Topic: Pure Xbox Game Club - On Indefinite Hiatus

Fired up Perfect Dark and played the first two missions. The game is like an acquired taste for me. It was a bit overwhelming at first since there are multiple objectives, the objectives aren't always clear-cut and the levels are fairly open. So it's easy to mess up or not know where to go. But after a while, I started getting used to this formula and it became fun.

I tried out the different difficulty settings and playing on Special Agent means more objectives, while playing on Agent means one objective and that's getting to the end of the level. At first I wanted to pick Agent but it felt wrong because that would mean missing out on a lot of content. The whole point of the game is to play like a spy and that experience is lost on Agent difficulty. So even though you might feel uncomfortable with the mission structure on Special Agent difficulty at first, I think you'll get used to it the more you play.

@LtSarge cheers for the heads up. I guess those are like difficulty levels but it's so weird to lock content behind a difficulty level rather than just ramping up the difficulty

@ralphdibny Yeah, I'd honestly prefer if there only was one set of objectives regardless of difficulty level. I can't imagine just running through each level without doing other objectives. You'd be missing out on so much.

@LtSarge @ralphdibny that is exactly the same as in Goldeneye. It is thought for doing it in stages of increasing difficulty as you familiarize with the levels

@Balta666 fair play, didn't even know that about Goldeneye. I think it's still weird by modern standards

I wonder if the n64 version has the dual n64 pad controller scheme like goldeneye apparently had. I might actually play it like that on the Wii U if it does 😂

@ralphdibny It IS weird by modern standards, but I always liked it, in that it gave us incentive to replay the game. Not just playing the same game, but more. It's a 5-8 hour game depending on the difficulty and skill, so this was OK. I wouldn't like this in the new 20+ hour games. It's also bad for accessibility which is I guess one reason it was never pursued. Nowadays the modern equivalent would be to have these all as optional missions or side missions I guess.

@themightyant oh are the extra objectives compulsory on secret agent? That definitely changes things if that's the case

Does the game need to be booted from Rare Replay to get the achievements for both the XBLA release as well as the related achievements in Rare Replay? Or can you just boot the game straight from the dashboard and it will unlock anything in RR as it becomes relevant?

@ralphdibny yes, all objectives are mandatory (at least in Goldeneye).

I have finished the first two levels and the added story bits through cutscenes are quite welcomed (not sure if they were added just to the Xbox version) and was definitely not expecting aliens in it... These two were fairly easy but the following I am already getting KIA...

@Balta666 This is what I was afraid of. I played more of the game after my first post and it's getting quite challenging for me. The problem is that there are no checkpoints, so you'll have to do all the objectives in one go. This is especially annoying in the longer levels, like the second one. Thankfully I didn't die in that one but if I did, then it would've been annoying to replay it.

I'm sadly having a hard time motivating myself to continue playing Perfect Dark. I'm honestly considering dropping the difficulty to Agent just to get through the rest of the game. It's great that you can choose the difficulty level for each mission, so it's not like you need to start the game over. But yeah, doing a bunch of extra objectives while facing off against aggressive enemies in long levels with no checkpoints is very discouraging.

@LtSarge yep, again the same thing as Goldeneye and on that game the final levels are very very hard. Had to replay them until perfection. Strangely enough I noticed a "saving" icon on screen that I found odd and I don't know what it does exactly.
I will add that I found Goldeneye's campaign to be some of the best I ever played as a FPS and that is because of the puzzle like mechanics of it.

@Balta666 Good thing I've hold off on playing Goldeneye then! Now I know what to expect when going into it.

So I decided to lower the difficulty to Agent and the game is much more enjoyable for me now! The levels don't "feel" as long and apparently you'll still get more objectives to do the more you play the game. Because the first couple of levels only had one objective on Agent, while mission 2 and 3 both have multiple objectives on Agent. The pacing feels much better and it's easier to gun down enemies when they're not wrecking your health. Not to mention that I turned on auto-aim in the settings and shooting feels much better now. Otherwise the controls are rather awkward.

So if you're like me and are experiencing lack of motivation to play the game, then I recommend playing on Agent. It's so much more enjoyable! I want to keep playing the game now.

@LtSarge I have turned auto aim even before starting the campaign .
I played FPS since early 90s on PC so I allways struggle with dual analogue sticks controls.

@LtSarge honestly, I haven't even booted the game yet and the increased difficulty + mandatory objectives were already giving me massive anxiety before playing.

I thought initially more objectives sounded great but I think I'm Gona play on Agent now because I have been putting myself off even starting it. Then IF I fancy it after, I might give special agent a try and see how far I get with it. If that's the intended way to play it then I'll give it a go but I fear I may just say "that's good enough" after one playthrough!

@ralphdibny The more I play, the more I think you should definitely play on Agent. I started mission 4 yesterday and I had to restart the second level so many times (on Agent difficulty!) because I kept failing the objectives. Even with dumber enemies and more health, you can still mess up easily with the objectives.

I will stick to the middle difficulty for now. Finished all stages of mission 1 and slided through mission 2 on the first try. Had a try at mission 3 but struggled a bit as it looks like the game expect me to do stealth but I cannot understand how to with the mechanics of the game lol

@Utena-mobile Hiya, more or less lol. You don't have to tag me when you write your thoughts on the game

Just tag me when you vote for next month's game (click my signature for the list to vote from) or you can suggest a game that's not on that list.

We tend to choose games that are on game pass that are also under 20 hours long. These aren't firm rules but it's unlikely something that doesn't fit that criteria will get voted for and chosen. The only firm rule we have is no repeats and you can see a list of games we've played already in Post #1 of this thread.

Do you want to be added to the tag list for this thread? You'll get a notification every month when I update the thread and sometimes I use it if there is a tie in the voting and I need some more votes.

Anyway, welcome to the club 😀

Understanding the first part of the Chicago level by exploring, studying the objectives and delivering the mission is some of the best fun I had in gaming in my whole life. I was already expecting to like the game as I allways liked Goldeneye back in the day tbf

Finished mission 5 and difficulty wise it is still very managble so far. Had to replay some of the levels a few times but mostly because of the objectives puzzles.

Reached the final boss once. It looks like it is going to be a doozy... It will have to wait for next week though as this sunday is family time out of town.