Perfect Dark (series)

Perfect Dark
The original Perfect Dark logo
Genres	First-person shooter, stealth, action
Developers	Rare
Publishers	Rare, Nintendo, Microsoft Game Studios
Platforms	Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Xbox 360
First release	Perfect Dark May 22, 2000
Latest release	Perfect Dark (Xbox Live Arcade) March 17, 2010

Perfect Dark is a science fiction video game franchise created and developed by Rare. The series debuted with the Nintendo 64 video game Perfect Dark in 2000, which received strong acclaim from critics and players, leading to the franchise's expansion. In 2002, Rare was acquired by Microsoft Game Studios. As a result, the development of subsequent games in the series was transferred to Microsoft video game consoles. Set in the 2020s, the games focus on the experiences of Joanna Dark, code named "Perfect Dark", as she uncovers numerous conspiracies by rival corporation dataDyne. Perfect Dark is one of Rare's most successful franchises, with roughly four million units sold.

Setting

The Perfect Dark series takes place in the 2020s and focuses on the activities of powerful organizations that secretly fight between themselves in order to achieve control over humanity. Such organizations possess their own heavily armed private armies and usually ignore the law to attain their goals. The most notable of these organizations are the Carrington Institute and dataDyne. The Carrington Institute is a research and development center founded by Daniel Carrington, and dataDyne is mainly a defense contractor corporation founded by Chinese Zhang Li, though it is also involved in other fields of production, such as the pharmaceutical and transport manufacturing industry. Several thousand years before the beginning of these events, an advanced extraterrestrial life form known as the Maians discovered life on Earth and great potential, but decided to let humans develop undisturbed. Another life form, the Skedar, who were bent on fighting, encountered the Maians and soon a war began between them. In 1985, Daniel Carrington discovered and contacted the Maians, and gradually a mutual interest began to grow between them.

The campaign mode of the series has focused on the character Joanna Dark, a highly skilled but inexperienced agent of the Carrington Institute, whose impeccable scores in training have earned her the codename "Perfect Dark". Before joining the Carrington Institute, Joanna worked as a bounty hunter alongside her father Jack, an ex-marine, former cop, that runs his own organization, Dark Bail Bonds. Joanna usually tackles her missions alone, though she is occasionally assisted by an undercover agent named Jonathan.

Games

The first game in the series is Perfect Dark, released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000 as the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007. Set in the year 2023, the story follows Carrington Institute agent Joanna Dark as she uncovers dataDyne's mysteries through 17 missions. A spin-off, also titled Perfect Dark, which is the only one in the series not to be a first-person shooter, was released for the Game Boy Color shortly afterwards. It takes place one year prior to the Nintendo 64 game, where Joanna attempts to prove herself as an agent for the Carrington Institute. A full second game, Perfect Dark Zero, was released as a launch title for the Xbox 360 in 2005, taking place three years prior to the original game. The story revolves around Joanna and her father Jack, working as bounty hunters, and their efforts to stop dataDyne from taking possession of an alien artifact which endows individuals with superhuman powers. In 2010, a remake the Nintendo 64 title was released as an Xbox Live Arcade game for the Xbox 360. It features improved graphics and online multiplayer.

Adaptations

Further information: List of Perfect Dark media

In addition to video games, the Perfect Dark series is supported by two novels written by Greg Rucka and several comic books by Eric Trautmann and Cold FuZion Studios, all released along or after Perfect Dark Zero. These supplements to the video games have resulted in significant development of the series' fictional universe. The first novel, Perfect Dark: Initial Vector, is set six months after Perfect Dark Zero and focuses on dataDyne's new CEO election. The second novel, entitled Perfect Dark: Second Front, follows Joanna Dark as she attempts to stop a clandestine group of hackers responsible for some major accidents that allowed dataDyne to takeover involved corporations. Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears, a six-issue American comic book, focuses on Joanna's attempts to unmask a mole in the Carrington Institute's Los Angeles office.

Development

Artwork of Joanna Dark for the canceled video game Perfect Dark Core.

Rare began development on Perfect Dark in 1997, shortly after the release and success of GoldenEye 007. The development of the game was led by Martin Hollis, who explained that they rejected the prospect of working on the GoldenEye sequel Tomorrow Never Dies "without hesitation", as the development team felt they had spent too much time immersed in the James Bond universe.^[1] Using a modified version of the GoldenEye 007 game engine, Perfect Dark made its debut at E3 1998,^[2] but it was not released until May 2000 due to its troubled development cycle. The game was accompanied by a handheld game for the Game Boy Color, released shortly afterwards.

Perfect Dark's critical and commercial success led Rare to begin development of a prequel titled Perfect Dark Zero for the Nintendo GameCube.^[3] In September 2002, Rare was purchased by Microsoft.^[4] As a result, the project was subsequently transferred to Microsoft's Xbox. As the game was still far from completion, it was then decided that it would be released as a launch title for the Xbox 360. Overall, the actual development of the game took five years to complete. Around the same time, Microsoft also arranged a deal with Tor books and Prima Games to allow them to produce novels and a comic book set in the Perfect Dark universe in order to help promote the franchise.^[5][6]

Development of a sequel to the Nintendo 64 game began in 2007 for the Xbox 360, but by late 2007 it had not been greenlighted and was still in the prototype stage. Chris Seavor of Conker and Killer Instinct was in charge of the project. By early 2008, the development team was cut down to a three-man team, effectively putting the game on hold. During early 2008, the game was canceled.^[7] According to Indian site GameGuru, the game would apparently introduce a morality system where the choices players make would branch the storyline and the plot would be unveiled entirely through the player's perspective without cutscenes.^[8] Later, it was also revealed that the intended game, originally known as Perfect Dark Core, would have featured a more realistic atmosphere than its predecessors, with a "smoking, flirting" Joanna Dark.^[9][10] Near the end of the project's life, the game's concept no longer had anything to do with Perfect Dark and was changed to a mech first-person shooter.^[11] Sources claimed that Microsoft's restructuring of Rare earlier in 2009 had killed it, as well as a sequel to Kameo: Elements of Power.^[12][13]

A remake of the original Nintendo 64 game, also titled Perfect Dark, was produced by 4J Studios, the same studio that previously handled the Xbox Live Arcade ports of Rare's platform games Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. The remake was exclusively released as an Xbox Live Arcade game for the Xbox 360 in March 2010, nearly a decade after the original.

Reception

Aggregate review scores

Game	GameRankings	Metacritic
Perfect Dark (Nintendo 64)	95%[14]	97%[15]
Perfect Dark (Game Boy Color)	66%[16]	—
Perfect Dark Zero	82%[17]	81%[18]
Perfect Dark (Xbox Live Arcade)	79%[19]	79%[20]

Along with the Banjo-Kazooie series, the Perfect Dark series is one of Rare's most successful franchises. The Nintendo 64 game sold 2.5 million units worldwide, ranking among the best-selling Nintendo 64 games.^[21] The game was met with a substantial level of critical acclaim,^[15] and its release on Xbox Live Arcade neared 325,000 units sold at the end of 2010.^[22] In contrast, reviews for Perfect Dark on Game Boy Color were particularly lower than the other games in the series, citing difficult gameplay and lack of strategy.^[23] Perfect Dark Zero received overall positive reviews from critics, though not as high as the original game.^[18] Total sales for Zero exceeded more than one million copies worldwide.^[24] The games were generally praised for their extensive multiplayer modes and replay value.

References

1. ^ Darran Jones (2010-03-29). "Interview: Martin Hollis". NowGamer. http://www.nowgamer.com/features/621/interview-martin-hollis?o=0#listing. Retrieved 2010-12-03. 
2. ^ IGN Staff (1998-09-08). "ECTS: Nintendo Games of the Show". IGN. http://uk.ign64.ign.com/articles/064/064740p1.html. Retrieved 2011-04-25. 
3. ^ IGN Staff (2001-06-11). "Perfect Dark Sequel Next Year". IGN. http://uk.cube.ign.com/articles/095/095693p1.html. Retrieved 2011-04-25. 
4. ^ Aaron Bouldling (2002-09-24). "Microsoft Buys Rare". IGN. http://uk.xbox.ign.com/articles/371/371977p1.html. Retrieved 2011-04-25. 
5. ^ David Adams (2005-08-25). "Perfect Dark Gets Novel Treatment". IGN. http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/645/645482p1.html. Retrieved 2011-04-25. 
6. ^ David Adams (2005-11-18). "Perfect Dark Zero: The Comic". IGN. http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/668/668135p1.html. Retrieved 2011-04-25. 
7. ^ Mark Mazzeii (2009-11-13). "Perfect Dark 2 canceled, may have evolved into something else". Mundorare. http://mundorare.com/news/2009/11/perfect-dark-2-canceled-may-have-evolved-into-something-else/. Retrieved 2011-03-23. 
8. ^ Daemon Hatfield (2007-10-15). "Perfect Dark Getting True Sequel?". IGN. http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/827/827608p1.html. Retrieved 2011-07-15. 
9. ^ Refurs (2011-03-21). "Perfect Dark Core (Xbox 360 - Cancelled / Prototype)". Unseen64. http://www.unseen64.net/2011/03/21/perfect-dark-core-xbox-360-cancelled-prototype/. Retrieved 2011-03-23. 
10. ^ Chris Pereira (2011-03-21). "Details and Video of Canceled Perfect Dark Sequel Surface". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/news/details-video-canceled-perfect-dark-sequel. Retrieved 2011-03-23. 
11. ^ JC Fletcher (2011-03-21). "Rare's canceled 'Perfect Dark Core' revealed in concept art and video". Joystiq. http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/21/perfect-dark-core-canceled/. Retrieved 2011-03-23. 
12. ^ Phil Meza (2009-11-02). "Sources: Microsoft, Rare restructuring killed Kameo 2, other sequels". XCastOnline. http://www.xcastonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1127:sources-microsoft-rare-restructuring-killed-kameo-2-other-sequels&catid=39:news&Itemid=104. Retrieved 2011-03-23. 
13. ^ Tor Thorsen (2009-02-17). "Rare restructures, Microsoft warns of earnings slip". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6204772.html. Retrieved 2011-03-23. 
14. ^ "Reviews of Perfect Dark". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/198275.asp. Retrieved 29 July 2007. 
15. ^ ^{a b} "Reviews of Perfect Dark". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/game/nintendo-64/perfect-dark. Retrieved 27 November 2010. 
16. ^ "Perfect Dark". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/gbc/198274-perfect-dark/index.html. Retrieved 2010-01-14. 
17. ^ "Perfect Dark Zero". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/xbox360/516508-perfect-dark-zero/index.html. Retrieved 2010-04-12. 
18. ^ ^{a b} "Perfect Dark Zero". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/perfect-dark-zero. Retrieved 2010-04-12. 
19. ^ "Perfect Dark". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/xbox360/960632-perfect-dark/index.html. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 
20. ^ "Perfect Dark". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/perfectdark?q=perfect%20dark. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 
21. ^ List-All (2009-09-30). "Best selling N64 Games". Listal. http://www.listal.com/list/bestselling-n64-games. Retrieved 2011-04-26. 
22. ^ Langley, Ryan (2011-01-28). "XBLA: In-Depth: Xbox Live Arcade Sales Analysis For All Of 2010". Gamerbytes. http://www.gamerbytes.com/2011/01/indepth_xbox_live_arcade_sales_18.php#more. Retrieved 2011-01-31. 
23. ^ Frank Provo (2000-09-05). "Perfect Dark Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/gbc/action/perfectdark/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary%3Bread-review. Retrieved 2010-01-14. 
24. ^ Hilary Goldstein (2006-10-30). "Perfect Dark Even More Perfect". IGN. http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/742/742581p1.html. Retrieved 2006-11-08.