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| | Title:
Perfect Dark Zero
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System:
Xbox 360
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Genre:
First Person Shooter
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Publisher:
Microsoft
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Developer:
Rare
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Release:
11/22/2005
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Online:
Yes
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ESRB:
Mature (M)
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Despite Microsoft’s best efforts to say otherwise, Perfect Dark Zero does exist. If the last statement has you puzzled; read on. Every console needs a killer-ap come launch day; a game, which is herald as the second coming that it will change how we as gamers will experience our past time. For the Xbox this was Halo, and now for the Xbox 360 it is Perfect Dark Zero. What has been odd about Perfect Dark Zero is that despite filling the role of the killer-ap, Microsoft has been very timid about releasing any information regarding the game (up until X05 that is). During the MTV unveiling hardly any footage was shown. At E3 PDZ was not available except behind closed doors. Even then it wasn’t playable. Was Microsoft hiding something? In a sense they were. Everyone knows the first batch of gameplay footage on the Xbox 360 wasn’t received with open arms. To many it wasn’t next-gen quality. But Microsoft was saving their gem until X05: Perfect Dark Zero. In a sea of now impressive games Perfect Dark Zero comes off as the most ambitious.
Perfect Dark Zero is a prequel to Perfect Dark, which was released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. Perfect Dark Zero tells the story of how Ms. Dark went from being the girl-next-door to the super spy we know her as in Perfect Dark. Joanna’s father plays a big role in the story and thanks to the ads being shown it seems that evil corporations will be the evil entity of choice. Beyond this the story of Perfect Dark Zero is being kept secret.
Like its older sister, Perfect Dark Zero is a first person shooter. But Rare decided to handle the genre differently. The result is a mix of old and new ideas, which are melding into one beautiful package (we’ll get to the graphics later). First off, Rare has added in a new dodging feature shown off recently at the X05. Even though this is a first person shooter there are frequent times when the camera pulls back to third person. One of these occasions is when using the dodge. Joanna can dodge forward and to either side. This allows her to quickly find cover if ambushed or to dodge enemy fire if there is nowhere else to hide. The transition from third person to first person is painless and does not disorient the player. A second gameplay addition is the use of cover. Should the player walk up to the correct structure a small icon will appear and by pressing the appropriate button (in this case “A”) the camera will whip back into third person and Jo will position herself against whatever she is using as cover. Players can still return fire but whether there be a penalty in accuracy or rate of fire will only be known when the game is tested hands on.
Like the growing trend in FPSs Joanna will be able to wield two weapons at the same time. But this will not be overdone. Only certain weapons can be held in both hands and combinations will yield different results. Hopefully, Perfect Dark Zero will have a much more manageable dual-wielding system than the current champ Halo 2. The types of weapons available to Joanna are a mix of old and new. Veterans of the original Perfect Dark will smile to hear that one of the favorite weapons; the laptop gun is indeed returning complete with its secondary mode as a deployable turret. Infact all the weapons in PDZ will have a secondary function. This too was found in Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64. Rare seems to be taking the approach that if it wasn’t broken, don’t try and fix it.
Perfect Dark Zero will take full advantage of Xbox Live as well. A maximum of thirty-two players will be supported during game types. This is a step back from the rumored fifty by Rare but you have to realize that Halo 2 has a maximum of only sixteen; thirty-two is plenty. Also with the addition of bots only two players will in theory be able to play huge matches online. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch are standard here as well as some class based objective gametypes that have yet to be revealed in detail. Rare is taking great efforts to blur the line between those who stink and those who are good when it comes to Perfect Dark Zero. This is mostly done with the health system. There will be two bars for health; one for actual health and the other for armor. The health bar can never be regenerated, the armor one can. Eventually the best player in the world will run out of health and die. This way someone who is really good at Perfect Dark Zero cannot horde health packs and effectively lockdown the maps.
With Xbox 360’s launch coming closer and closer the biggest question on the minds of gamers is will Perfect Dark Zero be a launch title? The general opinion of gamers and sotres is that it will be a day one launch title. Microsoft has already stated they won’t launch games until they are ready (Halo 2 was a great indication of this) and by playing it safe has it listed as a "Christmas Holiday" launch. The best way to think of Perfect Dark Zero’s launch will be in the window between when the Xbox 360 is released until Christmas; PDZ will definitely come out by then. Here’s hoping it does for the Xbox 360 what Halo did for the Xbox.
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ahnonamis
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