On a whim I've decided that I will, indeed, attempt to get into the Four Minute Club. That means getting 3:59 or better on each of Escape PA (currently I have 4:16), Deep Sea PA (4:35) and Attack Ship PA (4:20).

One of these I have already, in fact, beaten. I gained 3:59 Escape PA just a few minutes ago, cutting 17 seconds off my time and gaining an eyebrow-raising 35 points on the rankings. Attaining this was startingly straightforward. There are a variety of tricks which go into the world record strategy, only one of which - getting the alien med pack while Jon is planting the explosives - I decided to skip (as it involves leaving Jon vulnerable, and also running through a cloud of guards to get it). The rest were fairly simple little things which I learned from Ryan's WR video and were fairly simple to apply repeatedly for a few sessions until everything clicked together perfectly.

I really think I am better at Perfect Dark now than when I last played. I am rather older, but I think the main factor is that for the first time I actually know what I am doing when I do it. I understand WHY I am supposed to perform certain tricks, instead of just blindly imitating better players.

3:59 Escape PA is worth 50 points. 3:59 Attack Ship PA is worth 59 points while Deep Sea PA 3:59 is worth 56. Technically that should indicate which time would be easier to get next, but to hell with it: I'm doing Deep Sea next. Overall total: 2:04:00.