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By Steven Hopkins on December 21st, 2001
Introduction Well they kinda lied. I only say kinda because the style of the game is the same. However, Bond has been replaced by Jonna Dark, the Russians have been replaced by the skedar, and trvelan has been replaced by the mysterious Mr. Blonde. I want to warn you in advance this IS rater M and it deserved that rating. It’s a lot more violent than Goldeneye and I wouldn’t recommend to anyone under 15 at the least. Basically view this as a super updated goldeneye.Presentation The main "base" in this game is Carrington Institute. You’ll have several menu options right off the bat. Co-operative and Counter-operative are the two new options. Co-operative is where you and a friend are on the same "team" and trying to accomplish the same things. Counter-operative is just the opposite. You’ll notice that the aiming goes the opposite direction that you push, unlike in Goldeneye. This will seem awkward at first but soon you’ll wonder how you could aim in Goldeneye. Another cool feature that is helpful is when you’re aimed at a target the aimer goes from green to red.Graphics & Sound This isn’t too stunning compared with the next-gen systems but is superior for the N64 so you’ll just have to struggle thru it. The Graphics are the reason this game is rated M. The blood looks real and the bodies stay on the screen for a while. Additionally the enemies give cries of terror before their death. Let me stress again that this is not for younger gamers. The sound is eerily futuristic and fits just about everywhere.Gameplay This is where the game truly shines. Everything from Goldeneye is here not to mention a truckload of new stuff witch will make Goldeneye seem awfully primitive. This one I’ll talk about is the secondary fire mode. This basically means a weapon is really two wrapped in one. Some of the most common secondary fire modes are pistol whip and threat detector. Next are the new guns. There’re amazing cool and powerful. Ranging from a gun that can hit anyone any where to good old-fashioned knives. Next is the cloaking technology. Basically for a limited time you don’t show up on radar and can’t be seen unless you fire a gun. Next up there’s the hugely advanced Multi-player mode. You thought Goldeneye had it all? Perfect dark’s Multi-player mode makes goldeneye’s look like pong. It even has its most famous courses including Facility. Next there are the different Modes. King of the Hill, Hold the case, and Pop the cap are all a blast. In king of the hill you must hold a certain area for 30 seconds to get a point, In Hold the case for every 30 seconds you hold a briefcase you get a point, In pop the cap one person is singled put and for every minute they live they get a point but if you kill them, you get two. Add to that Sims and a combat simulator and you have the most kick ass multiplayer game in the history of videogames. I forgot to even bring up the shooting range as well.Lasting Appeal Another area of excellence for this fitting game. The mission takes long enough itself plus if you really want to beat everything, you’ll have to do it with and against a friend in Co and counter operative modes. Next there’s the Multiplayer. You have to win Combat scenarios to unlock all of the guns. Not only that but there’s an overall ranking system out of 20. I’ve had the game for around a year and I’m still at 7. You’ll just keeping coming back if you’re the kind of gamer that beats everything.Conclusion All in all the best gift you can give any gamer with a N64 over 16. This just blows Goldeneye senseless, annihilates it in every single aspect a game could have. Simply the best work Rare has ever done. Forget the fact it’s not on a next-gen system it’s a better shooter than anything they’ve produced. I will be first in line at my local age store when they release Perfect Dark 2 and so should you. | 
