Bryn: Countless years after the successes of GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64, Rare and Microsoft finally presented the first real meat on the much-anticipated prequel, which is now coming exclusively to the Xbox 360. Perfect Dark Zero is hot. No two ways about it. It's not just the new rendition of Joanna Dark that's hot, either. Nope. It's the fact that what I saw running on the soon-to-be replaced pre-alpha 360 hardware represented around 30 percent of the game's true potential.
The focus of the show's build was the online multiplayer stuff, and not much was said about the 15 or so single-player missions and storyline. But the very fact that Rare reckons it'll easily be able to get up to 64 players online at once is reason enough for trouser-filling excitement. Visually impressive and featuring a bunch of slick weapons and game-balancing tactics, it's safe to say that Perfect Dark Zero is unlikely to disappoint when it hits the Xbox 360 towards the tail end of the year.
Will: I didn't really know what to expect from Perfect Dark Zero, as everything I had seen was underwhelming Â… to say the least. The game made its debut on the MTV unveiling of the Xbox 360, and it was pretty obvious to many people who watched that Microsoft should have waited a bit longer to give the game a proper showing. It suffered from some pretty serious framerate problems, as fact that wasn't helped by MTV's use of handheld cameras and jumpy editing. Fans of the game (of which there are many) were prepared to riot in the streets, and Microsoft decided not to show the game on the floor of E3.
I was amazed, then, when we got into the demo room at Microsoft's booth and came face to face with one of the best-looking titles I had seen up until that point. Everything in the game looked crisp and sharp, and the "parallax mapping" technique that Rare was leaning heavily on made for some truly impressive textures. It wasn't a big thing, but I was hooked when the demoer showed me the cobblestones under the player's feet. Each one looked different from the next, and they all appeared to be in 3D. They weren't, however, but my brain was sufficiently tricked.
All of the cool visual tricks in the world don't mean jack if the gameplay is weak, but it looks like Perfect Dark Zero will feature lots of fun mechanics, including the ability to swipe a weapon right out of an opponent's hand and turn it on them. There are a ton of fun gadgets and tricks, too, such as the alternate fire found on the sniper rifle which allows players to see their opponents through walls. Now you'll know exactly where their heads will poke out from, and you can peel their caps with the greatest of ease. Of course, there are plenty of defensive measures, too, but we don't want to ruin all of the surprises for you.
Provided that Rare can actually get everything up and running smoothly by the Xbox 360's launch day, Perfect Dark Zero should do a lot to help ease whatever tensions exist between the company and Microsoft. Bill Gates and friends have been waiting for the Brits to deliver for years, and it looks like it'll finally be getting its money's worth.
