Perfect Dark (series)
Encyclopedia
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 console
s. 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.
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.
, 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.
s written by Greg Rucka
and several comic book
s 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.
, 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. Using a modified version of the GoldenEye 007 game engine, Perfect Dark made its debut at E3 1998, 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 Darks critical and commercial success led Rare to begin development of a prequel titled Perfect Dark Zero
for the Nintendo GameCube
. In September 2002, Rare was purchased by Microsoft
. 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.
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. 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 cutscene
s. 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. 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. Sources claimed that Microsoft's restructuring of Rare earlier in 2009 had killed it, as well as a sequel to Kameo: Elements of Power
.
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.
.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
video game franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
created and developed by Rare. The series debuted with the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
video game Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
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
Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Studios is the video game production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the development and publishing of games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Games for Windows and Windows Phone platforms. They were established in 2002 as Microsoft Game Studios to coincide with the release of the Xbox, before...
. As a result, the development of subsequent games in the series was transferred to Microsoft video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s. 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 lawLaw
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
to attain their goals. The most notable of these organizations are the Carrington Institute and dataDyne. The Carrington Institute is a research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
center founded by Daniel Carrington, and dataDyne is mainly a defense contractor
Defense contractor
A defense contractor is a business organization or individual that provides products or services to a military department of a government. Products typically include military aircraft, ships, vehicles, weaponry, and electronic systems...
corporation founded by Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
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
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
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 DarkPerfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
, released for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
in 2000 as the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
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
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
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
Perfect Dark Zero
Perfect Dark Zero is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game had a difficult development cycle, during which a substantial part of it was initially designed for the Nintendo GameCube...
, was released as a launch title for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
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
Perfect Dark (Xbox Live Arcade)
Perfect Dark is a remake of the critically acclaimed Nintendo 64 video game of the same name. Originally developed by Rare, it was ported by 4J Studios, published by Microsoft Game Studios, and was exclusively released as an Xbox Live Arcade game for the Xbox 360 on March 17, 2010...
was released as an Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
game for the Xbox 360. It features improved graphics and online multiplayer.
Adaptations
In addition to video games, the Perfect Dark series is supported by two novelNovel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s written by Greg Rucka
Greg Rucka
Gregory "Greg" Rucka is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.-Career:Rucka's writing career...
and several comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s by Eric Trautmann
Eric Trautmann
Eric S. Trautmann is an American comic book creator. He began his career in publishing as a freelance writer in the print roleplaying game industry in 1992...
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
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
. The first novel, Perfect Dark: Initial Vector, is set six months after Perfect Dark Zero and focuses on dataDyne's new CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
. 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
American comic book
An American comic book is a small magazine originating in the United States and containing a narrative in the form of comics. Since 1975 the dimensions have standardized at 6 5/8" x 10 ¼" , down from 6 ¾" x 10 ¼" in the Silver Age, although larger formats appeared in the past...
, focuses on Joanna's attempts to unmask a mole in the Carrington Institute's Los Angeles office.
Development
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 HollisMartin Hollis
Martin Hollis is a computer and video game designer and the founder and CEO of Zoonami. He has worked in the computer and video game industry for over 19 years and was Head of Software at Rare...
, who explained that they rejected the prospect of working on the GoldenEye
GoldenEye
GoldenEye is the seventeenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Martin Campbell and is the first film in the series not to take story elements from the works of novelist Ian Fleming...
sequel Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Bruce Feirstein wrote the screenplay, and it was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. It follows Bond as he tries to stop a media mogul from engineering...
"without hesitation", as the development team felt they had spent too much time immersed in the James Bond universe. Using a modified version of the GoldenEye 007 game engine, Perfect Dark made its debut at E3 1998, 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
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
, released shortly afterwards.
Perfect Darks critical and commercial success led Rare to begin development of a prequel titled Perfect Dark Zero
Perfect Dark Zero
Perfect Dark Zero is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game had a difficult development cycle, during which a substantial part of it was initially designed for the Nintendo GameCube...
for the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
. In September 2002, Rare was purchased by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. As a result, the project was subsequently transferred to Microsoft's Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
. 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
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. Overall, the actual development of the game took five years to complete. Around the same time, Microsoft also arranged a deal with Tor books
Tor Books
Tor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...
and Prima Games
Prima Games
Prima Games, a division of Random House, is the largest publishing company of video game strategy guides in the United States. It is an imprint of the Random House Information Group, based in Roseville, California...
to allow them to produce novels and a comic book set in the Perfect Dark universe in order to help promote the franchise.
Development of a sequel to the Nintendo 64 game began in 2007 for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, but by late 2007 it had not been greenlighted and was still in the prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
stage. Chris Seavor of Conker and Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct is a fighting game developed by Rare and published by Midway and Nintendo. Initially released in arcades in 1994, and rumored to use an "Ultra 64" hardware engine, in reality the proprietary arcade hardware was co-developed by Rare and Midway. The game received a high profile launch...
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. 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 cutscene
Cutscene
A cutscene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, strengthen the main character's development, introduces enemy characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues...
s. 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. 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
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
first-person shooter. Sources claimed that Microsoft's restructuring of Rare earlier in 2009 had killed it, as well as a sequel to Kameo: Elements of Power
Kameo: Elements of Power
Kameo: Elements of Power is an action-adventure video game developed by Rare. Under development for 4 years, the game was released as a launch title for the Microsoft Xbox 360 video game console in late 2005.- Plot :...
.
A remake of the original Nintendo 64 game, also titled Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark (Xbox Live Arcade)
Perfect Dark is a remake of the critically acclaimed Nintendo 64 video game of the same name. Originally developed by Rare, it was ported by 4J Studios, published by Microsoft Game Studios, and was exclusively released as an Xbox Live Arcade game for the Xbox 360 on March 17, 2010...
, was produced by 4J Studios
4J Studios
4J Studios is a video game developer based in Dundee, Scotland. The company has worked with a wide range of publishers including ZeniMax Media, Mojang AB, and Microsoft Game Studios...
, the same studio that previously handled the Xbox Live Arcade ports
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
of Rare's platform
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
games Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie is a platform and action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998...
and Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie is a platform and action-adventure hybrid video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo in 2000 for the Nintendo 64 as a part of the Banjo-Kazooie series. The game is the successor to Banjo-Kazooie and was one of the most anticipated sequels for the Nintendo 64.The game's story...
. The remake was exclusively released as an Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
game for the Xbox 360 in March 2010, nearly a decade after the original.
Reception
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. The game was met with a substantial level of critical acclaim, and its release on Xbox Live Arcade neared 325,000 units sold at the end of 2010. 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. Perfect Dark Zero received overall positive reviews from critics, though not as high as the original game. Total sales for Zero exceeded more than one million copies worldwide. The games were generally praised for their extensive multiplayer modes and replay valueReplay value
Replay value or replayability is a term found in combination with video games, but it may be also used to describe other kinds of games, movies, music, or theater plays. In video games, the term replay value is used to describe the entertainment value of playing a game more than once...
.