Perfect Dark #11 Similar to Rare's earlier GoldenEye 007, though with more of an emphasis on stealth.

Game Overview and Walkthrough

Perfect Dark #11

Developer: Rare
Publisher: Rare
Game Rating: T (Teen) - Animated Violence, Blood
Release Date:May 22, 2000
$25 / $8.00 at half.com • September 1, 2001
Players: 1 - 4
Sound Capabilities Dolby Surround
Multiplayer Game Modes: Bots, Co-Op, Free-for-all / One-on-one (VS), Team
Multiplayer Options: Same/Split-Screen
Miscellaneous Attributes: Battery Backed RAM, Controller Pak, Expansion Pak, Rumble Pak, Transfer Pak
Features: Supports memory expansion for hi-res graphics and more game modes.

Introduction
Description
Story
» Missions «
Characters
Controls
Hidden Items
Perfect Dark Universe FAQ
Locations
Training
Weapons
Combat Simulator
Hints and Tricks
Cheese locations
PerfectDark.RetroPixel.net
Wiki
The oral history of an N64 classic - EuroGamer
INSTRUCTION BOOKLET PDF

Introduction

Joanna Silhouette. Joanna Dark is an agent for the Carrington Institute, a secret organization funded by anonymous sources and dedicated to protecting the world. Through their highly trained operatives and special devices (gadgets), Carrington keeps an eye on terrorists, world powers, and strange happenings. The speed in which the dataDyne corporation has established itself through the development of new technologies is starting to worry the institute. So when Carrington receives a message from Dr. Caroll, a scientist wishing to escape dataDyne, they send their best agent, Joanna, to infiltrate the company headquarters.

Perfect Dark is a 3D first-person shooter similar to Rare's earlier GoldenEye 007, though with more of an emphasis on stealth. Joanna can pick up and use a variety of firearms, including shotguns, submachine guns, sniper rifles, various explosives, and others. In addition she carries quite a few spy gadgets such as IR scanners, night vision, probes, and a deadly laptop. Most weapons have secondary fire modes and reloading them is displayed in an on-screen animation.

Shields are scattered through the stages and can be picked up for additional protection. There are no health-restoring items and Joanna cannot jump. Like GoldenEye 007, the game has three difficulty levels, with the higher ones featuring more accurate enemies, less ammo, and more objectives for the player to complete within each mission. Cutscenes with voice acting advance the story between missions.

The game also features a training mode set in the Carrington Institute. Completing the firing range challenge there unlocks the classic weapons from GoldenEye 007. In addition, the campaign can be played in a co-operative mode for two human players or one human player and up to three computer-controlled teammates (in split-screen mode), as well as in a "Counter Operative" mode, where one of the players takes control of an enemy and tries to stop Joanna from fulfilling her mission.

Multiplayer includes a variety of modes. Among those are the traditional deathmatch as well as the objective-based Capture the Flag and King of the Hill modes. Other scenarios and objectives include surviving as long as possible while carrying a briefcase, hacking computer systems with randomly placed data uplinks, and hunting down a single player as a team. Stages, teams, and weapon placement can be customized by players.

The Xbox 360 port has redone graphics to support a 1080p full HD resolution at 60 frames per second. It also incorporates full multiplayer support over Xbox LIVE.

Description

Single Player Mode

The year is 2023. Technology continues to thrive and advance, bringing anti-gravity devices and holographic technology into reality. Many corporations have invested in furthering the world's hi-tech industry, with big businesses running the show. One such developer, the dataDyne Corporation, seeks new levels of technology ceaselessly in the race to be number one.

Recent developments have secured their lead manufacturing position, with companies all around the world sharing the fruits of their labor. Despite these advances, global prosperity is still unachieved, as the leader and culture of dataDyne is driven by power and dominance.

Their latest invention certainly adds to dataDyne's ego - the world's first sentient AI computer, capable of thinking and making decisions on its own. Named "Dr. Caroll" and developed in secret, the AI quickly demonstrates its robotic personality. It seemed the artificial intelligence developed its very own morals and refused to continue with dataDyne's tasks, as it felt they betrayed ethical and moral standards.

Before dataDyne could counter the issue by removing Dr. Caroll's personality, the robot contacts the Carrington Institute - headed by world-renowned entrepreneur Daniel Carrington. Dr. Caroll hopes to find salvation and extraction from dataDyne with the hope of revealing their seedy and dark dealings to Carrington's agents.

Cue freshly-trained CI agent Joanna Dark, ready to face her first mission. Briefed on the extraction operation awaiting her, this mission seems ideal to launch Joanna's experience.

There is more than meets the eye though, as upon recovering Dr. Caroll they will discover the shrouded secrets of dataDyne and a hidden plot threatening the entire planet. The pressure's on, and the fate of many will rest with Joanna's success or failure.

You will play as Joanna from the first person perspective as she uncovers dataDyne's mysteries through 17 missions of intense action. As the semi-sequel to Rare's GoldenEye masterpiece, veterans and newcomers alike will be right at home with all the aspects the game has to offer. Get ready to find out what a day in the life of Joanna Dark is all about.

Story

Millions of years before the present (2023), a large alien vessel was scuttled on the bed of the Pacific Ocean. This alien ship possessed a special weapon on board - the weak nuclear force de-coupler - a dangerous weapon capable of tearing the molecules of atom bonds apart. Aware of watchful eyes waiting to get their hands on this weapon, an escape pod was dispatched to the alien ship's home galaxy while major sections of the ship were disabled and destroyed to ensure that this Cetan biological vessel would serve no threat to the universe.

Close to the year 2000 BC, another advanced alien lifeform - the Maians - discovered life on Earth as well as great potential, but decided to let humans develop undisturbed. Soon after in 1650 AD the Maians encountered another lifeform - the Skedar - who were bent on fighting and soon an all-out war began between them. After hundreds of years of fighting, an uneasy cease-fire developed. Skedar fanatics continued to fight the Maians however, who refused to surrender. Mankind continued to develop, but the Maians watched with disappointment at the wars and violence that technology brought forth. They continued to hide themselves, as they believed the act of revealing themselves may make things worse on Earth.

In 1985 the scientist Daniel Carrington discovered the Maians and contacted one of their vessels in orbit around Earth. The Maians developed an interest in Carrington and decided to introduce their technology to Earth through his "Research and Development" projects. Thus contact between Maians and humans finally began.

Then in 2006, the Skedar discovered the Cetan message pod and found the location of the alien ship - Earth. They began to study Earth in rather violent ways, by abducting people to discover the location of the ship. Eventually they pin-pointed it on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, but to reach it they would need the humans' help. They studied the largest technological corporations and decided that the company at the top of the list - the dataDyne Corporation - was best suited to help them reach their prize. They contacted Cassandra De Vries (the head of dataDyne), and proposed a deal that sounded too good to be true - which actually was. She agreed to assist them in exchange for advanced technology, and so dataDyne began construction of an artifical intelligence to help in the recovery operation.

Cassandra contacted the head of the NSA, Trent Easton, to "request" that he receive permission from the US President for the loan of a deep-sea research vessel. His subsequent requests were continually turned down. dataDyne and the Skedar could not steal the vessel without attracting the attention of the US government, so instead they planned to replace the President with a clone under their control. This extra work for Cassandra and Trent gave the Skedar another excuse to grant them more rewards, although little did Cassandra know that the Skedar intended to double-cross them all and test the Cetan weapon on Earth before wiping out the Maians.

Unfortunately for dataDyne and the Skedar, the sapient AI they had built to crack the codes of the Cetan ship had developed morals of its own and decided that this assignment was far too unethical and so refused to perform any further tasks. Cassandra ordered that his personality be removed, but before they could take action the sapient adapted the name Dr. Caroll and contacted the Carrington Institute, pleading for their help.

Missions

With a total of 21 playable missions, Perfect Dark is one game you will not get tired of quickly. Each mission has three difficulty levels, the easiest being Agent, medium is Special Agent and the hardest is Perfect Agent. New objectives will be added in each setting, and you will not be able to play the harder settings until you beat the one below it.

You can also team up with another player and play the Co-operative setting in any of the solo missions (except The Duel). You will need all the skill and strategy to master the Perfect Agent setting, but once you beat all the missions on PA, you will gain access to the Perfect Dark setting, which allows you to edit the enemy's health, accuracy and damage. Below is a complete listing of all the missions, with detailed guides on how to beat each one just a click away.

As you progress up the difficulty levels, Joanna becomes easier to hit. At the same time, the enemies become more powerful, harder to hit and require more shots to kill. In addition, less shields are available as difficulty increases. There are two Shields per level in Agent, one in Special and none in Perfect. Ammo from fallen soldiers decreases as difficulty goes up. Agent mode gives you 20 ammo per pick-up, Special gives you 15, and Perfect only 10.

Completing a mission in a specific difficulty setting will allow you to go to the next mission at that difficulty setting or below. Therefore, if you complete Level 3.2 on Special Agent, you can play Mission 4.1 on Special or Agent levels, but not Perfect.

If you complete all of the levels in the game (including Special Assignments) on the Perfect Setting, you will unlock a new difficulty level, known as Perfect Dark. This will allow you to use a slider bar to tailor the strength and aim of your opponents. Set it from 1-100%. Whenever you see a new weapon in the Solo Missions, it will become available in the Combat Simulator and the Carrington Institute Firing Range. Complete challenges in the firing range to unlock missions and Classic Weapons.

This guide provides strategy for Solo missions, but not Cooperative or Counter-operative modes. These modes are only available to you only after you have unlocked the mission in the standard solo mission. You can use the walkthrough to navigate through these missions, but there are no special concessions to these modes.

*Complete dataDyne Defection to Skedar Ruins on Agent to unlock.
**Complete dataDyne Defection to Skedar Ruins on Special Agent to unlock.
***Complete dataDyne Defection to Skedar Ruins on Perfect Agent to unlock.
****Complete all Carrington Institute Training scenarios to unlock.

Characters

Joanna Dark

Age: 23 years and two months
Species: Human (Female)
Employer: Daniel Carrington
Training Status: Complete
Training Grade: A++
Active Status: Assigned

Joanna Dark is a highly skilled but inexperienced agent of the Carrington Institute. She excelled in her combat and weapons training, resulting in the creation of a higher training grade. Due to her exceptional skills and fast reflexes she has earned herself the call sign "Perfect Dark." As a young CI operative, her first mission is to extract Dr. Caroll from dataDyne HQ undetected and unharmed, but neither the Institute nor Joanna realise that her first assignment will lead them to discover the secrets of dataDyne's technological advancements and ultimately the fate of the human race.

Daniel Carrington

Age: 62 years and 8 months
Species: Human (Male)

Founder of the Carrington Institute, Daniel Carrington is the first human being to establish contact with the Maian extraterrestrial race. As a professional scientist, he managed to develop an algorithm to crack into the secure Maian communication systems to commune with them. They decided to begin their slow introduction to the human race through Carrington, and so the Carrington Institute was formed. Daniel oversees every CI mission and is constantly aware of the dataDyne Corporation's recent technological breakthroughs - but suspects that another, more sinister alien race is working with dataDyne for some unknown design. On a more personal note, he has a strange taste in clothing.

Jonathan

Age: 28 years and five months
Species: Human (Male)
Employer: Daniel Carrington
Training Status: Complete
Training Grade: A+
Active Status: Undercover

Jonathan is the Institute's most experienced undercover agent. He held the previous training record before Joanna completed her training and promptly broke the record. His experience allows the Institute to infiltrate enemy facilities and installations to learn more of their activities and goals. Jonathan often risks his neck to allow the CI to gain information, and so he has become a much-respected member of the Institute. He is highly skilled with his weapon of choice, the Magnum Revolver.

Cassandra De Vries

Age: 39
Species: Human (Female)
Occupation: Head of the dataDyne corporation.

Addicted to power and loathing those above her own status, Cassandra De Vries is the powerful leader of the dataDyne Corporation. Overseeing operations from dataDyne's skyscraper HQ, she has agreed to assist the alien Skedar race in exchange for new technology to help dataDyne take the lead from Carrington. She has no idea that the Skedar intend to double-cross her, not to mention the entire human race and planet Earth itself. She is always vying for dominance, with Carrington being her only true opponent.

Dr. Caroll

Age: 6 months
Species: The Caroll Sapient (AI)

Dr. Caroll is an intelligent computer system that is capable of breaking secret codes and learning advanced languages. The dataDyne Corp. created him to assist the Skedar in the retrieval of the mysterious alien vessel lying on the bed of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately for dataDyne, Dr. Caroll had developed his own morals and decided that his latest assignment was ethically wrong and he insisted against its completion. dataDyne effectively decided to remove his personality code, but Dr. Caroll had already called for help from the Carrington Institute.

Elvis / Aelphaeis Mangarae

Age: 320 years
Species: Maian (Male)

Aelphaeis Mangarae (aka Elvis) is a member of the Maian Race and a bodyguard of the Maian Ambassador who travels to Earth for meetings with Daniel Carrington. Elvis has been highly trained in the use of Maian weaponry as well as all field operations. Elvis often contacts Carrington when help is required, and he is willing to help them out as much as he can - especially when the enemy is the Skedar. Despite dataDyne's involvement with the Skedar, Elvis finds all humans to be extremely fascinating beings.

Mr. Blonde

Age: Unknown
Species: Human (Male)

On the outside, Mr. Blonde appears to be a tall human male in his late 20's with striking blond hair - hence the name. He is actually a Skedar Warrior using an advanced holographic projector and a voice modulator. Using this technology, Skedar Warriors can commune with dataDyne on Earth without looking too overtly suspicious. Mr. Blonde is in charge of the Skedar faction working with dataDyne, and he often gives Cassandra orders - although she does not enjoy following them. He views dataDyne as expendable - in his view anything that does not work correctly should be disposed of swiftly.

Trent Easton

Age: 46 years
Species: Human (Male)

Trent Easton is the head of the National Security Agency. He has a strong friendship / partnership with Cassandra De Vries, and often gives dataDyne important news about the US government's operations. Oddly, he often takes orders from Cassandra even though his status is higher in rank. He is also eager to get his hands on some of the Skedar's technology and is always pestering the President for access to government facilities.

The US President

Age: 50 years
Species: Human (Male)

A highly educated African-American, the US President is always trying to do good for America and the world around him, but finds it difficult when surrounded by individuals like Trent Easton. He has a just mind and will stick to his decisions, although he is often perceived as having his conclusions influenced by others around him.

The Maian Race

The Maians are a species of short, grey, large-headed aliens. Feeding their curious nature and quest for knowledge, they have been observing Earth for a few centuries. Their observations are often disrupted by their skirmishes with the war-loving Skedar species. A shaky cease fire has been established between the peaceful Maians and wartorn Skedar, but is being tested constantly by acts of Skedar terrorism.

The Skedar Race

The Skedar are vicious warriors who find death on the battlefield the highest honour attainable. The actual Skedar being is a small squid-like creature, but for each little squid is a biological robotic suit to wriggle into, and that robotic suit has a visage many Maians have come to fear. Even without a weapon, a Skedar's claws prove just as lethal.

Controls

Move forward or backward, turn left or right

Strafe left or right, look up or down

Cycle to next weapon

Hold Use quick menu

+ Cycle to previous weapon

Reload, interact

Hold Toggle secondary mode

+ Use secondary mode once

Aim

+ Move crosshair

+ Stand up or crouch

+ Lean

Fire, use item

Moving diagonally (strafe + forward/backward) is faster than just strafing or going forward and backward. It is often known as speedstrafing, and is vital for unlocking cheats with low clear times.

Hidden Items

In each mission you will discover special hidden weapons scattered around the environment, with some locations and availability varying with the selected difficulty level. Shields are extremely important in some situations, and can turn the tide of a battle easily. They will provide you with extra protection and can almost guarantee you victory. On the Agent setting, two shields are hidden within each mission. One shield awaits on Special Agent (although some have none), and naturally on Perfect Agent there is none. Listed here are the locations of the shields and hidden weapons.

dataDyne Central - Defection

Laptop Gun (PA)

After holding up the programmer, allow him to run off to find help and he will dash over to the elevators and open the locked door to the right. Go inside the small room to find the Laptop Gun.

Double Falcon 2

Dropped by the shock trooper on the third floor down, next to the programmer's room.

Shields (A)

The first shield is dropped by one of the guards on the floor below Cassandra's office. The second shield is on the ground floor, hiding next to one of the elevators.

Shield (SA)

A guard on the floor below Cassandra's office drops one.

dataDyne Research - Investigation

Double CMP150

Get down to the area where you re-program the cleaning bot without being seen by any guards, and activate the terminal in the small adjacent room to open the weapons cache.

Proximity Mine

On the floor behind the radioactive isotope. You will sustain some damage while retrieving the mine.

Shields (A)

In the large room near the start of the mission the shield will be lying atop a crate. The second shield is in the room right after you pass through the hallway with lasers. Turn left as you enter the room and the shield is within the glass enclosure.

Shield (SA)

Just after the hallway with lasers, in the glass enclosure.

dataDyne Central - Extraction

Grenade, Dragon

Get up to the ground floor lift without taking damage (including Dr. Caroll), and blast the guard on the upper levels to retrieve Cassandra's office key card. Enter her office, take the grenade on her desk and blow open the wall in the corner on the right (facing the window) and the Dragon will be waiting inside.

DY357 Magnum

Take down the first five guards without being seen and the fifth guard will drop a Magnum (stand far back from them and they will not see you).

Shields (A)

Once you reach the upper floors, go into the small room once you leave the elevator to find the shield.

Shield (SA)

There is no shield.

Carrington Villa - Hostage One

Devastator

Air Force One - Antiterrorism

Double Cyclone

Knock out the two guards at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the President's room, then use the key cards to open the side doors and retrieve the Cyclones.

Shields (A)

At the rear of the plane on the ground floor is a small kitchen. The shield is in the right corner of the room. The second shield is in the large room with the grand piano.

Shield (SA)

The shield is in the large room with the piano.

Crash Site - Confrontation

Proximity Mine

Go and speak to Elvis before completing any objectives and you will receive the proxy mines.

Hoverbike

Shields (A)

Unknown

Shield (SA)

There is no shield.

Perfect Dark Universe FAQ

Who is Joanna Dark?

Joanna Dark is the protagonist of the series - a young twenty-something operative of the Carrington Institute and a master spy. Growing up under the tutelege of her father Jack Dark, Joanna led a life few others could even dream of. Learning the tricks of the trade, she quickly picked up elite bounty hunting techniques from her father and eventually found herself under the employment of Daniel Carrington. Both she and Carrington share common hostilities towards the Institute's rival company, dataDyne, and find themselves frequently battling the mega-corporation. Spearheading many of the Institute's most critical missions, Joanna's exploits have not only taken her across the globe, but ultimately through the outer reaches of space itself.

What does "Perfect Dark" mean?

"Perfect Dark" is Joanna's callsign at the Institute. For breaking the former training record far beyond the standard rating system's limits, Joanna quickly drew herself a reputation of "perfection" and a win-at-all-costs attitude while completing missions. In not so many words it means Joanna is indisputably the best field operative the CI has to offer.

Who is Daniel Carrington?

Born into a privileged family, Daniel inherited his father's prestigious research & development firm. Passing the reins of the company to his mother, Daniel soon after founded his own division - the Carrington Institute. A wealthy entrepreneur, Daniel's company primarily researches and develops new technology for the US and British governments. His greatest rivals are the dataDyne corporation, a firm devoted to leading the technology market no matter the cost.

What is the Carrington Institute?

Daniel Carrington's brainchild, founded in 1978. This research and development company delivers top-secret technology to both the US and British governments, delivering critical assets when the need arises. Due to the current nature of high-flying businesses, Daniel often employs "field operatives", people responsible for seeking out and reporting on the activities of rival corporations.

What is dataDyne?

The dataDyne Corporation is the world's leading developer of new technology - at least they think they are. Ruthlessly crushing the competition, dataDyne's core motive is to flatly make money. Often rejecting ethical standards, they tend to do whatever it takes to get their way. Founded in 1995 by Zhang Li, the reins of the company eventually fall into the hands of Cassandra De Vries, who's lust for power fuels dataDyne's operations.

Who are the Maians?

The Maians are a race of highly intelligent creatures not of this world. Their oversized heads and lack of any facial features besides a pair of large eyes give them a striking resemblance to the "Roswell aliens". Peaceful in nature, the Maians had been observing human life on Earth without interfering, until they were amazingly discovered by Daniel Carrington's latest technology in 1985. Rather than turning away from Earth, the Maians decided to forge an alliance with Daniel as their first contact with the human race. At present the Maians are at war with a violent and aggressive race of creatures known as the Skedar.

Who are the Skedar?

An aggressive and barbartic species, the Skedar worship violence and live to fight. Any other life in the universe can expect trouble if they meet the Skedar, the Maians learned this lesson the hard way. A millennia-spanning war broke out between the two races, until the Maians managed a shaky cease-fire while trying to negotiate peace with the Skedar. Vile and untrusting, the Skedar used the silence to devote their time in discovering a way to eliminate the Maians once and for all. Their search ultimately brings them to Earth, dragging both dataDyne and the Carrington Institute into the vortex.

Review

As a single-player or multiplayer FPS experience Perfect Dark is unparalleled on the console systems.

By Joe Fielder on May 22, 2000 at 5:43PM PDT

Few games have been more eagerly anticipated than Rare's unofficial sequel to GoldenEye 007, one of the best titles to come out over the last few years for the Nintendo 64 or otherwise. Though Perfect Dark's style and feel might not fall too far from the Bond tree, it is clear that Rare has created another title that alone warrants buying the system.

The premise of Perfect Dark is that you are a special government agent on a near-future Earth. Your agency has made friendly contact with a group of aliens known as the Maians, those big-headed gray little men made popular in Whitley Strieber books and Fox TV specials. At roughly the same time, the evil dataDyne corporation has allied itself with the equally evil Skedar, an alien race that practices war as religion, placing them at odds with the Maians. Thus, conflict ensues, first in the realm of industrial espionage, and then... beyond.

Not surprisingly, the basic structure of GoldenEye 007 remains in Perfect Dark. The first-person shooter is split into nearly two dozen mission-based levels, each with a number of objectives that you must carry out before you exit the stage, such as downloading files from a computer or escorting an ally to your ship unharmed. Each level can be played in three degrees of difficulty, each one adding more objectives to your list while toughening up your enemies considerably. And in between carrying out mission objectives, there are spies to shoot, and this time there are aliens as well.

It is hard for Perfect Dark to appear as impressive today as GoldenEye 007 did when it first came out several years back, because GoldenEye 007 had looked like it would be just another first-person shooter for the console systems, which had seen mainly lackluster ports of PC shooters. However, the game was groundbreaking enough to influence nearly every shooter - console and PC - that succeeded it. Perfect Dark is not a game that wows you immediately like its predecessor did - its improvements on that title are subtle, at least at first.

The new feature that affects the single-player missions the most is the upgrade to your enemies' artificial intelligence. Notice your foes working together to attempt to cover one another. Or duck around a corner for cover. Or wait for you to come back into a room instead of obediently chasing after you. Or run for the gun of a fallen comrade after you have shot the weapon from his grasp, which is another new ability that you have, in addition to grabbing away an enemy's firearm if you are close enough. Both make for moments where you think you are sunk, only to find yourself rearmed and victorious. The converse is true as well, and the bad guys can snatch or shoot your gun away from you too, so there are times when you'll think yourself well armed and suddenly end up empty-handed.

Besides the other, more predictable changes you would expect - more weapons and items, graphics that max out the system, a soundtrack that is only eclipsed by Nintendo's own Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time - the real appeal of Perfect Dark is its unprecedented amount of replay value. To begin with, Rare has enhanced the multiplayer side of the game with the addition of dozens of different kinds of computer-controlled players, or simulants, each with its own specialty. For instance, the RocketSim goes after any rocket launchers found in a level, the PeaceSim runs around and collects any weapons he can find, and the TurtleSim runs slower than others but has a strong force field around him. The PerfectSim? He's tough enough to give a level a haunted house-like feel, and he is not the only one who can. Even those who have completely mastered GoldenEye 007 will find playing against Perfect Dark's simulants to be a humbling experience.

There are myriad settings you can apply to the multiplayer modes. For starters, there are several gameplay types: the standard deathmatch, capture the briefcase, and king of the hill. You can also play the game singly against simulants, in single-player with simulants against other simulants, with two to four players against simulants, or with two to four players with teams of simulants. Add new items such as cloaking, shields, and the slow-motion-inducing power boost, new weapons such as the fly-by-wire rocket and the FarSight (which can shoot through walls), and the ability to customize what weapons and items appear on a stage, and you have an almost endless number of variations.

Beyond all that, new weapons, simulants, multiplayer maps, and cheats can be opened up by completing the training level's target practice stages and the numerous levels in the challenge mode, where you fight against simulants in an array of prearranged variations. The number of things that you can unlock in the game is simply staggering. There are even options to play through the normal missions in the game with a simulant buddy, in a two-player split-screen perspective with a friend, or against a second player who acts as the enemies (yes, that's plural, since he keeps coming back as long as there are any enemies left standing) in the level and tries to keep you from completing your objectives.

But the question remains: Is it fun? It is incredibly so - every bit as much as GoldenEye 007 and more. As a single-player or multiplayer FPS experience Perfect Dark is unparalleled on the console systems. The game's only real detractions are that the easiest difficulty setting is too easy, which is made up for by the harder settings being fantastic, and the frame rate can be slow at times, which is only really a problem if you're playing with three or four players with a mess of simulants. If you've been playing GoldenEye 007 up to now, you'll be pleased to hear that there's finally a game that has eclipsed it, one with enough to it to keep you playing for the next few years until its inevitable sequel comes around.

Missions