While not as popular or influential as its predecessor, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark certainly has its fans. I am not really one of them, so I don't have a whole lot to say about this game. Ok, byeee!
I have little reverance for this one, probably due to me skipping it when it released uhh, 23 years ago!? Jesus Christ. Of course, when collecting N64 games I knew I had to pick Perfect Dark up, as it's still a fairly iconic (if late) entry in the system's library. Not that it means much, the Nintendo 64 was so bereft of worthwhile games that the hurdle to collecting them is cost, not quantity. Point is, I finally possessed a copy that I paid real money for, and if you've made it through any number of my N64 reviews, then you know what that means: I've. Gotta. Finish iiiiiiiiit!!
Unfortunately, it just didn't land the same way with me that Goldeneye did. It's a fine game, but I think there's something to be said about Goldeneye's simplicity, and how Perfect Dark with its greater number of moving parts sometimes trips over itself. Some of the mission objectives just aren't that compelling, weapons just don't quite feel as good... About the only thing it really excels in over Goldeneye is its inclusion of voice acting and stronger focus on storytelling. Of course it looks better, too. Rare really wanted to push the graphical capabilities of the Nintendo 64 with Perfect Dark, and their efforts did result in one of the better looking games on the system. It also resulted in an absolutely atrocious framerate, and while Goldeneye is itself a far cry from "acceptable" in this regard, Perfect Dark bottoms out so much that a lot of the game feels like it's being played in slides.
None of that is enough to get me to hate the game, but it does make it difficult to fall as deeply into Perfect Dark as I'd like to. Some people feel very passionately about this one! I mean, I can kinda see why. There is some appeal to being able to hang out with a funny little alien. I love Elvis. Everyone loves Elvis. But there's just a bit too much here holding Perfect Dark back, and considering I lack the necessary amount of nostalgia to look past its faults, it just ends up being a very average - at times outright mediocre - shooter for me.
I have little reverance for this one, probably due to me skipping it when it released uhh, 23 years ago!? Jesus Christ. Of course, when collecting N64 games I knew I had to pick Perfect Dark up, as it's still a fairly iconic (if late) entry in the system's library. Not that it means much, the Nintendo 64 was so bereft of worthwhile games that the hurdle to collecting them is cost, not quantity. Point is, I finally possessed a copy that I paid real money for, and if you've made it through any number of my N64 reviews, then you know what that means: I've. Gotta. Finish iiiiiiiiit!!
Unfortunately, it just didn't land the same way with me that Goldeneye did. It's a fine game, but I think there's something to be said about Goldeneye's simplicity, and how Perfect Dark with its greater number of moving parts sometimes trips over itself. Some of the mission objectives just aren't that compelling, weapons just don't quite feel as good... About the only thing it really excels in over Goldeneye is its inclusion of voice acting and stronger focus on storytelling. Of course it looks better, too. Rare really wanted to push the graphical capabilities of the Nintendo 64 with Perfect Dark, and their efforts did result in one of the better looking games on the system. It also resulted in an absolutely atrocious framerate, and while Goldeneye is itself a far cry from "acceptable" in this regard, Perfect Dark bottoms out so much that a lot of the game feels like it's being played in slides.
None of that is enough to get me to hate the game, but it does make it difficult to fall as deeply into Perfect Dark as I'd like to. Some people feel very passionately about this one! I mean, I can kinda see why. There is some appeal to being able to hang out with a funny little alien. I love Elvis. Everyone loves Elvis. But there's just a bit too much here holding Perfect Dark back, and considering I lack the necessary amount of nostalgia to look past its faults, it just ends up being a very average - at times outright mediocre - shooter for me.
3 Comments
Unfortunately that just goes back to my oft repeated mantra of "I don't have any real life friends I can rope into this."
I don't have them either, at least for local co-op now days. Those same friends still game just we all moved apart. I doubt Perfect Dark's multiplayer has held up into the modern age anyway.
FallenGrace
1 year ago