Perfect Dark Zero [X360]

There was once a time when the first-person shooter was solely in the PC's domain. Then Nintendo and Rare released GoldenEye and Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64, both of which set the tone for all console FPS games to come. And they held onto the crown until Bungie's Halo once again redefined the console shooter experience. Now, with the launch of the Xbox 360 and Perfect Dark Zero, Rare is trying to reclaim the throne. While it's a worthy effort, Perfect Dark Zero lacks the polish and finesse to make the same impact as the original.

As a prequel to the original game, Perfect Dark Zero follows the sexy heroine Joanna Dark as she fights against the evil DataDyne corporation. Unfortunately, the threads that hold the story together are tenuous at best, level transitions are disjointed, and plot holes abound. A prime example occurs near the game's midpoint, when you have to rescue a prisoner. After you get to his cell, the level ends and any attacking guards simply disappear. The next level requires you to fight your way out from the same spot, yet your weapons have magically changed -- this lack of cohesion is a little absurd.

The single-player missions provide a great way to get used to the weapons and your abilities, but the level design leaves something to be desired. Objectives can be quite obtuse. More than once, "objective failed" inexplicably appeared on the screen without any rhyme or reason. There's nothing wrong with a challenge, but it's nice to know why you're failing so you can correct the mistake the next time around.

Gameplay in Perfect Dark Zero seems to have been heavily influenced by the stealth action genre, as Joanna Dark has more in common with Sam Fischer than Master Chief. Successfully completing the game, especially at the higher difficultly levels, requires heavy use of stealth tactics, not to mention discovering the optimum route through a level. Simply running and gunning isn't going to work here -- an alarm will go off, and with it, an endless stream of guards emerges.

Perfect Dark Zero also differs from standard FPS games in the amount of damage that both you and your opponents can take. Unless you land a headshot, expect to empty a full clip into a target to take him down. This results in a lot of reloading, during which you're quite vulnerable to counterattack. Thankfully, Joanna can take quite a bit of punishment herself, and her health bar recharges automatically, much like in Halo.

Enemy AI is decent enough -- it'll take cover during a firefight and occasionally move to flank you -- but for the most part the bad guys here behave much like they did in the original Perfect Dark which is something of a disappointment. It's all too easy to load up on ammunition, get the attention of a group and then run back to a choke point and simply pick them off as they rack through the door.