The crazy world of videogaming is probably more transient than we’d like to admit: technology changes our expectations perpetually; true gems are lost amongst the torrent of so-called blockbusters and the internet has forever altered the way games are announced and sold. But amidst all the furore of today’s marketplace, the rush of the AAA and the buzz of the leaks, the rumours and the gossip, some things endure.
Happy videogaming memories are something we’ll always cling on to, of course, but there’s evidence of tangible persistence too, such as the way our favourite genres have developed over the years from the embryonic seeds of innovation through to the staple mechanics set in our minds today. In the first person shooter genre level design, weaponry and control are all things that have matured to the point of almost perfection.
I’m not suggesting that Rare’s Goldeneye was that first glimpse of brilliance, of course – there had been many shooters before the Twycross boys got hold of the license to kill, but what the Nintendo 64’s early calling card did offer was a pack of exceptionly well structured, organic and endlessly replayable levels, an arsenal to die for and ‘analog look’ that was previously exclusive to the PC-based mouse and keyboard brigade.
I lost many a hour to that game and its spiritual sequel, Perfect Dark, and it still baffles me that despite other FPS titles of the current generation still borrowing heavily from Goldeneye’s many original ideas, the likes of Bungie and Guerrilla still haven’t quite worked out what made the single player modes in Rare’s two N64 shooters so utterly compelling: that harder difficulty levels shouldn’t just be about making the bad guys tougher.
For me, Goldeneye and Perfect Dark were perfect because they offered distinct challenges at each skill setting. Even from the very first level of 007 this still unmatched generosity shone through, with the Agent level forcing only the most basic of tasks making way for some tweaks to the Secret Agent before ensuring that you really had to work to get the 00-Agent badge, with alarms, modems and backups all in your way.
Last week’s release of Perfect Dark on the Xbox 360’s Live Arcade brought all this rushing back to me, especially as a few of the levels from Goldeneye (albeit with a few tweaks) are present and correct. With the game running at sixty frames per second (and some decent HD graphics adding to the experience) it’s clear that the things that made the two games so superb are just as relevant 10 years on.
It’s refreshing, then, to find that Rare’s futuristic shooter is just as smart now as it always was. Sure, there’s little of the shock and awe of the likes of Modern Warfare 2 but the close corridors and open battlegrounds still hold a sense of reason and not just the twinge of nostalgia – the only thing that feels dated is the polygon count. A decade later, Perfect Dark is still a shining example of the FPS genre, and long may it continue to be.
