10. Enhanced multiplayer.
Multiplayer has always been Perfect Dark’s strength and that should be no different for the next game in the series. The original game had a plethora of options which were sorely missing from Perfect Dark Zero. Bot personalities should be available from the start with all the options from previous games. Give us KazeSims, FeudSims, PeaceSims and the works. We fondly remember enabling various types of simulants (not to be confused with stimulants) to ensue hilarity and unpredictable battles. Past modes need to make an appearance as well. Hold the Briefcase and Hacker Central could prove to be quite interesting in today’s online world. Of course, we fully welcome Rare’s creative ideas for new gameplay modes. Infection should make a return as no one has quite captured the greatness of this mode. We appreciate the direction Rare took with Darkops mode in Perfect Dark Zero and hope they continue development with this style. However, do not compromise the classic style deathmatch that we have grown to love. There is a place for both in the Perfect Dark universe !
9. Give grenade its own button.
The grenade is a weapon that needs to be readily available. You cannot use one properly when it takes more than 5 seconds to execute a throw. It is no longer practical, in a first person shooter, to have to switch to a grenade in your inventory before using it. There should be a single button assigned to it. Press that button once and your character should instantly switch to it. People accuse this method of being unrealistic but you can avoid that by having a weapon pull back animation follow by a pin removal animation to slow it down.
8. Bring back Elvis.
Elvis, being one of the series most memorable characters, needs to make his return. We loved running along side our little Maian buddy. Actually, bring back the whole alien crew, diversify our interactions and expand on the story presented in the original game.
7. Vehicles that don’t suck.
There have been 3 usable vehicles in the Perfect Dark series; the hover bike, jetpack and hovercraft. We were sad to see the absence of the hover bike in Perfect Dark Zero. Maybe it wasn’t invented yet? Regardless, all of the vehicles have been lackluster. The jetpack was a fair addition to multiplayer but depending on the mode of play, had issues. Deathmatch allowed an unlimited amount of people to have the jetpack, while DarkOps made it almost too difficult to afford. The hovercraft was a pathetic excuse for a multi-person vehicle and handled poorly. If these vehicles were removed from multiplayer all together, they wouldn’t be missed. However, if they can fix the mechanics they will be a worthwhile addition. Limit the number of vehicles at a time and make them fun to control.
6. Enhance the cover system.
Perfect Dark Zero was the first Xbox 360 game to use the cover system. At the time, it was implemented well. We have seen a lot of innovations since then and hope that Rare makes the appropriate changes. The game simply made using the cover system too complicated. You first had to find an open spot on the wall. To attach yourself, wait a moment for the “Press A” confirmation and engage. Sure, this doesn’t sound like too much but it breaks up the flow of the game. The next game should allow you to hold the cover button and automatically attach you to that object. Something similar to the Rainbow Six Vegas series would be applicable. Oh, and while we’re at it, please don’t make us press “A” to climb the latter, auto attach us.
5. Bring back Counter-Ops.
Counter-Ops is the idea that a single player is the hero while the other players replace the artificial competitors. This mode was included in the original game. Since online console gaming didn’t exist, this mode was brought down by split screen. Being able to see your opponent’s location took the element of surprise out. In today’s world of online gaming, a mode like this could add a lot to the experience. Playing through the story in Counter-Ops would add worthy opponents and unpredictability. This mode could be particularly hard to balance but we have faith in Rare. The mode was actually planned as an auto update for Xbox 360 version but was cut shortly after release. The potential for this mode is fantastic. In a 1-4 players match (or more), 1 person plays as Joanna and the other 3 play as the competition. A single player will play the roll of Joanna while the other 3 players randomly spawn as the AI. Competitively there will be 3 real players and a mix of artificial competitors. Joanna’s player will never know if she is about to face a real opponent or AI, creating a dynamic experience every time.
4. Fix the character animations.
Characters looked awkward when running and had even worse death animations. Dead characters would flop around appearing as if they were break dancing. The original game was ahead of its time in this department. Enemies would react to the specific locations they were shot, something still lacking in today’s games. Perfect Dark Zero’s animations were less than convincing and helped ruin the overall experience. After seeing some of Banjo Kazooie’s great animation and physics we think Rare can turn this issue around.
3. Customizable multiplayer characters.
The original Perfect Dark on Nintendo 64 features an expansive character creator. It allowed you to mix the body and heads of every character in the game and customize them with accessories. Rare took a big step backwards with Perfect Dark Zero by removing this feature and allowing just a few characters that aren’t customizable. Another downfall of the characters in PDZ is that they use the same two voices, one for males and one for females, with a very limited amount of dialog. When the game initial released there was only one voice for all characters, a female voice. Nothing like watching a burly man talk like a sissy. It was good for comedic value, but we’re glad Rare fixed that in a patch. Here’s what we should be to customize:
- Character model
- Clothes
- Accessories
- Voice
This will add variation to the characters so we don’t see the same faces on our teammates and our enemies and in the mirror.
2. Lengthy, more epic story.
The single player campaign was a tad on the short side and lacked epic set pieces. Dialog and cut scenes were scarce and the overall story telling was poorly executed. Tell the story through interactive cut scenes and let us feel the immersion of the world. Keep the difficulty tiers with different objectives, this adds a ton of replayability. Most people will play through the game on Agent or Secret Agent, giving each difficulty different objectives makes multiple plays through appealing. Last, but definitely not least, make the end boss a memorable and fun experience.
1. Change the art direction.
The fan’s biggest complaint for Perfect Dark Zero is its art style. Shiny, plastic character models in cartoony environments. The next Perfect Dark needs to return to its roots with a darker and more realistic style. There are some great textures to be seen in Perfect Dark Zero but imagine a realistic world you can relate to. Not only would it be more commercially appealing but it would be more fitting to the story and environment.
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:26 pm
No keep the shiny plastic like colors, I want to play a game not some realistic crap.. i go out n buy cmp if i want realistic haha
March 3rd, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Bring back the ability to upload your face too!
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 pm
I don’t agree on the grenades, they were very handy in pdz, the rest are more or less ok.
March 4th, 2009 at 2:28 am
I don’t think the grenades were accessible enough to be useful. It’s nice to be able to throw out a flash quickly enough to switch back to your weapon and kill a blinded enemy. There needs to be some things done to balance the explosives in multiplayer too, at least with Ranked matches.
March 4th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I specially agree on changing the art direction. Perfect Dark is supposed to be a realistic game unlike Perfect Dark Zero, which screwed up the series. I also hope Jo’s hair is shorter and darker in order to look like a woman and not like a stupid american teen. Oh, and plz, bring back her british accent!
March 16th, 2009 at 1:40 am
We need the sexy british accent back! Please! PDZs Joanna Dark was a joke
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Ha! Improved cover system should be number 1! Sucks to have to confirm a cover when people are shooting at u from 3 different directions.
June 4th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Hi, good post. I have been woondering about this issue,so thanks for posting. I’ll definitely be coming back to your site.
July 1st, 2009 at 8:02 pm
I disagree with point 7: vehicles are boring in shooting games. Yes, the vehicles in PD Zero were even worse (and a lot of that game was a major let down after the original was one of the best games ever), but I think the best way to improve them is to minimise their involvement (or remove them altogether.)
Halo brought in vehicles, and they were a novelty, but now it seems that too many games have them, and it’s not fun. If you want to run someone over, play Saint’s Row or the horrendously overrated GTA4. Yawn.
I loved the original PD, and am very excited about the XBLA remake. I bought a 360 just for PD Zero and was very disappointed. It was an OK game, but the multiplayer was stripped down, the solo missions just weren’t as fun, and the plot destroyed everything that the first one established. dD and CI at war? That made no sense in the context of the first game, and what the hell were they thinking with that magic sword crap and the final boss?
Bring back the CI and dD, bring back the Maians and the Skedar, and build on the foundation of the fantastic first game. PD Zero had some good ideas (the cover system) but, in my opinion, was a major letdown. I want my Farsight and Callisto back!
July 1st, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Awesome post Harvs, I actually agree with you completely. Number 7 to me was an assumption that vehicles would be in the next game. I would also prefer them to be completely removed. It appears that they have only taken from the game.
Bring back the Maulers and the Cyclones too
July 21st, 2009 at 10:01 am
micorsoft messed it up complety to be fair
like the ohter guys said bring back the old guns and everything !!!!! the old one rules and i still play it today !!!! n – bomb and the ar34 and the rcp120 !!!:) maybe sice it up a littel more get creative target the weak pont that other gun games dont have to day !!!!! to have a longer game play !!!!
July 21st, 2009 at 10:02 am
and so on !!!!!
August 12th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I’m a Perfect dark n64 fan. Perfect Dark Zero was VERY sucky. I dont relate it to the original game at all. WHERE is the Carrington Institute that you could run around in? The firing range where you could blast away? Zero is like a demogame introducing stupid coversystems and idiotic rolls.. I don’t wanna roll around wattafak. Im gonna play a marblegame on the Wii or something if i wanna ROLL. To the developers of new Perfect Dark 2. The best advice. DONT strip down the combat simulator. MAKE everything as it was. And then add some more cool stuff. BUT DONT mess with the combat simulator and the gamemechanics. PLZ
September 20th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
i agree with most of these posts. when i heard about perfect dark zero i was expecting another masterpiece. it was one of the main reasons i was going to buy x360. but i heard pdz wasn’t good from someone. they said it was stripped way down from pd64. i was sorely dissapointed. most games these days are like that. they never live upto their classic grand daddy originals. the main reason for this is always because they strip everything away that made its original so exciting and addicting. that’s the number one rule i think for a series, never take away in the next game, keep the core, its meaning and add onto it. again, most games arent successfull in executing this golden code these days and it’s a shame. if there is another perfect dark to come out, it better be damn good, amazing, thrilling, exciting, exc…!!! that’s why i wish i could have a say in making games, they’d all live upto their originals and become classics themselves…
January 6th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I AGREE WITH MOST OF THE POST ON HERE ESPECIALLY ON DA STORY FRONT…PERFECT DARK ZERO WAS A COMPLETE MOCKERY OF THE ORIGINAL…I MEAN,WASN’T JONATHAN SUPPOSE TO BE JOANNA’S BROTHER AND SINCE WHEN DID DANIEL EVER WHERE A KILT? THEY NEED TO BRING BACK SOME OF THE ORIGINAL FEATURES FROM PD,LIKE SEDATIVE AND BEING DIZZY(NOTHING LIKE GETTING A WHUPPIN FROM FISTSIM TO LEAVE YOUR SCREEN BLURRY)AND HOW DO YOU(IN A MODERN SHOOTER)NOT HAVE A RADAR WITHOUT USING A WEAPON(PDZ,U SUCK)JUST GIMME MY SUPERDRAGON AND CALL IT A DAY!
June 13th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Give me the Skedar, and their beautiful land of Ruins, and everthing else that made the N64 missions memorable. I thought the XBLA remake would redesign the look of the missions (I thought the attack ship would have a design change), but I’m somewhat glad they didn’t do a complete design overhaul. The Skedar need to be more advanced and I’d like to see them more powerful, like the Chimera of Resistance 2 or the Covenant of Halo Reach. Those aliens are powerful, and the Skedar seem weak, but they have great design taste (Skedar Ruins was my favorite level in the game, as were the Skedar multiplayer levels). We need more background info on the Maian race, and the Skedar race as well. I want Perfect Dark 3 (or is it Perfect Dark 2?) to bring back the aliens I love! Perfect Dark Zero felt like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. I HATED Modern Warfare after I finished it. It felt fake, too movie-like and stale (although it had some good points). Perfect Dark (the original) was colorful and had feelings, just like Resistance 2 (my first favorite game)!