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'Joanna Dark 'patched' twice'
 Developer: Rare
Publisher: Microsoft
Category: : action/adventure
Official Site
Platform: X-Box 360
Might look like: /
Date posted: 27 September 2006
(Updated - v1.2 + DLC1)
Written By: Ian
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A Title Revitalised
The PDZ community was starting to become a little lacklustre as of a couple of months back.
However, the 1.1 and subsequent 1.2 patch, along with the four new small maps have brought a whole new lease of life to this title.
As this content is new, it seems like a good time for "Playdevil.com" to revisit a game we never had time to review at launch.
The most important questions are these: has the game stood the test of time? And is the game still worth it?
The answers to both will be revealed!
The Storyline
The story of "Perfect Dark Zero" (or PDZ for short) is pretty unbelievable to be honest; it is basically an excuse for our feisty heroine (who bizarrely apparently used to have ginger hair and an American accent before learning to speak with an English accent and dying her hair brown for the N64 sequel) to go globetrotting, which in turn is an excuse for Rare to show off their texturing and level design, which is still very impressive.
Whilst there are only 11 levels, there is a great deal of variety between them, ranging from a snow-dressed mountain hideout to assaulting a desert outpost or a launch facility deep in a jungle.
The story is told through impressive in-engine cut-scenes, voiced in a cheesy but enjoyable style. However, the actual plot is pretty lame, and it hardly draws you in in the way that Half-Life, or even the original title does.
Single Player
The actual action, however, is beautiful to behold, with explosions that have only been bettered by the recent release of Saints Row (review coming up!).
The first mission is a real showcase for this. What starts as a simple training exercise rapidly escalates into a massive fire-fight by a shuttle launchpad, with dozens of enemy trying to take you down in the middle of exploding scenery.
However, whilst these set pieces are very impressive, and often feature impressive, futuristic music, they are definitely the high point of what is otherwise a fairly generic single player.
  
The AI, whilst decent, is hardly groundbreaking in the way that the N64 shooter was. Half-Life 2 is at least an equal, if not better, which is a shame, because the original easily trumped the first Half-Life title. The stealth sections are just boring. They rely too much on timing, and you get none of the Splinter-Cell tools or HUD to guide you. These parts can just become very frustrating to play through, which is a real shame.
The rest of the game which is not scripted just feels like any other corridor shooter, even if at times it seems like there is quite a lot of freedom.
Most levels are very linear; and whilst this is not always a bad thing (i.e. Prey) in this instance, Rare just seems to be missing something to make the game special.
Also, the graphics, whilst being very pretty, are very 'shiny' due to the way Rare has normal and bump-mapped everything. This is exacerbated on an HD display, and takes away from the realism.
Multiplayer
So, the single-player is good but not great; but can the multiplayer measure up to the greatness of the original?
The answer is yes, it also surpasses it.
The reason why this title is still so popular on Live is because of the great modes included. Whilst there were only five maps at retail, they are huge and varied, and have different customisation options to change gameplay. This lack of maps is more than made up for by the entertaining modes and number of players.
PDZ remains the only game on Xbox or 360 to support 32 simultaneous players. The net code on this game is superb. I have played many games with a full compliment of 32 and suffered from no lag whatsoever. I wish the same could be said of GRAW or Saints Row, which both suffer from huge online issues despite supporting half the number of players.
Due to the way the maps can be sized, you can make a game with 32 people spread out, or use a small variation and turn it into a bloodbath.
Deathmatch mode is pretty cool, but the real meat of the game is in DarkOps mode, which includes modes such as Sabotage, Onslaught and Infection. Whilst none of these may be particularly innovative (they have all been seen in various forms in other titles) some have never been seen in console gaming before, and others have never been done this well before.
Sabotage is particularly good, as there are multiple points to attack/defend, and some are much tougher/worth more points, so there are several strategies the team can use.
Also, the way PDZ manipulates its maps for these modes also works very well, meaning they can become very tense, no matter what the level.
In my opinion, PDZ represents the most technically accomplished multiplayer available on a console even now after nine months, and it is also a lot of fun to play too!
  
DLC Impressions
The four new maps are currently available on the Marketplace for the sum of "500 MS points", or roughly €6, which is pretty good value considering the asking price for the GRAW, COD or LOTR:BFME2 content, all of which is much pricier for about the same or less content.
The maps themselves are pretty fun to play. My one gripe is that all of them except for Trench are a little dark for my personal tastes. Whichever team you are on, it can become a little too easy to team kill as colours are fairly indistinguishable in the darkness.
However, the new, smaller map sizes are much appreciated and add more replayability to the game and increase the gameplay options, as the original maps are as much as twice as large. You have to play in a wholly different way when the players are much closer to each other, and some pretty frantic battle can ensue when ten or more players meet in a confined area.
Patch Impressions
If you have Xbox Live, these patches are a must!
Not only can you not play online if you do not have them, but they really improve the online experience.
Developer "Rare" has done a fantastic job of getting rid of exploits in the maps, and cheaters no longer prosper as a result, which can only be a good thing.
Bots have been tweaked, with personalities similar to the original title, better AI, and the ability to play with them in DarkOps games.
Furthermore, a couple of glitches in the achievement system have been fixed, which means that those crucial points now unlock at the right time, rather than at some random point afterwards, which was frustrating when the game first hit the shelves.
Together with some general streamlining of the multiplayer experience, these patches (which are, of course, free) make the game much more playable, and a joy to behold online!
Conclusion
"Perfect Dark Zero" still rocks after nearly one year after release, which is testament to just how good it is.
The single player is pretty poor, but I don't really mind, because I must have clocked up about 100 hours online since launch on this title alone, which means it has been fantastically good value for money.
Considering you can pick the title up for around €20-30, especially if you go for a pre-owned copy, you really cannot go wrong if you are looking for a multiplayer shooter to rival GRAW or BF2:MC.
-Ian
Ratings
Manual:
78 % |
Graphics:
89% |
Music & Sfx:
90% |
GamePlay:
90% |
|
This game scores
on our 5-point Rating System
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