mor911
12-28-2005, 12:40 PM
This is The Mor's first official Xbox360 review. I have many 360 games at my disposal, but I decided to do Rare's 360 flagship first because this is the "big-name" shooter that's supposed to sell units.
Perfect Derk Zero is the prequel to the original Perfect Dark released on the Nintendo 64 half a decade ago. The original Perfect Dark was probably the peak of the N64's performance. Perfect Dark Zero (PDZ) is Rare's attempt at keeping this franchise alive.
Story - PDZ has you playing as a young Joanna Dark. This is the same character you play in the N64 classic, only as a rookie spy/killing machine. The story in the game isn't really anything to brag about. You're a new spy, some people die, and vengence is required. Blah. Halo2 has a much better story line. It almost feels like they made all of the game levels, then created the story around the game to try and link it together.
Graphics - Before I start on PDZ's graphics, try and understand that it's a first generation 360 title. I can't compare it's graphics to regular Xbox or PS2 games, because it's obviosly superior. I compare it's graphics to other 360 titles, and what is expected of next generation graphics in my opinion (my review, so it's my opinion ;) ).
The graphics in PDZ look good. They're sharp, and the textures have a lot of detail. Some people may argue, "It looks GREAT! There's nothing out there like it!" While that's true, PDZ didn't impress me like a next gen console game should. It looked good, and there are no serious graphical complaints. There were a few moments where I was jaw-dropped and said, "That looks amazing" (when you see the entire space shuttle and you can look all the way to the top). But for the most part, I wasn't amazed. This isn't a bad thing. It's still leaps and bounds ahead of the best looking PS2 games, and I'm sure the 360 power is just in it's infancy. The bigest complaint I have as far as graphics are concerned is something I call the plastic effect.
When developers are trying to show off all of their graphical prowess, they add lighting effects to everything... Even stuff that probly doesn't need too much... Like skin and hair. All of the characters in the game seem to look like they're plastic action figures. Nobody looks human, they all look plastic. It looks good, but their skin doesn't look like skin, and their hair looks like it was snapped on.
Sound - No complaints in this department. I have to use the stereo from my 51" HDTV (it's rather nice), so I'm not equiped with a surround sound system (maybe thestern will do us the honor of checking in later and enlightening us). But the sound effects and music are very will done.
Gameplay - PDZ is a very solid first person shooter (FPS). What do expect from the people that brought us Golden Eye for the N64. There's a few problems I ran into in the jungle levels where the AI can spot you very easily, and even with different vision it's a pain to get to them... Not bad per say, but annoying. The biggest gameplay fowl up Rare did (or didn't do) was not including the ability to jump. This is more important to some gamers than others, but as you play the game, there's times where it will feel like the map is much smaller simply because you can't jump over a stupid 3 foot rail. In multiplayer it is really annoying... Again, this may not be a bad thing depending on what kind of gamer you are. I just felt like I wanted to jump the entire game... And couldn't. Instead they gave you a worthless roll/dodge move that has proved 100% useless to this point. I would trade that stupid dodge crap for a jump any day of the week. It's 2006... In this day and age, there in no reason that an FPS shouldn't have the ability to jump. I know they made Golden Eye and the original PD, and they wanna stick to a formula that works. But it's a new age. Get with the program Rare.
My second big gameplay issue is the length of the game itself. the 12 levels of PDZ can be finished in 4 hours or so. Hell, the last level is just the boss. I'm not gonna lie to you and say I beat it on hard. But on a medium setting, I found the game way too short, and easy.
Multiplayer - The multiplayer is ok at best. I'd still much rather go for a Halo2 or Battlefield2 match anyday. The multiplayer feature feels cheap, and there's not much to it. You got yourt basic modes (CTF, Deathmatch, Territory). The lack of a jump really pisses me of in multiplayer.
Overall - If you like FPS games and need a 360 game, pick up PDZ. It's definitely not a must-buy in my opinion, simply because there are current gen games that do everything PDZ does (and better). Graphics aside, it's just another FPS.
7.8 of 10
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Perfect Derk Zero is the prequel to the original Perfect Dark released on the Nintendo 64 half a decade ago. The original Perfect Dark was probably the peak of the N64's performance. Perfect Dark Zero (PDZ) is Rare's attempt at keeping this franchise alive.
Story - PDZ has you playing as a young Joanna Dark. This is the same character you play in the N64 classic, only as a rookie spy/killing machine. The story in the game isn't really anything to brag about. You're a new spy, some people die, and vengence is required. Blah. Halo2 has a much better story line. It almost feels like they made all of the game levels, then created the story around the game to try and link it together.
Graphics - Before I start on PDZ's graphics, try and understand that it's a first generation 360 title. I can't compare it's graphics to regular Xbox or PS2 games, because it's obviosly superior. I compare it's graphics to other 360 titles, and what is expected of next generation graphics in my opinion (my review, so it's my opinion ;) ).
The graphics in PDZ look good. They're sharp, and the textures have a lot of detail. Some people may argue, "It looks GREAT! There's nothing out there like it!" While that's true, PDZ didn't impress me like a next gen console game should. It looked good, and there are no serious graphical complaints. There were a few moments where I was jaw-dropped and said, "That looks amazing" (when you see the entire space shuttle and you can look all the way to the top). But for the most part, I wasn't amazed. This isn't a bad thing. It's still leaps and bounds ahead of the best looking PS2 games, and I'm sure the 360 power is just in it's infancy. The bigest complaint I have as far as graphics are concerned is something I call the plastic effect.
When developers are trying to show off all of their graphical prowess, they add lighting effects to everything... Even stuff that probly doesn't need too much... Like skin and hair. All of the characters in the game seem to look like they're plastic action figures. Nobody looks human, they all look plastic. It looks good, but their skin doesn't look like skin, and their hair looks like it was snapped on.
Sound - No complaints in this department. I have to use the stereo from my 51" HDTV (it's rather nice), so I'm not equiped with a surround sound system (maybe thestern will do us the honor of checking in later and enlightening us). But the sound effects and music are very will done.
Gameplay - PDZ is a very solid first person shooter (FPS). What do expect from the people that brought us Golden Eye for the N64. There's a few problems I ran into in the jungle levels where the AI can spot you very easily, and even with different vision it's a pain to get to them... Not bad per say, but annoying. The biggest gameplay fowl up Rare did (or didn't do) was not including the ability to jump. This is more important to some gamers than others, but as you play the game, there's times where it will feel like the map is much smaller simply because you can't jump over a stupid 3 foot rail. In multiplayer it is really annoying... Again, this may not be a bad thing depending on what kind of gamer you are. I just felt like I wanted to jump the entire game... And couldn't. Instead they gave you a worthless roll/dodge move that has proved 100% useless to this point. I would trade that stupid dodge crap for a jump any day of the week. It's 2006... In this day and age, there in no reason that an FPS shouldn't have the ability to jump. I know they made Golden Eye and the original PD, and they wanna stick to a formula that works. But it's a new age. Get with the program Rare.
My second big gameplay issue is the length of the game itself. the 12 levels of PDZ can be finished in 4 hours or so. Hell, the last level is just the boss. I'm not gonna lie to you and say I beat it on hard. But on a medium setting, I found the game way too short, and easy.
Multiplayer - The multiplayer is ok at best. I'd still much rather go for a Halo2 or Battlefield2 match anyday. The multiplayer feature feels cheap, and there's not much to it. You got yourt basic modes (CTF, Deathmatch, Territory). The lack of a jump really pisses me of in multiplayer.
Overall - If you like FPS games and need a 360 game, pick up PDZ. It's definitely not a must-buy in my opinion, simply because there are current gen games that do everything PDZ does (and better). Graphics aside, it's just another FPS.
7.8 of 10
Other reviews:
Gamespot - To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
IGN - To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
TeamXbox - To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.