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#14 - Perfect Dark - First released May 22nd, 2000 (N64)
Also, look at the box there, it says "Expansion Pak REQUIRED". Granted, yes, this was near the end of the N64's life cycle as the GameCube would be announced the same year, so many gamers already had the Expansion Pak, it's just odd how Nintendo would require something to play their games, I'm sure they won't do that in the future (Looks at all the Wii nunchucks and the Wii Fitness Board I somehow own) ....well shit.
Moving on.
Perfect Dark was the next game from Rare after the widely successful Goldeneye game. A lot of the same mechanics stayed from that game, but, obviously, the setting and characters and story are unique. I can recall this being one of the first few instances in gaming (at least in my experience) where your protagonist is a kick-ass femme fatale (the other big game, naturally, being Tomb Raider).
The setting and the characters kinda reminded me a bit of Blade Runner and anything that can get me thinking of that is great in my books. By and large, however, this game owes a lot of its success to Goldeneye since it acted as the next drug for us. That's not to say this game didn't stand out on its own merits since it totally did. The graphics were improved from Goldeneye, there was a lot of dialogue, and plenty of Easter Eggs, including Robin Williams' face being used as Daniel Carrington. Seriously, go look at it, you'll all say "Really?". (Yes it is actually Robin Williams).
The campaign was a great future-espionage story which still had the hooks of unlocking characters and modes by completing the missions fast and efficiently, so replayability was extremely high here. Also, the local multiplayer was still in effect and it was still a lot of fun to talk trash to your friends while gunning them down.
The big draw for me here was being able to play 8-player matches against bots. This was still a relatively new thing, especially for me since I didn't have a great gaming PC for most of my life and games like Battlefield 1942 were still on the way. If I couldn't hang out with my friends, I could still play multiplayer Perfect Dark against enemies and still have a fun, chaotic, challenging experience. I attribute PD for starting my love of games that have bots since this allows games to continue to have multiplayer while not solely rely on actual people constantly playing the game. This also allows me to actually have a good time since people who play a multiplayer game often and a lot are usually great at it and bots can be as dumb as you want them to be.
Another big thing was the staggering amount of stat tracking this game had. You could see how many games you played, how many you won/lost, how long you've been playing (which I always feel is a little depressing no matter what the actual time is), kills, deaths, accuracy %, headshots, and on and on. It was incredible and really paved the way for future shooters like Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Halo.
Let's take a look at some combat from Perfect Dark in one of the most iconic maps in video games: Facility from Goldeneye 007.
If you don't still have your N64, and shame on you, you can now play the HD version on Xbox Live Arcade, multiplayer and all. Though there is something so surreal about holding an N64 controller while trying to use the Farsight.
HOLY SHIT THE FARSIGHT!
One of the best/most annoying weapons in video games, the Farsight XR-20 allowed you to kill anyone with one shot from anywhere in the map. Watch it in action:
It's the best when you have it, and the worst when you turn a corner, see nothing, and just die at the hands of your buddy who is across the map.
I remember losing so many nights to Perfect Dark and a lot of bot killing. While N64 games in general are hard to go back to and may not stand the test of time, Perfect Dark still will bring hours of fun and I have no problems playing this today.
Though, man, wouldn't it be cool if they made a new Perfect Dark?....no I mean one that's actually good.
The campaign was a great future-espionage story which still had the hooks of unlocking characters and modes by completing the missions fast and efficiently, so replayability was extremely high here. Also, the local multiplayer was still in effect and it was still a lot of fun to talk trash to your friends while gunning them down.
The big draw for me here was being able to play 8-player matches against bots. This was still a relatively new thing, especially for me since I didn't have a great gaming PC for most of my life and games like Battlefield 1942 were still on the way. If I couldn't hang out with my friends, I could still play multiplayer Perfect Dark against enemies and still have a fun, chaotic, challenging experience. I attribute PD for starting my love of games that have bots since this allows games to continue to have multiplayer while not solely rely on actual people constantly playing the game. This also allows me to actually have a good time since people who play a multiplayer game often and a lot are usually great at it and bots can be as dumb as you want them to be.
Another big thing was the staggering amount of stat tracking this game had. You could see how many games you played, how many you won/lost, how long you've been playing (which I always feel is a little depressing no matter what the actual time is), kills, deaths, accuracy %, headshots, and on and on. It was incredible and really paved the way for future shooters like Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Halo.
Let's take a look at some combat from Perfect Dark in one of the most iconic maps in video games: Facility from Goldeneye 007.
If you don't still have your N64, and shame on you, you can now play the HD version on Xbox Live Arcade, multiplayer and all. Though there is something so surreal about holding an N64 controller while trying to use the Farsight.
HOLY SHIT THE FARSIGHT!
One of the best/most annoying weapons in video games, the Farsight XR-20 allowed you to kill anyone with one shot from anywhere in the map. Watch it in action:
It's the best when you have it, and the worst when you turn a corner, see nothing, and just die at the hands of your buddy who is across the map.
I remember losing so many nights to Perfect Dark and a lot of bot killing. While N64 games in general are hard to go back to and may not stand the test of time, Perfect Dark still will bring hours of fun and I have no problems playing this today.
Though, man, wouldn't it be cool if they made a new Perfect Dark?....no I mean one that's actually good.
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