Perfect Dark XBLA Impressions

Playing games a little earlier than everyone else is always fun. I've been doing a lot of that lately too, what with early XBLA titles being downloaded to my hard drive on a weekly basis. This week is a little bit more special. I can't think of anyone that was really looking forward to Scrap Metal, or Greed Corp for that matter, but I know people have their eyes on this weeks XBLA release: Perfect Dark.

For those of you not in the know, Perfect Dark, the classic FPS game from the days of the Nintendo 64, has been remade with textures fit for HD. Essentially, it's the same exact game with an HD overlay and compatibility with Xbox Live. All of the original modes are there, including co-operative and counter-operative mission modes, as well as the combat simulator which allows for all kinds of fun with sims of all different types. Here are some of my quick impressions prior to a full-fledged review that'll go up on gamerevolution.com.

//Perfect Dark was not designed with two analog sticks in mind. This much is clear. The auto-aim is heavy handed, and now, instead of that heavy-handedness dealing with the C buttons on the 64 controller, it's dealing with flighty FPS controls.

//Still, the enemy AI is on the weak side as far as modern day first person shooters are concerned. The most advanced AI tactic I've seen was a Blonde Sim darting in and out of one of the windows in a classic map from Goldeneye. I haven't been taken down by advanced enemy movements, so much as I've been taken sheer firepower.

//The graphics are certainly upgraded, but characters don't move their mouths, the geometry hasn't been updated, and most of the basic animations remain the same. That being said, the frame rate, visual fidelity, and overall look of the game has made a giant leap forward. I can't imagine going back to play the game on Nintendo 64 aside from pure nostalgia's sake.

Gamers have a reason to look forward to Perfect Dark. It still retains every bit of fun the original had. Mowing down countless amounts of meatsims will never get old in my book. Set up the laptop gun in sentry mode, kick back, and just enjoy some good old multiplayer fun like you used to, back when that kind of thing required an expansion pack.