GoldenEye 007 was recently named the third best game of all time by Edge Magazine and it retains the same spot in my personal top ten list.  Not only was GoldenEye a phenomenal success at retail, it was also an astounding critical success.  GoldenEye 007 combined a incredible single player game that managed to successfully relay the feeling of being James Bond with a now legendary multiplayer game that provided a ton of replay value.  Perfect Dark, the heir to the GoldenEye throne is now available.  Is it worthy of the same praise that GoldenEye received?

Perfect Dark takes place in the near future, 2023 to be exact.  Rival corporations, dataDyne and the Carrington Institute are locked in a battle over the use of technology.   dataDyne is more interested in insidious plots, whereas the Carrington Institute is more philanthropic.   It comes to the attention of Carrington researchers via dataDyne’s Dr. Carroll that dataDyne is involved in government and extraterrestrial conspiracies.  dataDyne finds out, and will stop at nothing to silence Dr. Carroll.  Enter Joanna Dark, the Carrington Institute’s newest and only agent to get perfect scores in her training.  Thus she gains the call sign "Perfect Dark," and must extricate Dr. Carroll from the clutches of dataDyne.  dataDyne’s thirst for power could lead to the destruction of humanity, and it’s up to agent Dark to stop them.

The amount of work that went into Perfect Dark is apparent from the moment you turn the game on.  From the morphing "N" logo, to the pounding beats and haunting voices, an ominous tone is set early on and it only gets stronger as you progress through the game. Right from the get-go there is an abundance of things to do:  the single player game, an extravagant multiplayer game, a co-op game, counter-op, training and more.  The game is simply huge, and could easily be split into 3 or 4 separate games. 

Thanks to Rare and the expansion pak, the Nintendo 64 is taken to the very brink of its graphical abilities.  The game sports tons of graphic effects, detailed textures, and tremendous visual design.  If you think a room is a little too illuminated for your tastes, shoot out the lights.   Is a glass wall keeping you back?  Shoot it out.  The character models have slightly more polygons than GoldenEye and have a smoother and more "real" look to them.  The game’s architectural design is simply awe-inspiring in some areas, and there is a real textural variation.  The visual splendor isn’t as good as, say, Banjo Kazooie, but the atmosphere doesn't require that it needs to be.  As per usual, Rare’s sense of style and design is as strong as their ability to push out top-notch visuals. 

Rare’s visual mastery has pushed beyond the mere looks.  Animation, weapons, and general environmental features are great looking as well.  Wounded enemies limp for cover, pick up weapons, and activate various machines.  They also converse with each other and show each other how to do various activities.  Environments come alive with weather effects, traffic, and passersby.  The only complaint would be slight frame rate drops when in large outdoor areas when running in hi res.   The graphics in Perfect Dark aren’t as sharp as those found in Unreal Tournament or Quake III, but they are easily more "alive" and interesting.   

Rare’s expertise with the Nintendo 64’s sound capabilities is again a highlight.  As with previous efforts, Jet Force Gemini and GoldenEye, Perfect Dark’s sound and music raise the bar.  A few of the musical pieces sound like slight variants on GoldenEye, but others are worthy of time in your CD player.  Of special note is "“dataDyne Action," probably my favorite piece in the game.  Music ranges from techno trance to instrumental pieces to reggae; all of it sets the perfect tone and immerses the gamer.   

The sound effects are top notch as well.  It is implemented in such a way as to fully embed the gamer in the world of 2023, with positional Dolby sound and lots of voice and chatter.  The more realistic weapons sound real as can be, and the more futuristic stuff is believable as well.  After a few hours with the game you’ll be able to distinguish by sound all of the game’s weapons and what firing mode they’re in.  It’s quite an achievement.  Hearing a dataDyne infantryman yell  "Bitch!" after you assemble a laptop gun and empty it in his direction really puts you in character.

Control in Perfect Dark will be familiar to anyone who has played a first-person shooter on the Nintendo 64.  Turok style, GoldenEye 007 style and several other control methods are available.  Weapons can be selected via GoldenEye 007’s rotation method or the Turok wheel method.  In addition to the primary function of each attack or weapon, there's a secondary function that is accessed by holding down the reload button.  The amount of actions accomplished through the Nintendo 64 controller is immense and easily accomplished.  From issuing orders to computer drones to arming sentry guns, the control is what it should be: perfect.  

Special mention should also be made of the gadgets and weapons in Perfect Dark.  In addition to all of the weapons from GoldenEye (unlockable in the game's firing range), there are the standard issue Falcon handgun with laser sight, the Falcon with a scope, and the Falcon with silencer.  There  are big weapons with fancy secondary functions: Dragon automatic rifle that can be converted into a disguised proximity mine; a laptop gun which doubles as a sentry gun.  There are more than 40 weapons in the game.  Then there are the gadgets: data download units, hacking equipment, and more.  The best gadget by far is the CamSpy.  The CamSpy is a remote controlled flying drone that Joanna can send out by remote to view unsafe areas, scout ahead, drug enemies, and various other surveillance techniques.   

Perfect Dark’s other modes are also lures for a player’s time.  Co-op mode places Joanna (player 1) and Joanna’s sister Velvet (player 2) in the middle of the single player game in attempt to solve it as a team.  The difficulty level is upped,  and it’s a lot of fun going at it with a bud.  Counter-op is the opposite of co-op, instead of both players working towards a mutual goal they have opposite goals.  Player one is Joanna and must play the game as usual, while player 2 is everyone else trying to stop her.  There is also the Carrington Institute.  It is the main menu screen, which is a building-it houses a holodeck, firing range, and other training facilities.  

Then there is the Combat Simulator, perhaps the best addition to Perfect Dark.  There is not enough room to even scratch the surface of this mode, so I’ll summarize as best as possible.  The Combat Simulator is the multiplayer mode, and it's the best and most comprehensive multiplayer mode in any game, ever.  Just like GoldenEye 007 you can start a game with 3 friends and blast each other.  But that is the very least of it.  Rare has added "simulants."  These are computer controlled AI opponents for multiplayer.  There can be up to 8 simulants and 4 humans.  But there’s more.  Every single aspect of multiplay can be customized: weapons and the frequency they occur, the levels and the type of game (from King of the hill to death match.)  The intelligence levels of the simulants can vary from meat (super dumb), normal (as good as a good human) to dark (super human).  Also customizable are the simulant philosophies:  JudgeSim attacks the player with the most points.  VengeSim attacks who killed him last.  PeaceSim collects weapons and refuses to fight.  You can create a character using heads and bodies from the game (including Shigeru Miyamoto and Ken Griffey Jr.) name your character and save it to the game or a controller pak.  It will track stats in several different categories.   Team members can be covered with a tint to help identify them for you. Have a red team?  Everyone has a red tint.  Yellow team equals yellow tint, and so forth.  Any and all aspects of the game can be micromanaged by the gamer, named and saved to a controller pak.  This means limitless possibilities and literally infinite options. 

Perfect Dark is an obvious labor of love from Rare.  Several delays have postponed the release of the game, but what Rare has given to gamers is a game that will make them forget the wait.  As a single player game that changes significantly based on the difficulty chosen would rank Perfect Dark as an all time great.  The addition of the other options and modes simply seal the game's classic status.  Combine all of this with great graphics, incredible sound, unlimited replay value, and a deeply involving and entertaining story.  Perfect Dark may be the best game ever made.  I can only shudder as my imagination conjures images of the sequel on Dolphin.

Although not required, Perfect Dark really begs to be used with the Expansion Pak.  Here's a chart that documents the amount of the game available to players with and without the pak: