The action begins in the year 2023, when Joanna receives a distress signal from a troubled scientist held hostage in the heart of a monolithic corporation. Joanna is one tough cookie. Using a classic guns-ahoy interface, Perfect Dark glides over most of the territory of it's previous engine, with some major enhancements in graphics.
Every surface is mirror smooth, every kill is realistic, and almost every enemy looks different.
Some slowdown is inevitable, and it is a shame that without the expansion pak you'll only see about a third of the game, but once you immerse yourself in Joanna's world, you'll never look back. The sound could definitely have used some extras, although some of the mood music and voice effects are good for a Nintendo 64 game. There's no bagging on the controls, however, which remain as tight as they were in GoldenEye. All in all, Perfect Dark is near perfect, and one of the best shooters out there for the Nintendo 64. Let's hope that Joanna gets to ride the Dolphins later next year.