The Bond, Quake, Half-Life Killer!

Something cool came out a few months after the Nintendo 64's release. A little old game called, Golden Eye came out. It was based on a movie, which is always a bad sign for video games, and not a very good movie at that. I think it came to everyone's surprise when the game turned out to be one of the best games ever made. It set a whole new standard in first-person shooters, and gave one of the best multi-player features of all time. Yep, Golden Eye had big shoes to fill, for the king of first person shooters, and leave it to Rare, the same people who made Golden Eye to totally annihilate their Bond masterpiece, and give the crown to the new king of first person shooters, Perfect Dark.

Perfect Dark has a similar play style to Bond, but everything has improved, and I mean big time. The Golden Eye arsenal? Weak! Compared to Perfect Dark's plethora of guns. The game has 40+ weapons, including some of Bond's best ones. You've got some totally ruthless tools to use. I'll mention some of my favorites. There is the tranquilizer gun, which can come in particularly handy in the multiplayer. You shoot your opponent with that, and they'll think they are having an acid flash back. Then there is this X-Ray gun, that can see through walls clear on the other side of the level. It's a great way to pick off beginners. There are tons of cool weapons.

Of course you have a lot more levels. More people to chose from on the multiplayer, you can play with four people as well. You can have your multiplayer matches, there is standard story mode, there are challenges which earn your tons of secrets. If you don't have anyone to play with, you can still have a death match by adding simulants.

Golden Eye was a fairly easy game. You could run through levels, kill guys, run to the end, and bam! Next mission. Not the case with Perfect Dark. I've had this game since last summer, and I still haven't beaten it. Why? Cause it's REALLY hard. If I have any complaint, it's that this game is too challenging.

Remember in Golden Eye how all the bad guys looked the same? Not the case with Perfect Dark each enemy has their own unique face. I think it's awesome, but I think this perhaps could be bad for little kids. What if a little kid runs into a guard that looks just like Uncle Fred...

As far as graphics go, they are some of the best out there. I think this game has the best lighting and color shading I've seen, that is including the Playstation 2. It has a great score, and awesome voice acting. Your enemies shout great phrases at you win you shoot them.

The game has just about the best replay value of any game out there. There is just so much you can do. You've got the single player mode, multiplayer, challenges, your own death matches, carrion institute where you can practice on a target range, you can play the story mode with another player, and the options...I won't even get started.

I've had this game for awhile, but it's a game that I still keep coming back to. That's always a sign of a great game. It also is great game to play at the frat house or with anyone for that matter. The learning curve isn't too tough, so anyone can play. Although, whether or not you can play with anyone is another matter. This is the type of game that seperates the men from the boys.

Note- To all you video game buffs out there...don't forget to pick up your copy of Rare's newest masterpiece, Conker's Bad Fur Day, I'm getting mine tomorrow. It's sure to be the last great Nintendo 64 game.