I think we all remember the game Perfect Dark for the ever-famous N64 system. I sure do. It was one of the most impressively displayed and well-designed games that I had ever owned for the 64-Bit system generation. I remember the impressive graphics, the well-designed levels, the unpredictable plot, and the wonderful array of weaponry.

Well, Rare hasn’t abandoned us quite yet. They have announced the release of the prequel game: Perfect Dark Zero for the most anticipated item of 2005, the Xbox 360. PDZ has been one of the most controversial topics of the Xbox 360 line-up. People want to know, how well is the new game? When does the game take place? How are the controls? Well, you’re in luck. I did a little research and have collected information to answer your questions!

The game is set before the original Perfect Dark in the year 2020. It follows how Joanna become involved and how she gets more involved as time progresses with the evil cooperation dataDyne, who’s trying to reach arms out around different parts of the world. Missions are definitely in more variety in this game, ranging from rooftop missions, subway retrieval, and even underwater.

I’m sure the greatest addition to the game elements is online support. You can now go online with just random people or your best buddies and play co-op missions. All the weapons and single player ops will be available for you and your friends to either duke it out, or join forces and fight together.

Both weaponry and controls are very remarkable. Almost all weapons have double-wield abilities, as well as a very creative and effective secondary mode. One example would be the laptop gun. In its primary mode, you can use it as a normal machine gun. But, switch that baby over to its secondary mode, and you have a full featured automated sentry gun, meaning that it will automatically pick off any nearby enemies.

Now, onto controls. Since the game is created from the legendary 007 video-game maker RareWare, you can be sure that the controls and looks will be flawless. Unlike the 64-bit version, PDZ features full camera and player control. Never has a first person shooter sported such stable and easy controls as PDZ does. Although, Goldeneye (N64) was very well done considering they only had one control stock to work with. Firing and navigating your character around is easily done simultaneously, as well as changing weapons and their functions.

Graphically, the game is simply awe-inspiring. Perfect Dark Zero sports some of the smoothes, and most detailed presentation that I’ve seen so far in the Xbox line-up. Every gun has its own different projectile effect. Some are blue lasers, or yellow beams, or some weird plasmic projectile. The levels are very deeply detailed and intricate. Same goes for the lighting affects. You can certainly tell this game takes advantage of the Xbox 360’s true power.

Sadly, the game is not officially a release title. Meaning, the game won’t be launched on the same day as the 360 will be. It is scheduled for this year though, and it will definitely be out before the holidays. You can pick up the Collectors Edition for $59.99 or the regular version for $49.99. I’m not exactly clear on what the extra $10 will be for, but it’s bound to involve the color gold and the text “Collectors Edition�
All prices are USD

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