A true icon of FPS of infiltration from the prolific Rare stables in 2000 on N64, Perfect Dark, owned by Microsoft since 2002, was announced for a AAAA reboot at the 2020 Game Awards. game and, surprise, Crystal Dynamics. Throwback to a highly anticipated title on PC and Xbox Series X|S, which remains quite discreet since its announcement.
Between a development that seems to be struggling, to the point of requiring the support of the studio behind the reboot trilogy of Tomb Raider and Marvel's Avengers, or even several departures within the parent studio The Initiative, where the reboot of a monument of the Stealth FPS? Here's everything you need to know about the origin of the legend and what to expect from this ambitious project.
Perfect Dark, what is it originally?
Before looking at the reboot that interests us here, it is worth going back twenty years to the origins of the Perfect Dark license. Developed by the brilliant Rare studio and released in 2000 on N64, it was an FPS that put us in the shoes of Joanna Dark, an elite spy. Echoing another monument of the N64, GoldenEye 007, also developed by Rare and released in 1997, Perfect Dark offered us a relatively revolutionary approach to the FPS crossbred with infiltration.
Like the first Half-Life of the name released in 1998, this title immersed us in a particularly coherent and credible semi-futuristic universe. All while adding sci-fi elements like two alien races fighting for control of the Earth, under the cover of powerful mega-corporations. The game's protagonist, Joanna Dark, also contributed a lot to the success of the original work. It was indeed one of the first strong women in the ruthless world of FPS at the time, who had nothing to envy to a certain Lara Croft. The game constantly asked us to deal with both the shooting skills of Agent Dark, but also with his spy skills, in level design levels sumptuously adapted to the exercise.
In 2002, Microsoft acquired the rights to the license and released Perfect Dark Zero in 2005 for the launch of the Xbox 360. Unfortunately, this one did not meet with the same success of esteem as its big brother on the venerable Nintendo console. The original title was remastered in 2010, still on Xbox 360.
Joanna Dark returns after 10 years in the shadows
After the remaster of Perfect Dark Zero, our dear spy kept a low profile for ten years. It was not until the Game Awards 2020 that Agent Dark resurfaced, to everyone's surprise, on the occasion of an announcement for a reboot of Perfect Dark. A spectacular trailer presenting us with a Blue Planet in the grip of terrible climatic disasters ended with the appearance of the iconic heroine, before planting the nail with the name of the game.
Microsoft has thus announced that this reboot of a legend of the stealth FPS is intended to be an AAAA experience with an “eco science fiction” atmosphere. As the Earth finds itself overwhelmed by the wrath of Mother Nature that threatens all of humanity, mega-corporations arise and offer miracle solutions to save the day. But some are suspicious of these benefactors who come out of nowhere and mandate Agent Dark to lift the veil on this affair.
Reboot obliges, there is no doubt that the screenplay of this new opus will more or less resume what Rare had imagined twenty years ago. Said mega-corporations will thus probably be under the yoke of alien races seeking to take possession of the Earth, passing for the so-called saviors of humanity. A scenario that is reminiscent of a certain XCOM 2.
Development in absolute darkness?
The trailer presented last year also announced in its introduction which studio would be at the initiative of this ambitious project. We give it to you in a thousand, so it was The Initiative, a studio freshly opened in Santa Monica (a land very rich in video games and which notably houses the studio behind the reboot saga of God of War) by Microsoft in 2018 The Perfect Dark reboot is therefore their very first game.
Only, it seems that Microsoft and The Initiative had eyes bigger than their stomachs. We learned in fact last September that the studio was going to partner with Crystal Dynamics, in order to be able to offer an experience up to the ambitions of Microsoft and the original work.
If the American studio made some (serious) mistakes along the way with Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Marvel's Avengers, it's hard to deny the fact that it has experience in spectacular reboots. Despite a breathless final episode, the trilogy of new adventures of Lara Croft in Uncharted sauce has been a huge success, both critically and commercially.
On the strength of this helpful collaboration, the parent studio The Initiative has, however, experienced many unfortunate twists in just three years of existence. The project has indeed seen the departure of two design directors, the latest having left his post a few weeks ago after only a month in office.
The development of the Perfect Dark reboot therefore seems as beset by disasters as the Earth it depicts. According to the confessions of Microsoft and The Initiative, the project would also be currently “in the early phase of development”.
Exit classified secret-defense
With all this information, when can we expect to see Joanna Dark return to service? Naturally, no release date has yet been announced, given the embryonic state of progress of the project. We do know, however, that the Perfect Dark reboot will release exclusively on Microsoft's next-gen consoles as well as PC.
If the promise made by Microsoft to offer an extremely ambitious AAAA experience materializes, we bet that the project will still take years before emerging from the shadows. However, we can hope for a release, at best, during 2023. This is a symbolic year, since it was at this precise time that the story of the original Rare game took place. A nice way to close the loop, but which unfortunately seems too optimistic.
