Perfect Dark Zero is the prequel to the hugely successful game Perfect Dark, brought to you by Microsoft Game Studios and the legendary developers Rare.
Rare have been developing this game for more than 5 years and it’s easy to see why. Beautiful graphics, near-perfect special effects topped off with awesome gameplay makes this game the gem of the Xbox360 launch line-up.
In the game you play “Joanna Dark” an agent thrown into a mysterious world full of espionage, conspiracy and a secret global conflict. The single player game focuses on this global conflict. At the start of the game you choose your level, Agent, Secret Agent or Perfect Agent. This changes the tactics of a level. So, for instance, if you entered a room and you had to get past a guard and then kill another, in Agent you could probably cover yourself from enemy fire by hiding behind a table or large object, but in Secret Agent you would not have this protection — the room changes every time you play it, maximum replayability! This is a major plus point of the game as inexperienced users can hone their skills and experienced players can test their skills, both using different tactics.
The tactics you can use have been improved by the addition of some welcomed extras. The big extra is the inclusion of vehicles ranging from the hovercrafts to motorcycles. These weapons will add to the gameplay by creating another dimension for the gamer to dive into.
Gameplay has also been improved by the Xbox live system, it’s been used perfectly in this game, utilising many key points. The biggest point is the scalable map, a map which “grows” with the amount of players online, so if you were playing a couple of friends then some parts of the map would be unavailable, but as more people join, the map increases to accommodate the extra play. Over 32 players can play on these maps, which means a lot fun! Another welcome addition to the multi player experience is when you are playing you can only chat to your team-mates, this makes it easier for you to keep track on how they are doing. Rare could have chosen to go for the proximity chat where you can chat to people in your area, but I think they made the right decision by not going down that route.
Another right decision made by Rare is the inclusion of new multi-player modes, one of which is KillTV. This is where you can watch any live multi-player game to pick up any weakness or strengths of opponents. Other multi-player modes available are, Death-match (In this game called “Killcount”), Team Killcount and Capture the Flag.
But the most interesting of all these modes is the new Dark-Ops mode. This is a new way to play multiplayer. For the first time in the multiplayer genre you have to use your brain. This mode is like counter-strike, it plays out in rounds. You buy your weapons, gadgets and vehicles before each round. This makes the game more challenging, for both opponents. If you still want to play this game with some of your friends, but don’t want to mess about with Xbox live then there’s the inclusion of four player split screen and co-operative action. This rounds off the action quite nicely, I don’t think Rare can fit any more action into this game!
Overall, this game has everything going for it and the sheer array of features makes you want to play it, never mind the amazing gameplay.
