Perfect Dark Zero Preview September 21,2005 - When Rare and Microsoft unveiled Perfect Dark Zero at the Xbox 360 MTV preview event months ago, claims of “Xbox 1.5” and “X-Flop 360” were being thrown around like beads at Mardi Gras. Since that event however, Perfect Dark Zero has become something more. The ideas behind the game are innovative and solid, and the visuals now show major improvement over past screenshots. Perfect Dark Zero now has the promise that gamers were looking for months ago - to become the Xbox 360’s first major FPS - possibly doing for the 360 what Halo did for the first Xbox.

In development originally for the Gamecube, then later transitioning to the Xbox, and finally making it around to the Xbox 360, Perfect Dark has been in development for quite some time. Rare is notorious for its seemingly long development periods, and a plethora of details on Perfect Dark Zero; such as single player details, a sufficient weapons list, character information, etc. are still being kept in the dark. With the launch of the Xbox 360 coming in just 2 short months, one can only suspect that Zero may suffer from a delay, not able to make the launch of Microsoft’s new system. As it stands though, Perfect Dark Zero is the most important launch game for the 360, not because of its potential killer app status, but because gamers everywhere are wondering if Zero can live up to it’s predecessor, and if it’s truly “Next-Gen” enough.

Not much is known about Zero’s single player campaign, but plenty has been released in terms of multiplayer, and what is expected for Xbox Live gameplay. What most are estimating will be a 64 player kill count (think deathmatch) mode, a dark ops mode, classic CTF mode, vehicles, expanding and shrinking levels, and more have all been promised for Zero’s online multiplayer mode. The multiplayer mode in Perfect Dark Zero is gearing up to be something quite special. For instance; depending on how many players are in a match on any of the six levels, the map will shrink or expand. Start a game with 10 players and the map will be fairly small, just the right size for a 5 on 5 frag fest. Bring in 30 more players though, and the map may double, triple, perhaps even quadruple in size to accommodate the additional players, growing to support up to 64 players. If a team is separated, a player can drop a waypoint marker to show his teammates where he’s at on the map, similar to Halo 2’s waypoint system. Perfect Dark Zero is all about the multiplayer, and it promises to innovate in all the right places.

The weapons in the original Perfect Dark were fairly unique in nature. Favorites such as the laptop gun, which can be used as a sentry turret along with becoming a foldout SMG, and the Far Sight have been announced for Zero as well, meaning the 360 sequel will have enough charm and nostalgia factor for even the most bitter Perfect Dark fan. In fact, 28 is the number given by Rare when asked how many will be included in the game, not counting turrets and the like. Each weapon will have a secondary fire capability as well, and according to Rare, some may even include a third function. Aside from weapons, vehicles will have a large presence in the game as well. Jet-packs, hover crafts, and motor cycles have all been announced, but there may be more in the final product.


Kill TV is another one of the innovative features being implemented into Zero. For console games, spectator mode is a rare addition indeed, while it is the norm for many computer games. At any point in time, players can log onto Xbox Live and watch real time games being played out by the top players, or any player for that matter. This will allow newbies to the PD0 multiplayer community the option to watch the pros play before they get ripped to shreds in the actual game, gaining a feel for the games various intricacies and the layouts of the 6 levels. Kill TV will also give advanced players the tools to see how the top players play, hopefully gaining some useful techniques by watching better players play the game, leading to an ever growing community, and never leaving the top players without solid competition, as thousands of gamers will know their strategies and how to combat them effectively.

Bots are yet another exciting feature for Zero’s multiplayer component. Offline and online, bots can be added to any game to either add to the player count, or to teach players how to handle themselves in a multiplayer game. Bots can be set at different skill levels to conform to weaker or stronger characters, and they’ll leave online matches if human players join. The lack of bots in online games is simply unjustifiable these days, and it’s about time that console games began to use them effectively.

On paper, Perfect Dark Zero seems to be a gift from above. Though, one can only wonder if Rare has what it takes anymore to dish out a killer FPS. After the somewhat mediocre Conker remake, Grabbed By The Ghoulies, and Star Fox Adventures, Rare’s track record has been slightly tarnished from what it once was. In the days of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, Rare knew how to make amazing games. Since then, however, most of the team from those two hits has left to form Free Radical, the team behind the Time Splitters series. Here’s to hoping that Rare can surprise gamers everywhere this November by doling out an amazing FPS for the 360’s launch. From the look of things, that shouldn’t be very difficult.

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