Perfect Dark Zero Review

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

The overall feel of multiplayer takes quite a bit of getting used, however, and isn’t for everybody. The characters feel like they are moving very slowly and if you are used to playing other online FPS games it just feels wrong. Also, it takes way too many shots to actually kill someone. You can go through three or four clips from a pistol before enemies go down. The idea is to try and get headshots which will do the deed in just one or two shots, but the slow movement and slow cursor speed (you need to adjust this in the options to even stand a chance, but even at 100% sensitivity it is too slow for me) make going for headshots against opponents that are rolling and dodging and generally spazzing out trying to get away from you risky business. The amount of time it takes to reload a weapon also seems longer than it should.

On the plus side, everyone playing the game is going through the same troubles as you are and when you remember that the whole experience becomes a lot more enjoyable. Playing with a bunch of people and bots makes for some really hectic and exciting games that are a lot of fun. It isn’t perfect, but it is fun and worth picking up with your Xbox 360. With a few tweaks it could be something special.

Co-Op And Other Modes

Perfect Dark Zero also includes some other modes besides the single player campaign and multiplayer. You can play through the story mode in co-op, which makes it a lot more fun and it is made even better still by the fact that each player will have individual goals in each level. You still have to protect each other and double up on tough sections, but you also have your own things to do which makes the levels very exciting and far more interesting than when you play by yourself. You can play co-op in splitscreen, over system link, or on Xbox Live. Between beating the story mode on all of the difficulty levels and beating up on bots offline, there is a lot to do here if you don’t have Xbox Live. The game really shines online, however, and with stat tracking, leaderboards, and the simple rush of wailing on other people you definitely will get more out of the game with an Xbox Live Gold membership.

Graphics And Sound

Graphically, Perfect Dark Zero is a good looking game for the most part but there are some areas that could have used a little more work. The environments seem unrealistically shiny, but when you get up close and personal to any object they are insanely detailed and look outstanding. The lighting effects and explosions and pretty much everything in the levels look great. The characters, on the other hand, aren’t too terribly detailed and could have probably been done on the Xbox. The animation also leaves quite a bit to be desired. It is very highly polished overall, though, and has a definite “next-gen’ look to it.

The sound is also a mix of good and bad. The voice actors do only a so-so job and the announcer in multiplayer is downright annoying. On the other hand, the weapons and sound effects are very good and are nice and loud which is something I really appreciate. The music is a mix of techno and rock and has a distinct Rare/James Bond-type sound to it. Some tracks are better than others, but if you find you don’t like it at all you can just use a custom soundtrack.

Bottom Line

Perfect Dark Zero is a solid FPS that looks and sounds like a winner, but it falters a little bit in the gameplay department. The story mode offers nothing we haven’t already seen before, but Rare smartly included co-op play which can make even the most bland games 10x more fun. Multiplayer is filled with options and modes and things to see and do, but the slow as molasses gameplay takes a long time to get used to. Once you do get used to it it can be a lot of fun, but it is in no way better than some of the other recent FPS that have hit the original Xbox. Overall, though, the complete package is better than its individual parts. Perfect Dark Zero stands as the best multiplayer game available at the Xbox 360 launch and because of this it is still worth owning. It doesn’t reinvent the FPS wheel, but it sure looks pretty.