Review- Perfect Dark Zero

Six Years in Development, huh?

(X360; $49.99, $59.99 collector’s edition; Rated M for Blood/Language/Violence; perfectdarkzero.com)

(three and a half stars)

Microsoft’s much-coveted launch title is actually a prequel to the original “Perfect Dark”- a Nintendo exclusive back in the days of the N64. Six years later, players continue to follow the exploits of femme bounty hunter Joanna Dark, as she fights against the corporations who have taken over in the year 2020.

Aside from the ironic underpinnings that this game’s plot is released by a subsidiary of Microsoft, “PDZ” is a solid first-person shooter experience in its single player campaign and is backed by an equally solid multiplayer experience over Xbox Live.

“PDZ” isn’t going to blow anyone away from a graphical standpoint: its textures, though very nice to look at, aren’t exactly the photorealistic polygons we were all hoping for in the next generation of gaming. Though Ms. Dark looks substantially better than she did back in the N64 days, the entire game has a very animated feel to it, which isn’t a good example of the powerhouse capabilities of the 360.

Fans of “Halo 2” who attempt to play this game with the same strategy and control scheme will be sorely fragged over and over again until they can adjust themselves to the duck-and-cover aspect of the game. This is especially apparent in large, 32 player multiplayer matches where gun-butting an enemy is an imprecise and dangerous endeavor.

Even if it’s not the next “Halo,” the hallmark of the series has always been the variety of weapons and their unusual secondary functions. Expect tons of new firearms, plus some old favorites, to make your missions loud and carnage-filled.