The Good: Awesome presentation, featuring cutting-edge graphics and sound; delicious assortment of high-powered near-future weapons; excellent cooperative mission mode lets you play split screen or online; lots of multiplayer options, including some clever twists on familiar themes; one of the best original soundtracks this year.
The Bad: Characters can look ugly up close, plus some other minor graphical glitches; some missions are frustrating, especially since you can't save midmission; pretty weak storyline is incidental to all the action.
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. From its ravishing good looks and totally first-rate audio, to the believable feel of its outstanding weapons, to its wealth of single- and multiplayer options, Perfect Dark Zero delivers just about everything you could hope for from a first-person shooter.
HATERS AM CRY