Four years after its cinematic reveal at The Game Awards, Xbox finally gave us a proper look at the Perfect Dark reboot at the Xbox Games Showcase today.
It included a look at the gameplay of the first-person shooter, as well as the welcome return of protagonist Joanna Dark.
“The Earth has been hit by a series of catastrophes, bringing ecosystems around the world to the brink of collapse,” Perfect Dark’s YouTube description says. “In this first look at gameplay, follow Agent Joanna Dark as she pursues the world’s most wanted criminal, Daniel Carrington, to uncover mysteries that threaten the lives of millions.”
that Xbox wire This blog post adds additional context, and answers many questions about Perfect Dark. Among other things, the post says it will be a single-player experience with options offered on how to complete missions. The combat system will feature melee and shooting combat, stealth mechanics, and “liberal use of gadgets.” In short, it’s a “real-life secret agent fantasy.”
Perfect Dark’s development is being led by The Initiative, a startup studio created by Xbox in 2018 to shepherd its way into the espionage/espionage genre. But the initiative does not go it alone. Previously, IGN reported that it was being co-developed with Certain Affinity, but ongoing conflicts between the two studios led to them parting ways and rebooting development in 2022 with Crystal Dynamics joining the project.
Clearly progress has been made since then, as shown in today’s trailer, though IGN understands the game is still some way off. No release window detected.
Perfect Dark debuted on the N64 in 2000, and was developed by Rare. It received rave reviews, with IGN even giving the first-person shooter a 9.8/10 at the time, calling it “the most comprehensive multiplayer mode ever to grace the Nintendo 64.” It would be followed by Perfect Dark Zero in 2005, a launch title for the Xbox 360, and a Perfect Dark remaster in 2010.
For more, check out our roundup of everything announced at today’s Xbox Show.
