Perfect Dark (recomp)

I remember playing through way more as a kid (probably on “Agent” difficulty), but on replaying it in this recomp I got really pissed off by the fifth level, Chicago: Stealth. Music and mise-en-scène aside, it's dogshit—a stealth level in a game with no stealth, and civilians you're not allowed to kill who love to run in front of your gun. Even playing on, I got sick of the empty technical gestures, nonsensical scripting, and obtuse or obnoxious objectives. The ten-tonne straw that broke the camel's back was Area 51: Escape, the game's second escort level, with an escort-ee who then fucking dies at the end of the level anyway (unless you do a bonus objective that doesn't always trigger).

The one thing that stood out to me in a good way was the breadth of enemy interactions, partly inherited from GoldenEye, partly new for this game. The combat AI's pretty bad for the time, but everything around it is actually good.