Rare on Revolution controller

By Ellie Gibson Published 14 November, 2005

And why PD0 is no Halo.

One of Rare's lead designers has revealed that forthcoming Xbox 360 shooter Perfect Dark Zero could work on the Revolution.

Speaking to US website 1UP, multiplayer designer Duncan Botwood said: "We could make it work, but there'd be some changes to the gameplay, I expect; the controller looks like it might lend itself towards a light gun style of shooting, which would be a fresh approach."

Botwood is a little skeptical when it comes to the "freestyle" controller, however. "Personally, I'd like to try using the controller for an hour or more, the length of play session I had when I played Wind Waker, for example... It doesn't look that comfortable to me at first glance.

"Most people don't use TV remote controls constantly for a whole hour, let alone wave them in the air all that time," Botwood continued.

"I'm skeptical, but that's tempered by my respect for Nintendo and my past experience of working with their controllers."

Botwood also took the opportunity to make it clear that Perfect Dark Zero isn't attempting to imitate the most successful shooter on the current-generation Xbox.

"We never tried to be a Halo clone. We wanted to do something different that had more in keeping with the previous games we worked on - Perfect Dark 64 and GoldenEye. Don't come to PD0 expecting Halo!"

That's not to say that the Rare designers aren't fans of Bungie's blockbuster, however - just that they're trying to do something new with the genre.

"The bottom line is that our world, our style of play and our philosophy were all different, to varying degrees, and that isn't a bad thing. Gamers get Halo and Perfect Dark Zero to play."

There's still no word on just when we'll get to play Perfect Dark Zero, exactly, but the latest rumours suggest it will indeed be an Xbox 360 launch day title, hitting European shelves on December 2.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ecureuil #1 7 years ago

    I worry about using the Revolution controller for extended periods of time. I supposed the amount of waving the controller around you have to do will depend on the game, though.

  • Fatfish #2 7 years ago

    "We never tried to be a Halo clone. We wanted to do something different that had more in keeping with the previous games we worked on - Perfect Dark 64 and GoldenEye. Don't come to PD0 expecting Halo!"

    Good! I for one think that Halo is over rated (not saying it isn't a good game, just that it is limited in a lot of respects and didn't 'rock my world' as I expected it to). Personally, I found the orginal Perfect Dark on the N64 to be a brilliant game, taking it's lead (and a lot of pointers) from Goldeneye - still by my books one of the best FPS ever. The amount of re-play value and the multiplayer elements in both games far outweighed what Halo had to offer IMHO. And personally, I found the overall style and structure of Perfect Dark far more enjoyable than Halo. I'm glad they have tried to keep PDZ as an original and intended style of play, rather than 'mimick' Halo in attempt to pander to marketing. Judegment is still to be made on this game, but I'm betting (read: hoping!) it's going to be a rather special title in my line up for launch.

  • peterfll #3 7 years ago

    If PDZ is anything like the original or Goldeneye that can only be a good thing. And the 360 launch line up looks more lucklustre as the days go by, so here's hoping this might still pull the rabbit out the hat (you never know).

  • Carrybagma #4 7 years ago

    Are Nintendo and Microsoft secret bedfellows? A lead designer of Microsoft IP was allowed to say that? Looking back, I don't think I've heard anyone from MS mutter a bad word about Nintendo, so could we see a bit of co-op for the greater 'good' of tipping Sony off it's perch? i.e. PD0 on Revolution, if the American masses don't 'get it'? It would certainly help MS re-coup some of the money they spent on buying RARE...

    EDIT: Doh.
    Edited by Carrybagma at 14/11/05 @ 14:16

  • SirScratchalot #5 7 years ago

    Itīs very halo-ey actually, right down to only carrying a few weapons at once....
    The pace, semi-recharging health system and so on all scream Halo at the top of their lungs....
    The setting is vastly different and so are the enemies of course, but they are very similar in many respects.

  • Fatfish #6 7 years ago

    @peterfll - let's put it this way, if PDZ, Kameo and Condemned all turn out to be rather flat and unexciting experiences for me, you'll find my 360 on sale somewhere on the pages of ebay - just in time for the xmas rush!! They will be my litmus test - the deciding factor as to whether I remain an early adopter!

  • Fatfish #7 7 years ago

    @SirScratchalot - Whilst certain elements may have been adopted from Halo, that doesn't mean the core game mechanics have followed suit. My only real concern about this title (as seen in some of the video footage) is the AI issues. I'm hoping what I saw was on an 'easy' setting - because to be honest, I've seen dead roadkill take more evasive action than some of the grunts do in the footage!

  • kangarootoo #8 7 years ago

    "I'm skeptical, but that's tempered by my respect for Nintendo and my past experience of working with their controllers."

    Possibly the most rational comment I've seen regarding the Rev controller. Epic VP pay heed.

  • SirScratchalot #9 7 years ago

    Actually Iīve played through the whole thing, just keep forgetting a lot of people in the comments donīt check the forum :) It feels very halo-ey and the enemies are all dumb as chickens with their heads cut off even at higher difficulties.

  • The_Real_Olla #10 7 years ago

    @SirScratchalot, enemies are dumb? Not sure what you have been playing or smoking, but it wasn't PDZ on Dark mode... And "PDZ very halo-ey"? Isn't it the other way around..
    Edited by The_Real_Olla at 14/11/05 @ 14:59

  • NAC #11 7 years ago

    SirScratchalot that just shows how opinions differ. When I played PD0 and it felt like Goldeneye/Perfect Dark ie the game mechanics turning / aiming and weapon firing. PD0 has gotten some rough press cause of the similarities you pointed out with Halo. But I was really impressed with the game.

  • ali-uk #12 7 years ago

    Good, I'm glad it's not trying to be Halo. I do hope it's trying to be Perfect Dark though...

  • The-Bodybuilder #13 7 years ago

    >"The pace, semi-recharging health system and so on all scream Halo at the top of their lungs...."

    Erm, the pace has always been slow since the days of goldeneye.

  • mal #14 7 years ago

    When I played Halo, it reminded me of Perfect Dark ;) Mind you, that might be because Halo was the only FPS I'd bought since Perfect Dark :)

    And FatFish, are you feeling alright? Halo multiplayer not better than Perfect Dark/Goldeneye multiplayer? I've not played much Perfect Dark multiplayer, but compared to Halo, Goldeneye lacks modes and decent controls for a firefight. Also, to my mind, the Halo MP maps are superior. Although I'll grant that Goldeneye was probably more eye-opening at release than Halo was.

  • Fatfish #15 7 years ago

    @SirScratchalot - quote "Actually Iīve played through the whole thing, just keep forgetting a lot of people in the comments donīt check the forum :) It feels very halo-ey and the enemies are all dumb as chickens with their heads cut off even at higher difficulties."

    Yeah, but have you ever tried to shoot a headless chicken before?!?! ;)

    Fair comment. I had actually read your posts on the forum, but forgot it was you that posted them! My apologies.

    I don't mind the odd similarity between this and Halo, providing the overall game play is still Perfect Dark/Goldeneye orientated. Can you tell me if they give a gold/silver/bronze or percentage basis award for completing each level? That was half the challenge of the other 2 titles - although Halo had the difficulty levels and an alternative ending (which was quite poor really), it never offered the same sort of replay value (IMO).

    @ mal - Hard to put a finger on it, but just never really got the same enjoyment out of Halo as I did on Goldeneye. Perhaps half the fun of Goldeneye was that for multiplayer, you had to have your mates sat next to you........so you could always offer them the obligatory 'dead arm/deg leg/nipple wrench' for killing you with one shot from the Golden Gun. Although the whole Live experience is enjoyable, Halo will never have that element for me. I like facing off against tangible opponents, rather than a faceless horde of pre-pubescent yank teenagers. Overall though, I just found Halo to be lacklustre as a game. Perhaps it's that I've gotten older and a little more desensitised to gaming - Goldeneye kept me playing for months on end (both multiplayer and solo). Halo kept me entertained for a matter of weeks at most before I tired of it. In fact, I ended up playing RainbowSix3 for longer than I did Halo (again both solo and multiplayer).

    On a slightly different note, I remember when 2 player head to head on Streetfighter II was the only reason for living - now we're looking at 32 player deathmatches against contenders from almost every country in the world........as the norm! I am one of the minority who are rapidly coming to the conclusion that developers (and manufacturers such as MS) are using online capabilities as a means to sell an otherwise mediocre title. I'm just worried that (what should be) the main content of a game will suffer due to this transition in to a 'networked society' and the associated redirection of developers 'priorities'.
    Edited by Fatfish at 14/11/05 @ 17:26

  • Xerx3s #16 7 years ago

    "That's not to say that the Rare designers aren't fans of Bungie's blockbuster, however - just that they're trying to do something new with the genre. " Why? Because it actually was the first control system for a console fps that could actually get anywhere near that of the pc?

    That said, would like another golden eye style game mechanics system, that was just the bomb in mp....

  • Fatfish #17 7 years ago

    Yes, I meant Halo 2...........Mr. Pedant!! ;)

  • mal #18 7 years ago

    I have to admit, I've not played Halo2 online. The only time I've really spent playing Halo has been 6 player and up across up to three system linked xboxes, thanks to the beauty of EG LAN meets :)

    Anyway, seems a little harsh to say that Halo2 online isn't as good as Goldeneye offline, when Halo and Halo2 have an offline mode too!

  • Flightrisker #19 7 years ago

    Not sure if this has been mentioned but didn't a lot of the main team behind Goldeneye/PD leave and go on to make TimeSplitters? That's why I'm not too excited about PDZ, TimeSplitters seems to be the true lineage of the GE -> PD series. If I'm wrong about this then yay. Iloved PD and would love a great sequel.


    PD Memory #97

    The second function on the Cyclone gun, magazine discharge. Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvoooooo!

  • mal #20 7 years ago

    Yeah, many of the Goldeneye team left to form Free Radical, including (from memory) 'Dr' David Doak. Not sure how many of the PDZ team have got history tracing back to Goldeneye, but who knows - maybe Rare poached some of the back? There's no way of knowing, from that I can see.

  • Fatfish #21 7 years ago

    PD memory #16

    The laptop turret gun - it's like having a second team mate cover your rear......ooo-errr-missus......

    @ mal - A game can have any number of online/offline multiplayer modes, but that doesn't mean that the core mechanics of the game feel/respond/play brilliantly. It goes back to my other comment about having online inclusion to beef up an otherwise mediocre title - which is my general view about the Halo titles (so far).

    @ Flightrisker - I agree that there is a certain lineage with a large majority of the original PD/GE team moving over to Timesplitters - but even Timesplitters moved away from the gameplay styles found in PD and GE. Yes there were certain similar elements, but it just always felt like a 'poor mans' version to me. Timesplitters never had the polish or the required skill - was much more of a 'run and gun' style of gameplay. And those monkeys bugged the shit out of me!!

    I guess what I really want is updates of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark on the 360 (preferably with new levels and map editors for online play) and I'll be happy. See, I don't ask for much....... ;)

  • mal #22 7 years ago

    >Fatfish, ah well, each to their own is all I can say in that case :) For me, I find halo controls better to play with than PD's twinsticks setup (the closest comparable setting), but YMMV.