Perfect Dark Zero (Xbox 360)
Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp. Part number: 05365
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Description:
- Joanna Dark returns in the Xbox 360 exclusive Perfect Dark: Zero, the prequel to the internationally award-winning and multi-million selling first-person shooter Perfect Dark from famed game developer Rare. A secret war has begun between shadowy corporations bent on world domination. Joanna Dark and her father Jack are caught up in the fight for the future of the planet. A ... Read more
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Gamespot editors' review
Perfect Dark Zero (Xbox 360) price range: $19.99
- Reviewed by: Greg Kasavin
- Reviewed on: 11/21/2005
- Released on: 11/17/2005
It's tempting to try to put Perfect Dark Zero in perspective by spending a lot of time on topics other than what makes it such a terrific action game. One of the highest-profile Xbox 360 launch titles, this near-future first-person shooter is the long-awaited sequel to a highly acclaimed Nintendo 64 hit, and it happens to be one of the biggest games to be released by veteran developer Rare since its well-publicized acquisition by Microsoft several years ago. Perfect Dark Zero's sci-fi theme, together with the circumstances surrounding its release, also means it's destined to be compared to Halo: Combat Evolved, the game that defined the Xbox (so yeah, no pressure). But let's stick to the point: Perfect Dark Zero's stunning presentation, excellent assortment of believable weapons, exciting tactical firefights, and fully featured single- and multiplayer components combine to make it easily one of the best first-person shooters this year and one of your best options in the Xbox 360's starting lineup. Despite some minor shortcomings, the game is still a tour de force for the Xbox 360, and it's just a thrilling experience that pushes the already-extremely competitive first-person shooter category still further forward.
Perfect Dark Zero is finally here and it's amazing.
You don't need to be familiar with Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64 to easily get into Perfect Dark Zero, starring the spunky red-haired hired gun, Joanna Dark. Though she and her dad are technically bounty hunters, the game has got more of a high-tech superspy feel to it, from the futuristic weapons to the fancy gadgets you'll get to use. Perfect Dark Zero's story spans more than a dozen big missions, and may be optionally played through cooperatively with a friend. The campaign is longer than average at about 12 hours, and its multiple difficulty settings, unlockable weapons, and the outstanding co-op mode should keep you coming back to it after you reach the conclusion the first time. Perfect Dark Zero also features a "combat arena" mode that contains most of its multiplayer options, some of which may be played with and against computer-controlled bots in addition to (or instead of) other human players. There's a wide assortment of different modes supporting up to 32 players online, including conventional free-for-all and capture-the-flag modes, as well as some great Counter-Strike-inspired team-based match types. In short, this is big game with a lot to it.
However, it's not just all the different modes of play, but rather the sheer attention to detail that separates Perfect Dark Zero from other first-person shooters out there. It's a gorgeous-looking game, especially if you play it on a high-definition display, and the beauty's more than skin deep. Most every weapon in the large arsenal of available pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles, and heavy weapons looks extremely authentic, right on down to their steely sheen and white-hot muzzle flashes. You've never seen a better-looking assortment of guns, and the near-future setting gave the designers license to include lots of familiar hardware, with some surprising special abilities. What's more, some excellent character animation helps make the guns feel as powerful as they look. Enemies recoil realistically depending on where they're hit, no matter if you hit them in the hand, the foot, square in the chest, in the back, or wherever else. And the vast levels are as varied as they are beautiful to behold, setting you loose in jungles, city streets, high-tech industrial compounds, and more. Bullet holes shred the scenery, armor pieces fly every which way under a hail of gunfire, blinding explosions rock the screen, and your enemies' bodies litter the corridors once you're through. Gorgeous lighting and an impressive motion-blur effect that kicks in whenever you make a sharp turn further enhance the quality of Perfect Dark Zero's visuals, resulting in a game that at times could easily be mistaken for a big-budget action movie. Credit is also due to the outstanding audio, which features some heavy-hitting weapon effects, as well as a fantastic, moody soundtrack that gives each mission its own pulsing rhythms. It's a diverse array of electronic and rock beats, and it's all very catchy.
Scratch that gun fetish with Perfect Dark Zero's wild assortment of wonderfully true-to-life weapons.
From a gameplay standpoint, Perfect Dark Zero is highly refined. It doesn't stray too far from convention, but it features some interesting twists in weapon and enemy design, making for a much more entertaining experience than the average shooter. You can carry up to four different weapons, but larger guns take up more inventory space, which means you could pack several pistols but only one machine gun at a time. It's a good system that makes sense, though it's tough having to choose from all the great options that are available. Even the pistol you start with boasts an optional silencer, a scope, and a flashlight attachment, making it extremely versatile and plenty deadly. But chances are you'll want to replace it soon enough. One of the assault rifles you find later on may be converted into an automated defense turret, helping you tear into the enemies' ranks. There's a pistol that fires madness-inducing projectiles that turn foe against foe (in multiplayer, this causes the victim's teammates to appear as enemies). One submachine gun even projects a diversionary holographic image of you. Many of the guns are scoped, and smaller weapons can be wielded in pairs, doubling your stopping power. A couple of the rifles have grenade-launcher attachments, letting you seriously damage groups of foes both in story missions and multiplayer, and making these particular firearms seem especially dangerous. But in the end, your choice of guns may well come down to personal preference. There's a lot of cool, lethal firepower to choose from.
The type of weapon you're carrying influences your running speed, which is something to consider. There's no jump button, but you are given some tactical options, like taking cover behind obstacles and executing quick rolls at the touch of a button. The cover system is implemented quite well, letting you take position behind any barrier or at any corner at the touch of a button, while seamlessly switching your perspective to a third-person viewpoint, which gives you more situational awareness. You automatically peek out from behind cover when you fire, and it's a deliberate-enough process that doesn't feel overpowered. As for the evasive rolls, they're great for quickly ducking out of harm's way, but you'll take extra damage if you're shot while rolling, so you'll have to think twice about tumbling around too much. And if an enemy gets in your face, you can always bash him with whichever gun you've got equipped. These are all great-looking moves, made all the better since they're powerful. What's more, you can even disarm opponents by ripping their guns right out of their hands, provided you've got room to carry another. It's hard to imagine a more satisfying way to take out some dude on Xbox Live than by using his own weapon against him (preferably the butt of the weapon, for that matter).
User reviews
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Still Playing HALO
by aztovegas on December 5, 2005
Pros: Graphics are descent
Cons: Horrible shooter, online is always lagging, poor accuracy
Summary: The game itself is kinda fun, not really addicting, more or less a good game after 4 months of release when it hits Platinum status and is available for 20 ...
Summary: The game itself is kinda fun, not really addicting, more or less a good game after 4 months of release when it hits Platinum status and is available for 20 bucks. The backgrounds are good, but lets get to the meat of this. The only reason anyone bought this game was for an online shooter. What a sham. There is little accuracy if any when trying to shoot someone, and the game is so damn choppy you get motion sickness half the time from looking at it. The guns suck, they're practically all the same power and sniping is a joke. Get Call Of Duty. I got it, it's wonderfull. Hell, Im still playing HALO on my 360. Maybe our editor, no offense, should try playing these games instead of watching somebody else. That's how you determine if a game is good or not.
3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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this game is MY killer app title.
by thunderbomb24 on December 5, 2005
Pros: supreme graphics, addictive gameplay
Cons: i can't think of any right now...
Summary: I played the original Perfect Dark for the N64 was hard to beat, even Goldeneye 007 had some problems. To me this seems like a worthy successor.
The weapon assortment ...Summary: I played the original Perfect Dark for the N64 was hard to beat, even Goldeneye 007 had some problems. To me this seems like a worthy successor.
The weapon assortment is incredible, HD grapics and surround sound just make even better. I can't wait to see the storyline.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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DIg deeper for the goods
by scottdx on December 16, 2005
Pros: Graphics, weapons, LIVE
Cons: Inconsitent gameplay, weak storyline, no jumping
Summary: Dont judge this game the first time you play it, dig deeper into the online modes, the real gold is in Live..Darkops and Coop play are very very impressive.
Summary: Dont judge this game the first time you play it, dig deeper into the online modes, the real gold is in Live..Darkops and Coop play are very very impressive.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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its pretty fun
by alex73a on June 28, 2007
Pros: the brightness of the game make the ghraphics seem astounding
Cons: gameplay seems a little slow
Summary:
Updated
At first i thought the game sucked but after a while of playing it i started to like it more and moreSummary:
Updated
At first i thought the game sucked but after a while of playing it i started to like it more and more -
FUN, AND ADDICTIVE
by devo36 on March 11, 2007
Pros: DONīT BELIEVE THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS ABOUT POOR GRAPHICS, WELL BALANCED GAMEPLAY, COOL WEAPONS, COOL VEIHICLES TO DRIVE ON
Cons: SO-SO STORY,
Summary: THIS IS A SOLID GAME, THE GRAPHICS ARE VERY GOOD, VERY DETAILED FOREST AND RUINS,
Summary: THIS IS A SOLID GAME, THE GRAPHICS ARE VERY GOOD, VERY DETAILED FOREST AND RUINS,
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an awesome game that adapts to users
by thebigman777 on January 26, 2007
Pros: nice array of weapons and very good use of them and some kiss @ss graphics
Cons: nonthing at all
Summary: This game was the reason I got a 360 and it was well worth it. You'd have to be crazy to give it anything less.
Summary: This game was the reason I got a 360 and it was well worth it. You'd have to be crazy to give it anything less.
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Game is much better the more you play it
by PhishDK on July 24, 2006
Pros: Fun game, great online play
Cons: co-op mode can get tricky, at first xbox live mode wasn't too interesting but had to keep playing it before it got better
Summary: Perfect Dark Zero is one of those games where I didn't care too much about it at first but the more I played it the more I liked it. ...
Summary: Perfect Dark Zero is one of those games where I didn't care too much about it at first but the more I played it the more I liked it. When I first got this I was also playing Ghost Recon at the same time. These two are complete opposites but this game can be refreshing because it isn't so realistic and it seemed more people were into strategies using their headsets in this game more than any others. Now I prefer this game over most other shooting games (except Battlefield 2...another great game) and I would highly recommend it for play online. The missions in this game can get kind of hairy. I had to look up how to complete some missions because they don't come right out and tell you what to do, especially in co-op mode when you don't have the computer as a partner to do the simple things.
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Not worth the wait...
by driverJ on July 4, 2006
Pros: wondeful graphics, cool weapons, and did I mention cool weapons?
Cons: single player campaign, game play
Summary: After many long years of waiting for the sequel to one of the most loved N64 games (second only to Goldeneye on N64) I was let down big time on ...
Summary: After many long years of waiting for the sequel to one of the most loved N64 games (second only to Goldeneye on N64) I was let down big time on this one! The story was awful at best. The dialog could have been written better by a high school creative writing class. The plot was slow and unfulfilling at best. I have played nearly every first person shooter made and this is an average shooter enough to keep you blasting through each level of incompetent AI enemies. To follow in the foot steps of an excellent game such as Perfect Dark the game falls flat. Don't waste your money on this one.
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Unorganized, Slow Paced, Just Boring
by Hexomickey on May 23, 2006
Pros: Vehicles are cool, Pretty Nice Graphics, Good Weapon Variety
Cons: Slow movement, Slow Gameplay
Summary: I really don't understand why Cnet gave this game a 9.0..that's rediculous. I've read a few reviews that say you need to play it a ...
Summary: I really don't understand why Cnet gave this game a 9.0..that's rediculous. I've read a few reviews that say you need to play it a while to get into it, but I disagree. I played it for around 3 weeks online (because I had nothing else to play...wasted my money on this). Trust me, at first it's not very fun and it doesn't get any better. The movement is very slow so you it takes forever to gets places. Given the amount of recoil on the guns the players have too much health. I know alot of people are like...wow, he's probably a noob, but I was actually pretty good. The vehicles are pretty cool but are kind of hard to conrol and almost every vehicle worth getting it needs a gunner and it takes around 2 or 3 minutes to get a gunner. There is almost no teamwork at all...ever. Oh yeah, and the campaign sucks too.
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this game rocks (amazing multiplayer)
by ashesinthefall on March 4, 2006
Pros: amazing multiplayer, many multi player games, practically no lag
Cons: single player story is a bit short and the story line is wierd
Summary: this game is great. i think this and call of duty are the first 2 great xbox 360 games. although the single player isnt as good as call of duty ...
Summary: this game is great. i think this and call of duty are the first 2 great xbox 360 games. although the single player isnt as good as call of duty single player the multi player is awesome. it has tons of different types of multi player modes and tons of multi player challenges so it doesnt get old. also it has practically no lag like call of duty.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Microsoft Corp.
- Part number: 05365
- Description: Joanna Dark returns in the Xbox 360 exclusive Perfect Dark: Zero, the prequel to the internationally award-winning and multi-million selling first-person shooter Perfect Dark from famed game developer Rare. A secret war has begun between shadowy corporations bent on world domination. Joanna Dark and her father Jack are caught up in the fight for the future of the planet. A routine bounty hunting mission rips open a global conspiracy that will change Joanna's destiny - forever. Players must guide Joanna Dark on her journey to become the perfect agent. Featuring a compelling and captivating story, Perfect Dark: Zero plunges players into a world of corporate espionage and conspiracy. The title merges the excitement and intrigue of its predecessor with revolutionary game design, cutting-edge online play, and amazing graphics to deliver an experience that defines next-generation gaming and entertainment.
Product Basic Spec
- Platform Xbox 360
- ESRB rating Mature - Language,Blood,Violence
- Genre Action
- Elements Action - first person shooter
- Number of players 1-16 Players
- Connectivity Online,Live Aware,System Link,Broadband Only
- Difficulty Variable
- Learning curve About a half hour
- Offline modes Cooperative,Competitive,Team Oriented
- Online modes Competitive,Team Oriented,Cooperative
Game
- Developer Rare Ltd.
- ESRB Mature
- ESRB descriptors Language,Blood,Violence
Manufacturer info
- Microsoft Corp.
- Manufacturer profile
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- Website: http://www.microsoft.com/
- Address:
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052 - Phone: 425/882-8080
- Fax: (425) 706-7329
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