Perfect in every way.

If you're an N64 owner, I have just three words for you: "Get Perfect Dark."
This game blows away any and all competition from any other game ever designed for the N64, including the much revered Goldeneye (made by the same team that created PD). The depth in the singleplayer missions alone is absolutely incredible, and would probably still outclass every other game if it was just released as a single player game. But when you add in the phenomenal multiplayer aspect, this game just can not be beat.

Those of you who have played Goldeneye will remember the hours of fun that could be had with friends in the multiplayer game, using proximity mines to trap unwary foes, rocket launchers to create mass destruction, hiding remote bombs on ammo boxes and hiding nearby for a victim to approach... The possibilities seemed to be infinite with Goldeneye, and there seemed to be few improvements that could be made... How wrong we were!!

To start with, we have the vanilla "Get a friend, plug in two game pads, shoot each other to bits" scenario, with a moderate choice of weapons to start out with. This is a blast, and just like Goldeneye, it's a lot of fun running up behind your buddy and taking him out before he even realises you're there.

If you rush straight into this, you may think that there's not really been much change in the gameplay since Goldeneye. But you'd be wrong. WAY wrong.

COMPUTER CONTROLLED PLAYERS!!!!
Yes, that's right, Perfect Dark comes with those great friend substitutes known as "bots", as well as oodles of scenarios in which to challenge these increasingly deadly creations.
When you first start playing the "Challenge" multiplayer mode, you have a single scenario you can play with, which is basically you against one 'bot' in combat, very similar to the standard multiplayer mode. This "simulant" (as the games 'bots' are called) is of the easiest variety, and probably would have difficulty hitting the broad side of a barn with a nuclear weapon. ;-)

Upon defeating this very simple foe, you then find you have access to additional challenges.. At first I thought this would be the standard, "Beat one easy sim", "Beat two easy sims", "Beat one medium sim", "Beat two medium sims" progression, but Perfect Dark does not stoop to such a lowly system. Instead, you're offered challenges such as the popular "King of the Hill" mode that is seen in games like Quake etc, whereby you (or your team!) have to try and 'capture' a certain area of the map, and hold it against the enemy for a set period of time, after which you're awarded a point, and the "hill" is moved to another section of the map, whereupon the battle starts all over again!

Did I say team? YES! In the multiplayer matches you can create teams of players, in any combination of humans and/or simulants to fight it out in whatever mode you choose. At first this mode is somewhat disconcerting, as usually you're out to kill anything that moves. Having to avoid shooting friendly players (luckily your teammates are 'highlighted' in your teams color) adds an extra dimension to the game, not to mention the increased strategy involved. Now instead of merely hiding someplace dark and waiting for an enemy to stroll by, you can employ tactics like luring an unwary foe towards your rocket launcher equipped friend, or overlapping fields of fire, or watching your friends six as they dash back to your base with the enemy's briefcase (another of the great multiplayer modes).

Take a second now to scroll back up this review... See how long it is already? I could probably write that much again to add to the review, still just on the multiplayer section of this game. Impressive, huh?
I've not even started on the Single Player game!

The most apt comparison for the single player game is of course it's predecessor (of sorts), Goldeneye. A lot of things in Perfect Dark have been 'borrowed' from Goldeneye, so you'll often find yourself going from point A to point B, activating/destroying/photographing thing C and making your escape via a convenient lift. Perfect Dark does tend more towards an 'ongoing' mission though, so rather than there being a period of days between one mission and the next, such as in Goldeneye, you'll sometimes find yourself finishing one mission heading down in an elevator, and getting your briefing that from the elevator you need to go and do this that and the other. This, in my opinion, is a good thing, as it gives a much greater feel of continuity to the game.
Perfect Dark isn't just a rehash of Goldeneye though, far from it! You have extra gadgets you can play with... Errr, complete missions with.. ;-) as well. Things like the "CamSpy", which allows you to get into places Jo (Joanna Dark, 'your' character in the game - yes, she's female!) can't, and explore other areas with less chance of detection. There are a couple of different versions of the basic camspy, and if you find you have one of them in your inventory, it's a safe bet you'll need to use it! Gadgets like this add a whole new level to the game, and despite my initial worries about their usage, I've been impressed so far - although I've not even beaten the game yet mind you!

Perfect Dark also sees a welcome return of a mode that most developers seem to have forgotten - Cooperative gameplay. In this mode you and a friend can team up to attempt the 'singleplayer' missions together, watching each others back, combining firepower and just generally having a lot of fun. Again, you have the option of playing with a simulant on your side, so even if you don't have any friends that enjoy the game, you can still experience this mode.
In an interesting twist to this mode of gameplay, Perfect Dark also offers a kind of "Anti Co-op" mode, where you (or your friend) take control of Joanna, and the other takes control of one of the other enemies within a level. If Jo kills the character the other player is controlling, they get switched to the next nearest character, ready to try and take Jo down again. To win, Jo needs to complete the mission as normal... The other player wins if they manage to kill Jo! I'm itching to try this mode out with a friend, as I think the possibilities for this mode are huge.

This review is now getting to the size of a novel, so I'll wrap it up here by saying that if you enjoyed Goldeneye you will absolutely LOVE Perfect Dark. If you've not played Goldeneye, but you do enjoy other "First Person Shooter" type games, such as Quake, Mission Impossible etc, then you'll probably enjoy Perfect Dark as well. Give it a go!