Game Debate #96: Perfect Dark

[Reed Rothchild | 9,683]

[Gloves | 12,002]

This > that other game.

[Skorp | 383]

One of my all time favorites for N64. Absolute killer game.

[JamesRobot | 5,865]

Isn't that the Goldeneye ripoff.

[TDIRunner | 2,809]

I've played it, but probably not enough to properly rate it.  I loved GoldenEye and what little I've played of PD told me I would probably enjoy it but for some reason I just haven't gotten around to giving it a proper playthrough.  

[Dr. Morbis | 2,105]

Technically way better than Goldeneye, to the point that you would think there would be no reason to ever play Goldeneye again... HOWEVER, there is something just completely missing from Perfect Dark.  It doesn't have a fifty year old beloved franchise behind it with all that that entails, and the efforts to distance itself from said license (female character, fighting aliens, come on!) just seems so ridiculously contrived.

I'll take "the Bond game" with it's killer Bond music and Bond gadgets and Bond atmosphere over the "technically" better sequel anyday, and based on how much I see either game discussed and referenced and played by gamers twenty years on, it looks like 99% of the rest of the internet seems to agree...

[peg | 380]

This is supposed to be the "better" version of goldeneye 64? No thanks.

[Webhead123 | 693]

Still haven't played it, although it was one I actively wanted to rent at its time of release. My N64 library was very limited back in the day, so most of the catalog suffered that fate.

I imagine (like most console FPS games of its time) it probably isn't the easiest game to try playing today, although I'd be willing to give it a shot. Still, when it comes to shooters, I'm very picky, so there's no knowing if it would have the kind of qualities that would make me stick with it.

Edited April 8, 2022 by Webhead123

[RH | 5,058]

@Dr. Morbis spelled it out perfectly.  I can see too how this is "technically" the better game but there is a very important under-current to GoldenEye that is simply the franchise.  Perfect Dark being a 100% new story meant they could get really creative with their weapons and since they were learning from their experience of building GoldenEye 007, they could refine the engine and simply make the experience "better".

Technically, yes it is better but something about it just felt flat.  I remember playing it as a kid.  I think I got about 75% through the story before I gave up on it.  It wasn't too hard, I just lost interest.  I've not picked it up since then.  I have it on my shelf, so I should give it another try.  Maybe I'll like it a bit more, but considering that I could wear out GoldenEye, even after I beat the game ad naseum, but I couldn't finish this game, I gave it a 6.

[RH | 5,058]

8 hours ago, peg said:

This is supposed to be the "better" version of goldeneye 64? No thanks.

I'd still say it's worth a try.  At least to see where the Rare team could have taken a sequel to GoldenEye, and imagining a bit they could have kept the IP rights for a new Bond game.  I know there's the Time Splitters trilogy (which I've never played) but it is at least worth checking out once, even on an emulator.  You may not want to play it through all the way, but at least give the first 2-3 levels a try if you are interested in old FPSes at all.

[OptOut | 8,900]

Perfect Dark is 10, Goldeneye is 11.

[DefaultGen | 5,570]

It's cool, but Goldeneye is cooler. For all the technical advancement, I just like evil Russians and secret agents more than aliens and lasers. I have played so many other good sci fi FPS games.

[DefaultGen | 5,570]

The Xbox Live Arcade port (I imagine on Rare Replay?) is super good too. I'm all for playing the original garbage myself, but if you want frames at the expense of originality it's definitely the way to go.

[jonebone | 1,312]

9 of 10.

It's a superior game to Goldeneye technically, meaning better weapons (plus secondary modes that turns stuff like the laptop gun from a badass automatic to a killer sentry gun), plus the single player multi-player.  Playing with bots and doing the multiplayer challenges was amazing at the time and added a ton of replayability.

However, for whatever reason, the single-player story isn't as great or memorable and none of the levels really hit the wow factor for me.  Best one was probably Pelagic but you can rattle off a ton of great Goldeneye levels like Facility, Silo, Bunker, etc.

Great game that pushed N64 to the max with expansion pack but not 10/10 perfection.

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

I like the idea of a gun that shoots through walls but It was actually terrible. 
 

For me it was a great way to get that golden eye fix after that game was played to death. 

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

On 4/7/2022 at 9:34 PM, JamesRobot said:

Isn't that the Goldeneye ripoff.

That's pretty much what I was wondering. I played enough GoldenEye that I never even tried this one.

[Mega Tank | 995]

Without Goldeneye there would be no Perfect Dark. Perfect Dark is Goldeneye with improvements and a different story line. If you don't like the storyline, that's fine, but it's still an improved Goldeneye with it's upped AI, weapons and more options for Multiplayer.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,683]

39 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

That's pretty much what I was wondering. I played enough GoldenEye that I never even tried this one.

Spiritual sequel.  Same developers.

[The Count | 552]

One of the very few games to utilize the Transfer Pak with a GBC cart on N64. It was much more advanced than Goldeneye as one would expect. Really a terrific game all-around and a blast co-op. 9/10.

[Nintegageo | 582]

8. Pretty good game, I just didn't care story-wise the way I did with Goldeneye. Heck, even Rare64 sci-fi wise I rather play Jet Force Gemini.

[Tanooki | 4,974]

Personally rating kind of leans into also looking at the time period too or at least the system itself.  I give it a 9/10.  As much as I prefer the Bond motif of Goldeneye, this one did so much more, so much better, other than the framerate not being as kind at times.

The atmosphere and story had twists and fun stuff happen to keep you engaged, it was creative.  What really helped with all of it was the insane level of customizing on the control where it could get very comfortable on one controller, or dual analog using a pair which was different.  The game just flowed well, good stage design, enemies were good for the era and put up a decent fight (less mindless than Bonds.)  Mechanically largely across the board in most catagories it trumps Goldeneye, but it's not perfect, doesn't deserve a 10 nor does the bond game.  It loses with the framerate problem at places, but also as unique and nice as the story is with it all and creative, the Bond feeling has more appeal at least from familiarity.   I never botheed with the bots as it's not my thing or played it multi but barely, so I can't evaluate it more than you can read online, which again, nails it's predecessor.

[NostalgicMachine | 271]

9/10!