Information AboutPerfect Dark |
''Perfect Dark'' is a 2000 First-person Shooter Video Game for the Nintendo 64 Game Console . The game was developed and published by Rare , creators of the multimillion-selling '' GoldenEye 007 '', an earlier first-person shooter with which ''Perfect Dark'' shares many gameplay features. The game was first released in Canada and the United States in May 2000, where it was greeted with critical acclaim; PAL and NTSC-J releases followed soon afterwards. The game features a single-player mode consisting of seventeen missions in which the player assumes the role of Special Agent Joanna Dark , an operative for the fictional Carrington Institute, as she attempts to foil a conspiracy by rival corporation dataDyne. It also includes a range of multiplayer options, including co-operative and "counter-operative" modes in addition to traditional Deathmatch settings. Technically, it is one of the most advanced games developed for the N64, with optional high- Resolution graphics and Dolby Surround Sound . In September 2000, a separate game starring agent Joanna Dark, also titled ''Perfect Dark'', was released for the '', a novel by Greg Rucka , was published later that year. STORYLINE ''Perfect Dark'' is set in the year 2023 against the backdrop of an interstellar war between two races: the Maians, who resemble the stereotypical " Greys " of alien abduction folklore, and the Skedar, Reptile -like Extraterrestrial s who can disguise themselves as humans, bearing similarities to Nordic Aliens . On Earth, there is an on-going rivalry between two factions. The Carrington Institute, founded by Daniel Carrington, is officially an R&D centre but secretly operates an espionage group in league with the Maians. dataDyne, on the other hand, is a sinister weapons corporation with a clandestine link to the Skedar. The player is cast as Joanna Dark, a new recruit to the Carrington Institute whose impeccable scores in training have earned her the codename "Perfect Dark". The game begins with her mission to investigate suspicious reports from a dataDyne insider. In the process, she uncovers a conspiracy between dataDyne and the Skedar: the Skedar plan to steal an alien " Megaweapon " from a crashed spacecraft on the Earth's ocean floor and use it to annihilate the Maians. When the President Of The United States refuses to loan dataDyne the research vessel they need to retrieve the megaweapon, they plot to kill him and replace him with a dataDyne-grown clone. Unbeknownst to dataDyne, the Skedar also intend to test-fire the megaweapon on the Earth, destroying it in the process. With the help of other Carrington agents and a Maian nicknamed Elvis, Joanna prevents the conspiracy by causing the weapon to self-destruct. She then helps the Maians launch a counter-attack, destroying the Skedar's "Battle Shrine" and eliminating their High Priest, thereby issuing Skedar morale a crippling blow. GAMEPLAY ''Perfect Dark'' features many elements that are typical of a first-person shooter game, including a range of weapons to collect, enemies to defeat and distinct environments to explore. It is frequently described as a " to tackle missions, and objectives that vary with the difficulty setting. The weapons of ''Perfect Dark'' include or proximity detonation. Players can carry an unlimited number of weapons, and certain guns can be used In Duplicate , one in each hand. Solo mode '' are unlockable extras in ''Perfect Dark''.]] The player can explore the Carrington Institute and take part in a number of tutorials and training activities. The most substantial of these activities is the In ''Perfect Dark'' There are three distinct difficulty levels in the single player game: Agent, Special Agent and Perfect Agent. There are a number of differences between the difficulty levels, including the objectives that must be completed, the amount of ammunition available, and enemy accuracy and damage. On higher difficulties, the optional "auto-aiming", in which the game corrects slight aiming errors automatically, becomes less effective and bonus items such as protective shields are absent. Once the game has been completed on one difficulty level, the levels can be tackled in any order on the other difficulties (apart from the final mission of the main story arc, which can only be played at a given difficulty after all other missions have been beaten on that difficulty). If all the levels are completed on Perfect Agent difficulty, an additional setting becomes available; titled Perfect Dark, this mode allows the player to customise various aspects of enemies, such as their health, their aiming accuracy and the damage they inflict. IGN review of ''Perfect Dark'', "Features" section. Retrieved June 11, 2006. Four bonus missions may be unlocked by the player. One, "The Duel", is a holographic training simulation against three opponents, and is unlocked by completing all of the entry-level weapon challenges in the firing range. The other three bonus missions are unlocked by completing the game on each of the three standard difficulties, and allow the player to control other characters — Elvis, Mr Blonde and a Maian warrior — in scenarios parallel to the main narrative. Cheats Codes Guides.com on the bonus missions. The gameplay is essentially unchanged, with objectives to accomplish and enemies to battle, but these characters do have some special characteristics, such as Mr Blonde's Cloaking Device . detStar guide to the level "Mr Blonde's Revenge". Retrieved June 11, 2006. Additionally, the player can unlock Cheats by beating the levels within certain time limits. Some cheats, such as "All Weapons", can alternatively be unlocked by using the '' Perfect Dark '' Game Boy Color game and Transfer Pak . The cheats range from "Perfect Darkness", which makes the level pitch dark but gives the player a pair of Night Vision Goggles , to more traditional extras such as Infinite Ammo. IGN on ''Perfect Dark'' cheats. The game includes a co-operative mode in which two players, or one player and up to three computer-controlled players, tackle the missions together. If two humans play, the game uses a Split Screen display, with the option to split horizontally or vertically. Only one human player is required to survive the mission, although all the objectives must still be completed. Finally, there is a "Counter Op" mode, in which one player plays the missions as Joanna while the other takes over the role of an enemy — including their weaponry and low health — and attempts to stop her. The Counter Op player takes control of another enemy if they are killed, and cannot cause the mission to fail directly by, for example, killing Joanna's allies before she meets them.''Perfect Dark'' Manual . Published by Rareware, 2000. The solo player areas feature numerous Easter Eggs and strange objects, areas and glitches to fuel the exploration efforts and wild speculation of many gamers. Rare staff have admitted that some of the oddities in the game were put there "for a laugh", and that the constant barrage of questioning emails they got were sometimes "a free source of amusement". Yamo's Lair on Rare's reason for game's easter eggs. Retrieved April 7, 2006. Perhaps the most famous curiosity is the piece of cheese hidden on every level. detStar on the pieces of cheese. These were intended to be collectable items, although the purpose of collecting them has never been revealed. This idea was scrapped, but the cheese remained. ''GameSpy'' on the original purpose of hidden cheese. Retrieved March 3, 2007. Multiplayer The Combat Simulator is ''Perfect Dark'' Players enter the game unarmed and with a certain amount of health. Weapons and ammunition are scattered around the level in preset positions. Once a player is killed, they are regenerated elsewhere in the level, once again unarmed. The overall objective of the game is determined by the scenario being played, of which there are six: detStar on the Combat Simulator scenarios. Retrieved June 11, 2006.
Aspects of each game can be customised, such as the chosen arena, the weapons available, and the winning conditions. Players can be grouped into teams or compete individually. In a team game, the players can optionally be shown coloured according to their team. Each game can be customised to a greater degree than was possible in ''GoldenEye 007'' Computer controlled Bot s, called "Simulants", can be included in the multiplayer game. The appearance, team affiliation, skill level and playing characteristics of each Simulant can be individually customised. For example, the VengeSim always pursues the player that killed it last, the FistSim will not fire guns but will attack with punches and thrown weapons, while the PeaceSim does not fight at all but merely tries to disarm the other players. Simulants can perform super-human feats on the highest difficulty settings, such as moving faster than the player can. detStar on the Combat Simulator Simulants. Retrieved June 11, 2006. During team matches, a human player can issue specific orders to the Simulants on their team, such as "Defend the Base". The Combat Simulator includes thirty "Challenges", pre-set games against Simulants which may be tackled by one or more players. The Challenges cover a variety of game types, weapon arrangements and level setups. As a player completes them, additional features — including new weapons, player models and bot difficulties — are unlocked in the Combat Simulator. A complete list of features unlockable through this mode is available; see Combat Simulator Challenge Earnings . At the end of the match, the overall results are shown, alongside information about the individual players' performance. Color-coded "medals" are awarded to the winners in several categories: Accuracy, Head Shots, KillMaster (for achieving the most kills) and Survivor (for suffering the fewest deaths). The game also acknowledges, often humorously, other aspects of performance by awarding messages such as " AC-10 " (for people who frequently use Body Armour ) and " Mostly Harmless " (for particularly ineffective players). Players can keep track of their performance by creating and saving multiplayer profiles. Each profile contains a ranking, ranging from "Beginner: 21" to "Perfect: 1", which is determined based on the accumulation of certain statistics such as number of kills, time played and ammunition used. The number of medals earned is also counted. (See Combat Simulator milestones .) A player achieving the rank of "Perfect: 1" is given the message "Username: ." Rare had originally intended these details to allow access to password-protected parts of the official ''Perfect Dark'' website, but these sections were never implemented. Rare's official response to ''Perfect Dark'' rumours. Retrieved December 11, 2005. Multiplayer profiles also allow players to customise their in-game appearance by selecting the head and body of any of the game's character models (excluding the Skedar), as well as several which do not appear in the single-player mode. A feature called "Perfect Head", which appeared in previews of the game but was not included in the final product, was intended to take player customisation further. This feature allowed the player to place a photograph of their choice onto their in-game character's face, via a Game Boy Camera combined with the Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak . The images taken would be uploaded to the cartridge and manipulated with a simple image editing program to adjust color and skin tone (as the Game Boy Camera was black and white) and add facial features such as facial hair. This texture could then be saved to either the cartridge or a Controller Pak and then loaded onto a player's character in multiplayer, thus creating a virtual representation of the player. Officially Rare said the feature was dropped due to "technical issues", but it is likely the real reason for the feature's removal was due to "sensitive issues" surrounding the ability to attack images of real people. ''IGN64.com'' on the features and implementation of Perfect Head. Retrieved March 3, 2007. ''IGN64.com'' on the removal of Perfect Head. Retrieved March 3, 2007. ''Computer And Video Games'' on the removal of Perfect Head. Retrieved April 7, 2006. While Rare stated the feature was completely removed from the game code, hackers using a GameShark eventually found text references to the feature such as the menu and related messages, however no code other than this remains. ''Yamoslair.com'' GameShark codes needed to view remanants of "Perfect Head" code. Retrieved March 3, 2007. DEVELOPMENT in Japan; such a bundle was not made available in the American release.]] agent Dana Scully from Television Series '' The X-Files ''. The name "Joanna Dark" was taken from the French pronunciation of Joan Of Arc as "Jeanne d'Arc". '' mark. At one time Nintendo Of Japan considered releasing the game there under the title . "''Perfect Dark''" does not translate well into Japanese, and the title "''Red and Black''" was considered sufficiently edgy. IGN on the original Japanese title, ''Red and Black''. Retrieved April 7, 2006. However, it was eventually released as , a transliteration of the Western title. "''Perfect Dark'' Returns" . Gamespot on the decision to release as ''Perfect Dark'' in Japan. Retrieved April 7, 2006. Originally Hollis hoped that the difference between light and dark would be a significant feature of the gameplay, and the title was intended to reflect this focus. A can be shot out, gunfire illuminates rooms, and the player can use Infra-red and Night Vision Goggles . Martin Hollis was involved with ''Perfect Dark'' for the first fourteen months of its three-year development, during which progress was slow. David Doak left at the end of 1998, and Steve Ellis soon after, to form Free Radical Design . What followed by those remaining on the project was a comprehensive re-design of the game (the story and characters being the main items kept intact). Hollis stated that he was impressed by the comprehensive range of multiplayer options, saying "what a vast array of features I never planned". Doak, however, remarked, "''GoldenEye'' pretty much exhausted the performance of the machine. It was hard to push it further. ''Perfect Dark'' had some good ideas but was dog slow." GAME ENGINE The ''Perfect Dark'' and must be reloaded after a certain number of shots. Interaction with the environment is via a single "Use" command, which opens doors, activates computers and so on. Enemies and players can disarm each other at close range, and the player can use this feature to steal weapons or knock foes unconscious. Like ''GoldenEye'', ''Perfect Dark'' uses location-based damage; for example, a shot to the torso causes more damage than a shot to a limb. However, unlike ''GoldenEye'', in the single-player mode a headshot on a guard is instantly fatal on any difficulty level. The engine includes a number of graphical enhancements, the most conspicuous of which is the option to play in hi- option for use on Widescreen televisions. The disadvantage of such detailed graphics is that the Frame Rate inevitably suffers in some areas; this was one of the main criticisms levelled at the game by reviewers (see '' Critical Reaction ''). The same limitation was present in ''GoldenEye'', but the other graphical enhancements in ''Perfect Dark'' serve to exacerbate the problem. In multiplayer, the game must Render the scene separately for each player, although at reduced resolution. Nevertheless the frame rate issues arise again, particularly if a large number of Simulants are involved. Gaming Age's review, paragraph 5. Retrieved June 11, 2006. ''Perfect Dark'''s engine offered audio features that had not been available on the N64 before; for example, it was one of the few games to offer Dolby Surround Sound . Some of the game's audio data was compressed as MP3 in order to fit into the relatively small storage space afforded by a Cartridge ,''Perfect Dark'' title screen. though the music was sequenced. There is full voice-acting for all the dialogue, and the guards can be heard having conversations amongst themselves about the events of the level. detStar on the guards' private conversations. Retrieved April 7, 2006. The artificial intelligence of the guards includes the ability to call for help and sound nearby alarms. The guards can be alerted by nearby gunfire, and the various weapons in the game have distinct volumes; for example, guards are less likely to be alerted by silenced pistols than high-powered rifles. Additionally, they are able to throw grenades and, if the player disarms them, draw a secondary weapon. One criticism raised of ''GoldenEye 007'' The multiplayer Simulants are considered more advanced, and have the majority of the faculties of a human player. They have the ability to complete multiplayer objectives, such as capturing the briefcase, but they are not able to use some of the weapons, such as mines. Simulants make no attempt to avoid simple traps such as proximity mines or sentry guns, even on the highest skill setting. There are a number of (or "speed-strafing") to exploit a bug in the engine whereby moving Diagonal ly allows the player to move faster than by running forwards or sideways alone. This technique is almost essential to achieving some of the target times required to unlock cheats. RELEASE AND SALES
The first release of the game came on May 22 2000 in North America. Nintendo arranged a number of publicity stunts to promote the release, including hiring model Michele Merkin to do in-store promotions as a real life Joanna Dark. IGN on the in-store promotions. Retrieved April 7, 2006. Total sales for the game reached 1.3 million copies in the United States. N64 sales chart (via archive.org). Retrieved April 2, 2006. The European release followed on 30 June, and finally the game was released in Japan on 21 October. The Japanese launch was a success, with the sale of 35,000 copies in the first week, n-sider.com on Japanese sales. Retrieved April 2, 2006. and 77,000 in total. Worldwide, ''Perfect Dark'' sold 2.5 million copies. GameFAQs.com on worldwide sales of ''Perfect Dark''. Retrieved June 9, 2007. CRITICAL REACTION Upon release, ''Perfect Dark'' received strong reviews from magazines and websites alike. IGN opined that the game "features amazing graphics, … and the most well-rounded multiplayer mode ever to grace Nintendo 64", saying that their "only gripe with the game is its sometimes sluggish framerate". '' GameSpot '' concluded "there's finally a game that has eclipsed ''GoldenEye 007''". Gaming Age described it as "probably one of the best FPSs to be released in quite a while", but concedes that "there are some nasty frame rate problems at times". GameCritics.com criticised the "weak characters and an unoriginal storyline", but nevertheless judged the "extraordinary amount of high-quality multiplayer modes and features" meant that "the game is still a blast". GameRevolution.com again criticised the game's technical shortcomings, noting the "occasional slowdown and … a few polygonal glitches", but overall concluded "''Perfect Dark'' shines out as one of the best N64 games". The overall positive reaction from critics can be gauged by the results of review compilation sites; for example, Gamerankings.com makes it the fourth most highly rated game on the Nintendo 64, and claims that the game "improves upon the awesome multi-player mode that made it's {Link without Title} predecessor ''GoldenEye'' a smash hit." Metacritic describes the game as meeting with "Universal Acclaim" and Rotten Tomatoes considers the game "Fresh". Rare was also recognized for its work on the game, as the company was awarded the Bafta Interactive Entertainment Moving Images Award for 2000 and the Golden Satellite Award for Best Interactive Product in 2001. LEGACY Another game also titled '' Perfect Dark '' was released for the Game Boy Color in September 2000, shortly after the Nintendo 64 game. The storyline of the game was considerably different from the Nintendo 64 incarnation's, as it follows Joanna's attempts to shut down an illegal cyborg manufacturer. While the game uses an overhead rather than first-person view, it has a number of advanced features for a portable game. For example, the game's cutscenes feature sampled speech and a "rumble" facility (akin to the N64's Rumble Pak ) is built into the cartridge. IGN on Perfect Dark for Game Boy Color. Retrieved April 8, 2006. ''Perfect Dark'' was the last major first-person shooter game for the Nintendo 64, which was already nearing the end of its lifespan; Nintendo unveiled their new console, the GameCube , at SpaceWorld 2000. The game was also the last appearance of the ''GoldenEye 007''/''Perfect Dark'' engine. 20 months before ''Perfect Dark'' was released, some of the development team left Rare to form Free Radical Design . This company went on to develop the PlayStation 2 game '' TimeSplitters '', another first-person shooter based around a completely new engine. '' TimeSplitters '' and its sequels bear many gameplay and presentational similarities to ''GoldenEye'' and ''Perfect Dark'', including a similar manual aiming system, missions with structured objectives, cheat options unlockable through quick level completions, and the earning of multiplayer awards. ''Perfect Dark'' has been featured in many "Best Game of All Time" lists. It placed 15th on IGN's Readers Choice Top 100 Games of All Time list in 2006, and 28th in , a site that averages review scores, with an overall score of 97. Perfect Dark at Metacritic.com . Retrieved July 11, 2007. Also, it was eighth on Gamespot's highest rated games of all time section, All Top Rated Games of All Time . GameSpot. Retrieved July 11, 2007. although it should be noted that it is not a "Greatest Game" list, but rather the highest rated games on that website. They gave Perfect Dark a rating of 9.9 out of a possible 10.0, with its reviewer Joe Fielder saying," As a single-player or multiplayer FPS experience, Perfect Dark is unparalleled on the console systems." Perfect Dark for N64 . GameSpot. Retrieved July 11, 2007. However, Revolution Europe, while praising ''Perfect Dark'''s "excellent multiplayer mode, crammed with options, weapons and settings", criticized the game for a "lack of imagination and chronic design flaws", including "tedious level design" such as the mission Pelagic II. Revolution Europe’s review of ''Perfect Dark''. Retrieved April 8, 2006. Meanwhile Rare began development of a prequel titled '' title. Later it was decided instead to release it for the Xbox 360 , and it became a launch title for that system. This game retains ''Perfect Dark'' ''Perfect Dark'' worldwide sales were not as great as its predecessor's eight million Rare's site on the sales of GoldenEye worldwide. Retrieved April 8, 2006. and Joanna Dark did not attain the same status in pop culture as other video game heroines such as '' on ''Perfect Dark: Initial Vector''. Retrieved April 13, 2006. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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