“I’m bringing sexy baaaack!”

Today, I’m going to go a bit into detail on my playthrough for the firstmission of the game. The majority of the discussion will primarily deal with the Perfect Agent difficulty, as that is where this gem of a game truly shines. So with that being said…

dataDyne Central- Defection

This first mission of Perfect Dark has Joanna infiltrating the dataDyne headquarters where she must locate and gain entrance to an underground laboratory. The mission itself, on the Agent and Special agent difficulty settings, is a breeze. Take out the cameras, disable a couple of hubs, and blast any insignificant guards into oblivion in the process and your mission is complete. However, as with all other missions of the game, Perfect Agent is where things begin to get awry…

For being the first mission of the game, I went in thinking, “It’s the first mission, it’s Perfect Agent, big deal. It’ll be difficulty, but not that difficult.” I was wrong. Even so early on in the game, Rare created an experience that can be just as relentless and unpredictable as the later missions. There is just nothing easy about it. And it’s more than just the deadly–no pun intended–accuracy of the enemies, but little tricks Rare throws in here and there to throw the player off. I’ll have more on that within the next few paragraphs.

Now, I don’t know how many attempts it took before I finally completed this mission. I do not keep count as I’d like to keep at least a little of my dignity intact. One of the things I had to be careful with in the beginning of this level was the cameras. There are several strewn about the building, three of which right from the get go. Get caught by one, start over. It just throws the enemy placement in the building off and for myself, knowing exactly where each enemy was located was of the upmost importance. Even then though, I would make such small mistakes as trying to preserve ammo by shooting the enemies less and thinking it would be enough. When that happens, I have a nasty habit of reloading right afterward only to realize, “oh, crap, that wasn’t enough” and here I am in the middle of a reload while the recooperated enemy is filling me full of lead. This has lead to my death throughout the game more times than I can count…

After countless times, eventually I reached a point where I could breeze through the first couple of floors with no problems whatsoever. Just took my time, knew where to go, who to shoot and how to shoot them, and it wasn’t as difficult. But then…remember that little trick I mentioned a few paragraphs back? Yeah…that comes in with the third objective: Download Project Files.

dataDyne Central- Defection teaches a very valuable lesson with that third objective that must be taken into high regard in not only this mission, but in several others throughout the game: When Joanna or someone else in a mission speaks, pay attention, because it is important. In this particular mission, Joanna is given a Data Link, a futuristic gadget that must be used to dowload a set of project files pertaining to Dr. Caroll. In order to get to these files, you must take hostage The Executive who is in charge of the Dr. Caroll project and have him lead you to his office where he can log on and allow you to access the files with the Data Link. Sounds simple, right? It is…but there is a twist…

When the Executive is first located, he is in the middle of a meeting with another dataDyne employee, and from outside of the door you can hear a conversation going on between the two. The Executive is basically told to delete the files. This plays a signicant role because Rare throws a curve ball here and if didn’t catch what was being said right, you’ll surely miss it on that first throw. I know I did.

After progressing all that way with near perfect health, I thought nothing could really go wrong from there. Get to the Executive, follow him to his office, and watch as he logs onto the computer. He says he is logged in, puts his hands in the air, and I whip out my Data Link and start downloading the files. Then what happens? That little prick brings his hands back down and deletes the files in the middle of the transfer, thus ending the mission as the objective could not be completed. It was completely unexpected and caught me by surprise. The solution to the issue is simple: once he says he’s logged in, just knock him out and dowload the files. And that’s exactly what I did everytime afterward without fail.

From that point, it’s basically just a matter of survival once you reach the bottom floor via the glass elevator. I know made it all the way down there once only to be shot in the back with a CMP-150. The next time, however, I was more aware and managed to survive the onlsaught of enemies (barely!), disable that external security comm, and make my way to the elevator leading to the Laboratories.

As you can surely see, even the very first mission can be a doozy. Probably to many, many out there it’s simple on every difficulty, but to me it presented quite the challenge along with that insane “wtf” moment.

Sometime next week I’ll be detailing my playthrough of Perfect Dark’s second mission. In the mean time, why not give us your thoughts on the dataDyne Central- Defection mission??

Now that the brief introduction is out of the way, let’s get on to the purpose in the post…

First and foremost, I have never completed Perfect Dark on Perfect Agent. Back in the day, despite my hardest efforts, I could only manage to complete a select few levels and it was no easy task. One that, due to frustration, I eventually gave up on completely. So with Perfect Dark XBLA, I decided once and for all that it was time to do so, and thus I opted to play through the game in an entirely different manner.

After the download was complete and Perfect Dark was established in its rightful place on the harddrive, I immediately jumped into the game and started up the first mission. Agent difficulty… a breeze. Mission 2 of course appears next and after a few minutes of contemplation, I rather went back and, with a bit more difficulty, completed the first mission on Secret Agent. It was here that I came to the decision on how I should playthrough this XBLA version: one mission at a time on each difficulty.

Perfect Dark is generally a short game. One that can be completed in a few hours. Now, by opting to the play the game by completed each mission on each difficulty before continuing on to the next, it has not only increased the length of the title quite significantly, but also does an excellent job of showing just how difficult the game can be by being able to better compare and contrast the changes in each progressing difficulty. It really presents an interesting challenge to the game and in my opinion has made it more fun as well.

Before anyone asks, no, I have not yet completed the game in this manner. Perfect Agent is brutal and because of this, I have barely reached the Area 51: Escape mission, which I am currently playing through on Secret Agent.

In a few days or so, Part 2 of this feature will arrive in which I go into detail on my playthrough for the first few missions of the game. Keep playing, and let me hear how you’re enjoying the game!

Direct Link here

Direct link here

Direct link here

7. Eyedol

Killer Instinct was tough. Fighting your way to the top was no easy task and when you finally do get there, you have to deal with a double-headed, club wielding beast from hell known as Eyedol. If by this time you still haven’t mastered the art of the combo, then eternal damnation in the fiery pits below will surely be your newfound residence.

6. Alec Trevlyan

Bungie jumping, train rides, imprisonment, espionage, betrayal. What is still donned by many as the greatest first person shooter of all-time, Goldeneye 007 had it all. While the multiplayer garnered the majority of the praise, the single player was just as brilliant and offered a unique challenge like no other when Bond is betrayed by fellow agent Alec Trevlyan, a.k.a 006. This results in a gun battle thousands of feet in the air with a rushed time to stop the Goldeneye satellite and ultimately Trevlyan himself.

5. Wizpig

“Sorry to break the party worms but I had to say goodbye”. Diddy Kong Racing wasn’t a ride through the park. The silver coin challenges were brutal and the boss battles rough and tough, particularly the main villain, Wizpig, who was a diabolical, giant porky that took over Timber Island and turned the island’s true champion racer, Drumstick, into a frog using his magical powers. One thing he didn’t expect, however, was the help from an unexpected chimp from a distant land and Taj the purple, magic carpet riding elephant genie (yes…I’m serious…). But don’t think that he took over for nothing! Wizpig is, undoubtably, a tough as nails racer himself, and both races against him will put all of your driving skills to the ultimate test…

4. Professor Pester

You’re relaxing in your Garden. Perhaps teaching your newly acquired Bunnycomb a new trick, having a house for your Fizzlybear constructed, maybe just simply planting some tall grass for your Syrupent…then WHAM! A horriic scream fills the Garden, as does some fresh candy, the tasty innards of one of your precious Pinatas. This is the work of none other than Professor Pester, ruler of the Ruffians and all things evil in the world of Viva Pinata. No Pinata is safe when this dastardly fiend intrudes upon your Garden with an iron stick, so you’d best be prepared to protect your Pinatas at all costs! I recommend a dummy Horstachio. Pester may be tough and mean, but he can’t tell the difference between a real Pinata and a fake one. Idiot.

3. Mizar

Jet Force Gemini is Rare’s most challenging game on the Nintendo 64. Rare was relentless in it’s design having the player do the most difficult of tasks in order to progress to the game’s final conclusion. With this being said, it should come as no surprise that the boss battles were the toughest to offer on the system as well…if not the toughest in any Rare developed game in the history of the company! None of the bosses, however, compare to Mizar. He took over nearly every planet in the Galaxy and held hostage the poor Tribal race, which led the Jet Force Gemini team on the excursion to put an end to his diabolical schemes. The forces of good were surely tested, however, as the final showdown with the tyrant was as intense as they come. Victory, though, only led to an unexpected twist, as Mizar’s true identity was revealed…

2. Gruntilda

“It really does seem quite absurd, adventure of a bear and bird”. Indeed, it is. The Banjo-Kazooie series is Rare’s longest running franchise full of magical worlds and creatures that the bear and bird duo must tackle on their way to defeat the ever scheming witch, Gruntilda Winkybunion. She’s kidnapped poor Banjo’s sister in the name of beauty, sucked the life force out of Bottles and King Jingaling for restoration of a skinless body, possessed the contraption of a mechanical robot, and most recently battled in a set of races to earn the deed to Spiral Mountain. Each time, however, Banjo and Kazooie put an end to her ill intentions, leaving her with nothing but future desires on her next attempt to outdo the duo. Perhaps next time she’ll succeed! Or perhaps not…

1. King K. Rool

He’s amphibious, fat, has really sharp teeth and a master of disguise…and loves bananas?! I’m still quite uncertain as to why an alligator would want bananas to begin with, but in the land of Donkey Kong Country, this indeed the case. King K. Rool enjoys nothing more than stealing Donkey Kong’s precious banana hoard and when this absurd act of evil gets him nowhere, he takes it to the next level by actually apenapping, chimpnapping, and monkeynapping (okay…I’ll stop) the Kongs. Each and every time he takes on a new disguies, from being himself, a Kaptain pirate, an estranged scientist and even a professional boxer. Of course, these disguises to do nothing to help his cause, as the Kongs are family and work together to ensure they prevail over the reptilian king.

Be sure and share with us below your opinions and feel free to tell us what your top seven Rare villains would consist of!