Everyone who gave this game a poor rating must have not played past the tutorial, and they have missed a fantastic game
This year, many people found themselves satisfyed with big name shooter releases such as Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3. So what makes this 3 year old game stand out amongst the competition? We will start with the gameplay. Perfect Dark Zero starts off in a tutorial hologram, a labratory which you will eventually come back to in the real game world. You don't really get what the game is all about until you are farther in, as the tutorial seems to be quite uninventive and really sets a bad first impression on the user. You get a taste of a couple guns in the tutorial but you really don't get the broad scope of the complete vastness of the weapons arsenal in the game. There are several great weapons to use, each with a very natural and organic feel to them, even the ones that are Sci-fi. Most weapons have a secondary fire mode and some even have a tertiary fire mode. It really is fun to test out what your weapon can do and adds depth to the gameplay when you can do more with your weapon like: fire around corners, throw your ammo clip turning it into a turret, and firing grenades. You can also take cover and blindfire or aim which adds a great strategical depth to the action. The aiming sights in the game range from a standard looking view over the barrel of the gun or a scope which are even on some pistols. How hard you hold the LT button changes your level of zoom which really works nicely when you want to aim then zoom in for a headshot. All in all the weapons in this game are finely crafted and are one of the many high points of this game.
The graphics however, aren't the highest point of the game. Some of the environments and guns are fairly detailed but what you are getting in this game is three year old graphics, do not forget that. Gameplay may be timeless but graphics will only get better as time goes on. Some of the city environments, character models and guns just can't compare to sleek, modern shooters like Call of Duty 4 and leave something to be desired. Enemy character models can also get quite foggy looking but Joanna looks very sleek when she hides behind cover. Obviously Rare worked hard on making her body just perfect for the game, but put less detail into enemies as a result.
The soundtrack can be very good. In battle you will ocassionaly get a wonderful and melodical acoustic drive which sends you off into the world of Perfect Dark and really hightens the gameplay experience. Guns sound just right and for the most part the voice acting is well done (although the story isn't exactly the best).
Overall, I urge you to give Perfect Dark Zero a chance. Try to turn a blind eye on all the negative reviews and be positive. Go out and pick up your copy, put it in your 360 and let the world of Joanna Dark thrill you... to the very end.