It’s perfectly understandable if you’ve completely forgotten that Perfect Dark exists. The series first debuted on the Nintendo 64 in 2000 with Rare behind the helm. A sequel came with Perfect Dark Zero in 2005, which was a launch title on Xbox 360. The last time we got anything with the franchise was the Perfect Dark remaster in 2010. But today, during the Xbox Games Showcase, we actually got a gameplay reveal trailer for the reboot of the secret agent series. Joanna Dark is back, and the game is now being co-developed by The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics, the team behind the latest Tomb Raider games and Marvel’s Avengers.
The game will continue to be a first-person secret agent thriller, with the reboot set in a near-future world. Although the team has taken inspiration from the first two games, they are building an entirely new story and universe for the reboot. As a result, it’s not necessary to play the original games before jumping into the new Perfect Dark whenever it decides to release. Xbox wanted to stress that Perfect Dark doesn’t want to feel like any single genre. It’ll have elements of first-person shooters, immersive sims, and stealth action.
Protagonist Joanna Dark is voiced by Alix Regan, while Elissa Bibaud provides the visual likeness. She’s an agent for dataDyne and has a deep personal connection with what’s happening in her world. A world that has been impacted by “The Cascade,” a series of environmental disasters with entire regions inhospitable to human life. In the trailer, we see Joanna sent into Cairo to find and apprehend Daniel Carrington. Along with a look at combat, the trailer also revealed some of the gadgets Joanna will have at her disposal.
Unfortunately, no release date or window was announced for Perfect Dark, so, well, we’re still in the dark when it comes to that.
