Perfect Dark is a game that challenged me. It's made me humble myself as a gamer. As old school games like this make me realize why I fell in love with the medium in the first place. First off, the shooting is phenomenal. I'm a mid 00s zoomie, so FPS games like this are not what I grew up with. Nope, I grew up with big budget shooters like Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Titanfall 2, and Halo Reach. All kino experiences. However, I did get a taste for the old school when, in 2019, I played 007 Nightfire on a 50 dollar PS2 (pre-pandemic retro prices mog today's). Auto-aim, cool gadgets, expansive levels with secrets galore. I enjoyed it at the time, but compared to Perfect Dark, that game was a cakewalk. Perfect Dark on the other hand, kicked my ass. It made me realize how much of a scrub gamer I was. Matter of fact, the reason there is such a long gap between my start and finish date is because I rage quitted!!! Originally my verdict on Perfect Dark was that, it was outdated, overrated, and too vague in it's level design for players to understand. Needless to say, I was butthurt and didn't know what the hell I was talking about! Now that I've beaten the game, I've come to the realization that I love it. The story is super creative and superbly paced. It's an engaging sci-fi espionage tale for the ages. I found it Incredibly riveting. The level design is straight up brilliant. It initially came off to me as hard because I never cared to invest the time into understanding what I was actually playing. However, once I decided to read through the short debriefs before each mission, I realized the game gives you all the tools you need to succeed. It's up to YOU, the player, to execute them. Even if you don't read it, the mission will literally drop almost unavoidable hints about when to use an item to complete a specific task, but because it wasn't spelled out for me, I was initially filtered. Now I see it for what it is. An essential element that keeps the game balanced, whilst preserving the mystery of what's to come. Old-school game design that puts gameplay first. It's organic and efficient, so I have to give it props for wonderful level design. Following that, the shooting in this game feels amazing. The guns are diverse and feel remarkably different from one another. The spy weapons also all have their own personality as well as niche. It all makes for a satisfying gameplay loop of combining the two to complete the objectives for the mission. Also, I must praise the soundtrack, which fits the tone, oh so perfectly. Overall, Perfect Dark Zero is without a doubt a game I love. It's a game that rekindles my love for the medium and inspires me to play more as well as think outside the box! Not to mention, no spoilers, but this game has a satisfying and challenging final boss which I now consider in my top 10.

This was one of the games I grew up playing, and this particular one was my absolute favourite!
I always loved the "Secret Agent" theme, just as I always loved the "Aliens and Area 51" theme!
This game has a sort of Cyberpunk aesthetic, in a futuristic world (which btw takes place in 2023!!! The game was released in 2000, you know...). The perfect agent Joanna Dark (I love this reference) is highly skilled and equiped with some crazy fun high-tech gadgets. Her stealth skills and her intelligence show to be as high as her irreverence... which I LOVE.
To be short, this is a fantastic game, and I recommend ANYONE to try this in an emulator such as 1964 GEPD (it allows mouse and keyboard), if not possible to experience it in the N64 (which was my first way of appreciating it, sooo many years ago...)