along has to do something innovative to keep its head above water. This one keeps its head just below the surface. You can see the potential for a great game, but it never quite meets this potential. I think that if a little more time had given to development, we could have seen a great, truly next gen game.

But, where the game flounders in its single player, it triumphs in its multiplayer. While my free trial of X Box Live Gold lasted, I had a blast with this game. There are tons of great games to play, and the more people you can get, the merrier. My personal favorite is Infection, in which the infected are skeletons, and their goal is to "infect" opponents by killing them, and the goal of the uninfected is simply to stay alive. It's a blast. In fact, as far as multiplayer goes, there's not a dud in the group, and this is saying a lot since I'm a stickler for single player, and not multiplayer. So this bumps PDZ up a notch, or a star if you will.

Here's the deal: If you're looking for a great first person shooter with both a great single player campaign and a great multiplayer, this isn't it. You have a single player that's ok, and a great multiplayer. So the choice is really up to you. Is a great multiplayer worth the price of the game? If it is, then here you go. If you want balance, try something else.

Parent's Note: While PDZ is not exactly great for the kids, with plenty of blood and language, it won't warp them either. Use discretion, but this is one of the milder first person shooters to come out in a while.