Perfect Dark Zero

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NA release: 22nd November 2005
EU release: 2nd December 2005
JP release: 10th December 2005
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Microsoft
NGC Magazine Score: N/A
Version Played: Xbox 360

While we got some good looks at Kameo on the GameCube, all we got from the second Perfect Dark was a quick look at Joanna Dark’s character model. Still, this game also has further N64/NGC Magazine connections as one of the magazine’s artists, Wil Overton, was hired by Rare to work on Perfect Dark Zero, who created a unique cel-shaded look for the game, only for it to be later turned into a “realistic” style.

With Xbox being the home of Halo, an immensely fun fast-paced shooter, Perfect Dark Zero comes across as a game that doesn’t know what it wants to be. The levels are linear but with some optional extra objectives, and the health bar recharges but the “full” amount will also deplete the more you get hit, creating a mixture of both styles of game.

But it’s the gunplay and enemy that really lets the game down, aiming feels extremely stiff, and the stealth just feels strange. If one enemy spots you (which they can do easily), then every enemy knows where you are. You can snipe someone at a distance and if they don’t die instantly, everyone will be alerted, even if the second shot kills you a second later. Enemies also don’t stand out in the busy environments and it is strangely difficult to work our where you’re bring shot from.

The multiplayer feels bit more like a classic shooter than the main campaign, and even features the Facility map from GoldenEye. It’s a really good option for a slower-paced mutliplayer shooter and features plenty of modes. It does feature a very out of place kill streak announcer (that only works for fast paced games like Halo), but it does feature bots so you can mess around with lots of options in split-screen. The slowness of the aiming still lets it down, it’s just an option for something a bit more retro if you don’t have an N64 (for GoldenEye and Perfect Dark) or a GameCube era console (for TimeSplitters 2 and 3).

Fine

Taken as a whole, Perfect Dark Zero is decidedly one of the best, fully featured Xbox 360 games so far, and it’s a compelling reason to spring for the system if you’ve been on the fence. While the game doesn’t reinvent the first-person shooter, which has been a mainstay of action gaming for more than a decade, it delivers one of the most highly refined and spectacular examples of this brand of gameplay to date.
Greg Kasavin, GameSpot

Did the GameCube Miss out?

The Gamecube had the TimeSplitters games, which are better successors to Perfect Dark.

Remake or remaster?

The backwards compatible version is fine.

Official Ways to get the game

Perfect Dark Zero is available on Xbox Series, either on its own or part of Rare Replay.