There's also a default feature that's worth noting, and you'll wonder how you ever played a FPS without it. If you're lost and wandering, headquarters will offer a path to take to make it to the objective. These blue arrows are invaluable, and it's not cheating either. It's there if you want it, and given the amount of similar areas and dead ends, you'll likely need it to save yourself a few hours.
Xbox Live play offers 32 players at once in a wide variety of clashes. With fewer numbers, the stages will decrease in size to compensate, and that's another feature that should become standard. Co-op is also a needed feature, and even in split screen, PDZ runs smoothly.
The few minor gripes with the game are legitimate. Enemies take an awfully long time to cycle through their death animations, and for the majority of kills, you won't know if they're dead or not. Be prepared to fire off multiple unnecessary rounds just to be sure. This is also a title set for HDTVs, and quality of the textures takes a remarkable swing upward when played in the proper resolution. If you're playing on a standard set and have complaints about the textures, it's your TV not the game.
For quite a few people, it's going to be hard to distinguish what makes Perfect Dark Zero stand out. Joanna can't jump and it shouldn't be such a glaring omission, yet it makes the game feel slightly behind. The mechanics offer nothing revolutionary, but the overall package does come together to provide everything a FPS should. It's not all that common that we'll see a game capture what fans of the genre want, and that's where Zero is a success.
Perfect Dark Zero is a rated M (Mature) by the ESRB for Violence, Blood and Gore, and Language.
(**** out of *****)
Article comments
1 - KingKRool
Man I love Rare. Most of my friends think they've declined since Microsoft bought them but I think they're still okay. Too bad they couldn't release Donkey Kong Racing on the Gamecube though...