Perfect Dark Zero: On the path to gaming glory?

[AlNom]

Thanks for the info.

They should make spectator mode a requirement for all games with multiplayer. I like having something entertaining to watch while I eat or something. I sure wouldn't mind "tuning into" a game of NFL2k6 or something.

So of PDZ plays like 007/PD and GoW plays like errr Unreal 2, well, better graphics wont be saving GoW.

To be fair, Legend made Unreal 2, not Epic.

 

[Acert93]

The modes sound cool. I like CSS and Rainbow six, so hopefully Dark Ops plays well! I also hope one of the death match modes is like elimination (i.e. you get a set # of lives) or team ticket based.

As for hopping... it gets annoying in games. We are just so used to it. Now I bunny hop with the best of them, but really, I would not mind a game that limited jumping to when it is realistic. Running down a hall jumping up and down to avoid fire is very 1997. If they have replaced hop with roll, duck, peak behind walls, etc... then I am all for it.

Of course that will take some serious testing to make it play right and be fun, but it is nice to hear someone is giving something else a chance. And if it does not work adding in a hop should not be hard.

It really sounds like PDZ online is going to be fun. Sounds like some of the best FPS game modes in the PD universe. I can dig that. Not my favorite type of FPS, but I really enjoyed PD so if it turns out pretty hot then it may be tempting!

 

[jvd]

found this on ign that said they came from gaf off a cell phone . Looks better but hard to tell

 

[jvd]

well according to egm you take more damage in a roll or evasive action and you can't shoot .

 

[Acert93]

Hard to tell much in those pics, but in the bottom one you can see the colors/detail on the guy are a LOT better than the cartoony Half-Life 1 style models/textures they were showing.

Not sure what happened with PDZ at E3/MTV, but based on what IGN said I am going to wait to make any judgements.

EDIT: the damage in evasive manuevers sounds good Nice tough!

 

[Kevin G]

I'd hate to say it but Perfect Dark Zero isn't that innovative. Maps with multiple sizes availible? Goldeneye and Perfect Dark did that. Face mapping? The original Perfect Dark had it until Nintendo told them to remove it. Anyway, face mapping isn't anything special in terms of PC games. Disarming opponents? The original Perfect Dark had it. Secondary weapon fire? Again, found in the original. 28 different weapons? Goldeneye and the original Perfect Dark had more. The ability to play against bots and command them when they're on your team? Perfect Dark. X-Ray and Infared Vision? Perfect Dark had them.

I have the distinct feeling Rare has burried their previous work and is just hyping a lack luster game which immitates every other shooter. Jumping was not part of the original Perfect Dark for example. Now players can jump or fly if they have a jet pack. A lot of comparisons are being drawn between Counter Strike and Perfect Dark Zero's multiplayer. One of the reasons why I enjoyed Perfect Dark so much was that it wasn't Counter Strike. The lead character - Joanna Dark - has undergone some serious physical changes. She's more cartoony with bigger breasts in the prequel.

Counter-op, the one mode that I haven't seen in any other shooter, has not been mentioned at all for Perfect Dark Zero. This is sad as Counter-op had two players going against each other in a single player mission, one as Joanna and the other as a henchman. The henchman had low health, one weapon and a suicide pill but an infinite number of lives to stop Joanna. The Joanna player on the other hand had more health, more weapons, but only one life to complete the mission objectives. If Joanna was able to complete all the objectives and exit the level, that player would win. Now if Rare had any sense, they'd be able to have, say, two Joanna players pitted against 48 henchmen players for the X-Box 360 version.

 

[rusty]

those new screens look better, but there's something not quite right... i think it's that the buildings look too pristine and sharp.

in that sort of environment the edges should be a bit worn and crumbled and the walls shouldn't be perfectly flat and clean.

it would certainly look like that was the stuff that was shown to the journalists in private. i imagine it probably looks pretty damn impressive in motion, especially with the effects they talked about like whisps of sand blowing in the wind.

 

[AlNom]

I'd hate to say it but Perfect Dark Zero isn't that innovative.

etc

By your count, a lot of games are not innovative. That doesn't mean they won't be good.

One could argue that face mapping is a lot more work for PC games than what you're supposed to do with PDZ. a.k.a. it's a feature that is made easy-to-use for the end-user.

You say that PDZ "immitates every other shooter," yet all of your own examples are comparing it to Perfect Dark and/or Golden Eye.

I would say they are hyping it because it has been years since we have seen a PD game. Fans are wondering if all of that stuff is back.

 

[pc999]

Dont you feel a love-hate thingh for MS marketing strategy?

First they show the bad, then they show the OK, the nice and then the best.

Think in the controller te first time we saw it, it was #""#$# horrible, then we see a nicier version and in the end it is one of the best ever.

The same with spects (compared it PS3) first they look bad, then (major nelson) they star too look "better", then with xenus people are getting amazed with that (wait for the CPU ).

The same with demos, very small topPC like, today 720p/GoWRuby videos that blow away.

And they keep this with PDZ.

 

[Fox5]

Maps with multiple sizes availible? Goldeneye and Perfect Dark did that.

It sounds like PD0's maps dynamically change in size, goldeneye and PD just let you choose sectioned off areas of maps. Like you could choose a map that's just a basement, or a map that's just an upper floor, or a map that has the two combined.

This is sad as Counter-op had two players going against each other in a single player mission, one as Joanna and the other as a henchman.

I never had a fun counter op match because usually the skill levels between players weren't balanced....either the counter-op would be shot dead at a moment's notice, or the counter-op would get instant headshots and kill the player. And it really sucked when all the enemies in the level were dead and the counter-op just kept respawning with no weapons. An evolution of the counter-op idea where the counter-op is important would be better. Players went down from head shots too easily in perfect dark to make the counter-op idea any good, it'd work better with halo like pacing, or give some actual objectives to the counter-op, maybe even have situations with npcs on both sides.

 

[Xeno]

I'd hate to say it but Perfect Dark Zero isn't that innovative.

etc

By your count, a lot of games are not innovative. That doesn't mean they won't be good.

One could argue that face mapping is a lot more work for PC games than what you're supposed to do with PDZ. a.k.a. it's a feature that is made easy-to-use for the end-user.

You say that PDZ "immitates every other shooter," yet all of your own examples are comparing it to Perfect Dark and/or Golden Eye.

I would say they are hyping it because it has been years since we have seen a PD game. Fans are wondering if all of that stuff is back.

I think his point was, "What does Perfect Dark Zero offer us that other shooter games don't already?"...What's so great about Pefrect Dark and why should I even look forward to it? To me PD0 looks like another Halo FPS game that will be hyped beyond belief by fanboys and MS.

 

[AlNom]

You or he must not be looking forward to a lot of games. If either of you can't find anything to like about it fundamentally, why bother telling us?


Instead of just bitching about it, why don't you tell us what you think would be "innovative" or worthy of your time instead?

 

[jvd]

I think his point was, "What does Perfect Dark Zero offer us that other shooter games don't already?"...What's so great about Pefrect Dark and why should I even look forward to it? To me PD0 looks like another Halo FPS game that will be hyped beyond belief by fanboys and MS.

What will any of the ps3 games offer us and why should we care ? After all they are just a "whatever " game that will be hyped beyond belief by fanboys and sony


Works both ways . What will gt5 offer us that froza and gt4 haven't ? What will mgs4 offer us that part 3 didn't ? WHat will tekken 6 offer us that part 5 didn't ?

 

[Xeno]

I think his point was, "What does Perfect Dark Zero offer us that other shooter games don't already?"...What's so great about Pefrect Dark and why should I even look forward to it? To me PD0 looks like another Halo FPS game that will be hyped beyond belief by fanboys and MS.

What will any of the ps3 games offer us and why should we care ? After all they are just a "whatever " game that will be hyped beyond belief by fanboys and sony


Works both ways . What will gt5 offer us that froza and gt4 haven't ? What will mgs4 offer us that part 3 didn't ? WHat will tekken 6 offer us that part 5 didn't ?

I don't disagree. The only PS3 game or next gen game I see as 'Innovative' is Eyedentify but it's already been done, be it marginally, on the PS2. This console generation had its share of innovation with 3D worlds being realized like GTA, EyeToy/camera functions with games and the DDR/Interactive games, which was already done in the past on arcade boards. What innovations should I look forward to besides increased polygon count, better AI and physics restricted by hardware performance?

 

[jvd]

Innovation isn't the only thing to look foward too. Refinement is another thing .


Perfect dark may have done all the things perfect dark zero is going to do . But perfect dark zero can refine them , tweak them and expaned on them .


Also when u factor in 28 weapons with 2 modes each plus the spy gear they are talking about (For hacking turrents and what not ) the weapon choices far exceed that of pd or golden eye .

 

[Kevin G]

It seems that MS is trying to hide that Rare is making a prequel to one of the best console shooters ever. It just makes it easier to hype the features in this game if gamers were oblivious to their presence in the original. I'm irratated by the MTV Xbox special with a handful of gamers testing Perfect Dark Zero and saying this game has some features that they've never seen before. I suspect if they really were gamers they would have picked up and given the first Perfect Dark a try. This is why my examples mostly list Goldeneye and Perfect Dark because I'm not just comparing it to other shooters, I'm comparing to another shooter that Rare has produced. Things like infared vision could be found in Marathon or Alien Vs. Predator for example. Damage based on various actions seems to come from the Action Quake mods. I'd be really cautious about maps that dynamically change based upon player count. Increasing the area is no problem but decreasing the size may cause some problems, like players being trap in an area other players can't get to.

As far as refinement goes, I doubt Perfect Dark Zero will be a launch title if Rare holds true to there past level of quality. I have a feeling that MS is going to force them to finish the game regardless of its quality. MS did the same thing with Bungie and Halo.

So what games am I looking forward to? The new Raiden arcard game (which is likely out already just no place here to play it), Zelda: Twighlight Princess, the Zelda the Four Swords DS game, and Duke Nuk'em Forever (though I've given up hope that it'll ship in my lifetime). There are a ton of next generation titles I'd love to see (including GT5, another Time Splitters game, a 2D Contra game, a 2D Metriod game, a 3D Metriod game ect.) but they're waaaaaaaaaaaaay off in the future. Those games are likely to offer improved gameplay or offer solid gameplay based upon their predecessors. From what I've heard so far, Perfect Dark Zero has changed its game play from the previous version. The unique Counter-Op mode, which I had plenty of fun playing, is seemingly missing from Perfect Dark Zero. It almost seems that Perfect Dark Zero maybe taking a step backwards in the game play department, which is why I'm not drooling over eye candy or falling for the hype around features already present in its predecessor.

 

[jvd]

As far as refinement goes, I doubt Perfect Dark Zero will be a launch title if Rare holds true to there past level of quality. I have a feeling that MS is going to force them to finish the game regardless of its quality. MS did the same thing with Bungie and Halo.

Rare has been working on this game for many years . If anything gets rushed it will be the graphics portion . This game was in developement from before halo 1 came out . They have plenty of time to balance it about 5 months or so and it seems like they've had all the modes finished for awhile which means the actual game play can be refined . What the final product will be like I don't know but it has a good chance of being better than halo 2

So what games am I looking forward to?

I can claim the same thing you claimed on pdz for any of these games

The unique Counter-Op mode, which I had plenty of fun playing, is seemingly missing from Perfect Dark Zero

They have an ops mode. They have 6 versions of it actually each with diffrent objectives and slants on game play . They have spy weapons like demolitions that you can knock down walls with and gear to help you sneak through the lvls all for multiplay and the solo game . It seems to me that its greatly expanded on what you claim is missing .

It almost seems that Perfect Dark Zero maybe taking a step backwards in the game play department, which is why I'm not drooling over eye candy or falling for the hype around features already present in its predecessor.

It seems to me that you didn't read up on the game (which has very little info released about it ) You should pick up egm and read the information .

 

[Gollum]

I'm irratated by the MTV Xbox special with a handful of gamers testing Perfect Dark Zero and saying this game has some features that they've never seen before. I suspect if they really were gamers they would have picked up and given the first Perfect Dark a try.

Now that's just nonsense. How many copies of PD were sold? How many gamers are there? I can just take a guess, but I'd say the first number is probably a single digit percentage of the second number.

How does not having played a specific game disqualify anyone from being a gamer? Is there a test you have to take? I think not...

 

[Fox5]

I'm irratated by the MTV Xbox special with a handful of gamers testing Perfect Dark Zero and saying this game has some features that they've never seen before. I suspect if they really were gamers they would have picked up and given the first Perfect Dark a try.

Now that's just nonsense. How many copies of PD were sold? How many gamers are there? I can just take a guess, but I'd say the first number is probably a single digit percentage of the second number.

How does not having played a specific game disqualify anyone from being a gamer? Is there a test you have to take? I think not...

Most games would only be played by a single digit percentage, pretty much any game that hasn't broken 10 million in sales.

 

[Pozer]

He's right.

Half-life2 - offered nothing new. Hardly the first game to use physics and puzzles. Stories have been done a million times before.
Metroid Prime- Color coded enemies is so 8bit, Going into 3rd person view was done in Shogo years ago.
Halo- Just a cheap ripoff of CS and only praised by MS fanboys.


Actually, KevinG has no clue what he's talking about. The FPS genre has borrowed from every game before it. Innovation comes from implimentation and balance.