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Perfect Dark (N64)

GENERAL INFORMATION

GENRE/STYLE

Shooter/First-Person Shooter

RELEASE DATE

23/MAY/00

ESRB RATING

MATURE, Animated Blood, Animated Violence

DEVELOPER

Rare Ltd.

PUBLISHER

Rare Ltd.

ALSO AVAILABLE ON

Game Boy Color

TRAITS (member-attributed "LIKES")

THE SETTING #USES

PLAYING AS #USES

PLAYING AGAINST #USES

HOW IT'S PLAYED #USES

GENERAL TONE #USES

DESCRIPTION

Perfect Dark thrusts gamers into a futuristic world run by an evil corporation called dataDyne. As a field agent for the Carrington Institute, you will embark on a series of missions that begins with a mysterious kidnapping and culminates in an intergalactic conflict between two alien races. The game takes place in the year 2023, a time of despair. Animals are being mutilated, people are being abducted at alarming rates, and the planet seems to have become one giant playground for forces unknown. These events have not gone unnoticed by the Carrington Institute.

Led by the benevolent Daniel Carrington, the institute was created in order to research and develop new technologies for the greater good of mankind. That's not all they do, however. The Carrington Institute takes it upon itself to investigate certain actions that threaten society, and Daniel believes dataDyne may be responsible for many of the world's problems. To that end, he has assigned his best agent to investigate: Joanna "Perfect" Dark. (The "Perfect" comes from her stellar test scores as an agent-in-training.)

Joanna's first case involves protecting one of dataDyne's trusted scientists, Dr. Caroll. It seems Caroll had contacted the Carrington Institute with an odd request: he needs to be rescued from the very same company he works for. Joanna must infiltrate the corporation, find and rescue the frightened doctor, and make it back in one piece. Thus begins the single-player adventure, which features nine missions spanning 17 levels. Rare's follow-up to GoldenEye 007 offers an assortment of powerful gadgets to master while advancing through otherworldly locales inspired by Blade Runner and other sci-fi films. Perhaps the most notable weapon in Perfect Dark's arsenal is the FarSight XR 20, a gun that allows you to "see" opponents through walls or barriers.

Perfect Dark also features an array of multiplayer options. Four-player deathmatch, king of the hill, and capture-the-flag variants are included, with the ability to add computer-controlled "simulants" as friends or foes. "Co-Operative" Mode lets two friends progress through the story together, while the "Counter-Operative" Mode has one player guiding Joanna Dark and the other controlling an enemy. The "bad" player can assume control of random enemy characters until Dark is defeated or the level is complete. Challenge Mode offers 30 scenarios that will have you gunning for simulants under a variety of conditions. Up to four players can play the Challenge Mode, and each contest can be played up to four times (with one, two, three, and four players). ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Perfect Dark (N64)

GENRE/STYLE:

Shooter/First-Person Shooter
RELEASE DATE:

23/MAY/00
TOP TRAITS:

multiplayer, Joanna Dark, sci-fi
DESCRIPTION:

Perfect Dark thrusts gamers into a futuristic world run by an evil corporation called dataDyne. As a field agent for ... more

players 218

followers 0

#2093

POPULARITY: N64 PLATFORM

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Perfect Dark (N64) by: iammattie

“While it was leagues ahead of it's time, compared to modern day games in the shooter genre, Perfect Dark leaves nothing memorable. It serves better use as a book end, unless you're really itching for nostalgia and frustration.”

created 16/MAR/2013

amedeus8 played Perfect Dark on 24/MAR/10

“Ray's up while André's around, so I blew some crap up with them. I really need to get it through my head that the KLO1313's not available in multiplayer in that version.”

created 25/MAR/2010

amedeus8 played Perfect Dark on 21/MAR/10

“André's home from the Navy a day earlier than I thought he'd be, so we celebrated by playing some PD against a ton of DarkSims. We got our asses completely handed to us, but managed to kill a few...”

created 22/MAR/2010

Plus XP: Exclusive interview with Perfect Dark XBLA producer, Nick Ferguson by: LeonBelmontX

“This is probably my biggest achievement in game journalism to date - an exclusive interview with the producer of the Xbox Live Arcade version of Perfect Dark. Even got some news on AI simulants and...”

created 03/MAR/2010

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Good job man.”

LeonBelmontX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Ahhh forgot the link!!!!!!

http://plusxp.com/2010/03/plus-xp-exclusive-perfect-dark-xbla-interview/

Heh ^.^'”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@LeonBelmontX OMG I would get a 360 just for PD, great article man.”

KatrinaTheLamia was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“YES! YES! YES!

Perfect Dark on the SEXBOX 360!!!

HAHAHAHAHA!

So buying it when it comes out~

<3 &heart;”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“♥♥♥”

MonkeyConQueso was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“I completely missed out on Perfect Dark the first time around - I've only played it once or twice on a friends N64. I'm very much looking forward to a XBLA release!”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@MonkeyConQueso IMHO PD makes Goldeneye and Halo look like rubbish.”

KatrinaTheLamia was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Here here! @timyadeadhomie

The FPS Killer is dead! LONG LIVE THE FPS KILLER! The FPS Killer is dead! LONG LIVE THE FPS KILLER!

X3

Hmm--the release date is on the seventeenth... need to figure out if my purchasing issues on the Sexbox 360 are over by then...

As it will not be a Sexbox 360 without Johanna Dark and me playing through Perfect Dark~

♥♥♥”

EarthboundX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Pretty nice, just in time for my bigger 360 HD.”

MonkeyConQueso was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@timyadeadhomie Let me count the hours that I spent shooting at my friends with Goldeneye 64... I loved that game. I didn't get nearly as much play time out of Perfect Dark due to not being good friends with the person who had it. I didn't have an N64 myself during that period of time either, sadly.”

kainebiker was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Nice, never had an n64 but this game looks decent, ill probly pick it up”

BlairTheGod was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“I wish I could play this...
But anyway, congrats dude. Didn't know you worked as a Game Journalism person.”

xoaks was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@LeonBelmontX That's cool. I'm happy for you.

I'm not gonna lie. I'm gonna laugh when nostalgia kicks y'all in the balls.”

EarthboundX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@xoaks Hasn't happened to me yet!”

xoaks was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@EarthboundX That's because you haven't played Perfect Dark HD yet.”

EarthboundX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@xoaks Something tells me you played Perfect Dark Zero, man that game was bad.

It's so bad you can get new copies of the Collector's Edition, online for just a few bucks, guess no one wants them.”

Linked713 was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@EarthboundX I really liked zero.”

EarthboundX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@Linked713 I plan to give it another try, like I said, I could get the CE for a few bucks.

It was one of the first 360 games I ever played, I don't remember good things.

The one thing I do remember, they turned Johnna into a vapid airhead.”

EarthboundX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“In fact, just bought it.”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“If I had a 360 I would own PD Zero.”

EarthboundX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Wow, just got Bioshock 2 new for 25 bucks.”

Akrahun was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“I always enjoy seeing slightly older games get more attention, especially when they were overlooked for the most part when originally released. Perfect Dark for the Live Arcade seems to be a good example of this, and I'm tempted to buy it, since when it originally was released my only video game system was a gameboy. Haven't made up my mind completely though, because I tend to get a bit of motion sickness from FPS games in general... Still whether or not I get it, I admire the 360's quickly growing collection of quality ports of games that people otherwise probably wouldn't ever get around to buying, and I'm glad to see that that trend is continuing. Now if only someone would come out with a game about a plumber who is like, also an action hero, and had like, super jumping powers or something, but his like, breath was so bad from all the pasta he ate that he could like, kill enemies with it because he breathed FIRE or something then video games would be complete...”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@Akrahun I would love to see that game made. It sounds SUPER fun. What would his name be though? Would he have any side kicks or siblings? What's his goal? What about the setting, where does all that take place?”

Akrahun was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“I dunno. Come to think of it it would probably be pretty hard to market. It'd end up like okami or something, and have all the critics raving but do so poorly for sales all over the world that it'd drive whatever retards made it out of business.”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@Akrahun Probably, but who makes games for money.”

KatrinaTheLamia was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Heh, @xoaks , maybe I should load up Perfect Dark onto my N64 to see if I have forgotten anything about the game. I mean--it has been around a year and a half since I last played it.

As per Perfect Dark Zero... I kind of enjoyed it. The Multiplayer, however, sucked.

As per seeing it in HD... my old 80$CAD Pawn Shop special CRT Tv counters that X3

Right, @EarthboundX , it (nostalgia biting you) has not happened yet because--well... we have argued this in other threads. Particularly whenever the production quality of LoZ:LttP comes up. Or why I have no idea why people are fapping to Ninja Gaiden.

So, yeah, going to have to agree with you here @EarthboundX in that I do not think it is possible for nostalgia to come up and bite you.”

EarthboundX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@Akrahun Okami is/was awesome, it's the closest of any game I've played that felt like the Zelda series, which I think is what they were going for.”

EarthboundX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@KatrinaTheLamia I just meant, any of the games I thought were awesome when I was young, and still awesome when I play them now.”

KatrinaTheLamia was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Right, @EarthboundX , now that we got the definition of nostalgia out of the way, we can move on. =P”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“I was a huge fans of the older Ninja Gaidens when I was younger. Has anyone else here gotten the 201% completion on PD?”

Akrahun was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@EarthboundX Agreed in general about Okami, although I felt it had a bit of a different... something to it than Zelda. Didn't stop me from getting 100% everything in it though, including all 99 frikkin' beads... Still, sucks that it sold so little that Clover was shut down by Capcom, with them siting it's lack of sales. On the other hand, ironic that they then pretty much got back together (under a different name, of course) backed by sega to make arguably the most violent Wii title in existence. (mad world, for those who don't know). Anyway, back to Perfect Dark, I think that admittedly a bit of the appeal IS legitimate nostalgia, but I don't think that really takes away from the game. Is it slightly dated in some aspects compared to more recent FPS games, and will the remake still be? I'm guessing yes on both accounts. On the other hand, Goldeneye is still one of the most popular FPS console games of all time, and it's based off of that same engine, and going back further there is still an active counter strike and even Doom community, for god's sake. So old and slightly archaic doesn't necessarily spell doom with FPS games, when compared to certain other genres. Their fans in general seem to have a much longer attention span for single games than many other types of gamers do, probably in part due to the infinite replayability of their multi-player modes as compared to certain other games. After all, there's only so many ways Aerith can die, but every head shot is a unique experience...”

LeonBelmontX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Nostalgia can be a bit of a double edged sword - on one hand it might make you remember something to be better than you actually find it to be when you play it again, but sometimes it also lets you appreciate older games you once enjoyed in a way that new players can't quite see.

I'm expecting the game to be a bit of a drop from my memories, but I still think it'll be a fun nostalgic experience. And I do love me the laptop gun.”

LordXenophon was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Nostalgia also makes you buy scratched-up disks at Goodwill in the hope that they might be readable and you might be able to play an old favorite again.”

KatrinaTheLamia was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“You will note, @Akrahun , that in another posting, referring to Halo 3 OSDT, most of the stuff that the Halo series had done that was noted as revolutionary was done by Goldeneye and Perfect Dark prior to it being done by Halo.

I dunno--as per the "going back further"--I think the people who enjoy games older than Goldeneye, such as Doom and Quake--well, it is mostly because the games run on older systems without much for issues. The graphics, yes, are worse--as even if you up the polygons in the Quake engine (no idea the algorithm rating on the Quake 2 graphics... even with it at 2O you could do quite a bit more polygons) the textures would still look fairly fugly.

However, it is mostly the power that the Doom 2 and Quake engines showed at such an early date--without much for revolutionary improvements since then.

I mean--while the latest engines tend to have updates on network rates, texturing abilities and possible improvements to the polygonal routines--there really has not been much added to the series since Doom II and Quake.

I will agree though, that it is a bit of strut down memory lane--to see what all has improved, and what has not, in the case of Quake and Doom 2.

However, with the case of Perfect Dark, it had a "decent" story. One that had a fair amount of replay value to see various nuances. Considering it was an FPS from ~1997, what story it does have is rather amazing to have been included.

It takes the player into a rather well done Cyberpunk world where you play as a spy. Which, had been done a few times in games before that--as science fiction is a fairly normal staple of FPS. It ended up getting done much more since then (Halflife and Halo being two other overly scifi FPS--with the Halflife series nicely reflecting the dystopia element of Perfect Dark's cyberpunk genre, even though I would be hard pressed to limit Halflife into the Cyberpunk subsubgenre of dystopian scifi).

Perfect Dark, was also known for its simulants. Which is why it is important to have in PD Live!

I mean--the most fun matches I had usually involved me, a few friends and an insane amount of "Dark Peace Sims" on a single team. That is Peace Sims with their AI levels to the max level. They would not kill you, so much as disarm you (which was similar to getting punched in the face--you lost small amounts of health and got dizzy... except here you lost your weapon)

I mean--I loved the experience I had, when dealing with a team of eight Dark Peace Sims.

Maybe pepper a match with a Vendetta Sim in there--and the matches have became automatically interesting.

As the Simulants added a distinctly nonhuman element into the match that caused the match to shift its balance to figuring out the simulant's mind set, as well as my friends' mind sets.

Then we have the Laptop gun--which really is not that big of a deal any more, now that placing down sentries in games is not a noteworthy element.

Moving on, we have the N-Bombs (I think they were). Set up a match with those filling every weapon slot, with the exception of one (being some crap ass gun, likely), add a few simulants that are likely to use N-Bombs.. maybe put one slot with a Boost...

Instant fun X3

Though, I admit, the Farscope was a big time game breaker.”

EarthboundX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“I like the Halo games, but there are many, many, many better FPS games/series.”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@EarthboundX I agree 100% @KatrinaTheLamia That was way too long to read.”

Akrahun was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@timyadeadhomie Basically she said that peoples do still play the older games for nostalgia, yes, but they also play them because a. not a huge amount has changed since then, and even most of the "revolutionary" modern titles such as the halo series have nothing too newfangled which hasn't been done before, and because they are easy on your computer. She then went on to mention strengths of PD specifically, such as it's unusual (for the time) focus on story, and it's creative weapons, as well as the odd amounts of stuff you could do with the computer controlled enemies. Or at least that's what I got from her post. It was rather longish.

For what it's worth, btw, I agree on all points in general, and have no reason to doubt the PD ones in specific. I think I was trying to say mostly the same thing, I just wasn't the most effective at doing so. honestly, I normally am half asleep when I check for updates on this site. It's my bedtime reading.”

KatrinaTheLamia was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Yeah, @Akrahun , you got the just of it.”

LeonBelmontX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@timyadeadhomie I managed just fine :P

Really, I think Perfect Dark is just for fans of the original, or at a stretch GoldenEye fanatics. It was a fine game for it's time, and although there are more powerful games around now - there's no reason it should be forgotten altogether :)”

LeonBelmontX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

KatrinaTheLamia was the last to comment - over 3 years ago... show previous hide previous

“Well, yes, @LeonBelmontX , but then, I am of the opinion that there is no reason to forget most games. Well, most games that do there job of presenting and "enjoyable" experience for the user. Mind you, quote used here as many people enjoy literary tragedies, but not in the typical manner.”

One paragraph game news by: timyadeadhomie

“Fable 3 co-op to bring dogs, full characters, and items into friends’ games. New Red Steel 2 trailer. PSN to go mobile on Sony phones. NIER trailer. Final Fantasy Versus 13 probably will not be at...”

created 18/FEB/2010

xoaks was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“FUCK YES GOD EATER!”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“I've actually never heard of God Eater before today, nor Monster Hunter save on gDNA.”

xoaks was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Do you have a PSP?”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“@xoaks Sadly no, but I do plan on getting one (non PSPGO) eventually. At the moment it's just not in the budget.”

xoaks was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Well, God Eater is a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the English version.

Video Games | God Eater | Anime Trailer XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii”

xoaks was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“So no flash embeds huh.”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Nope. I wasn't even sure the HTML would work.”

xoaks was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“http://www.gamerdna.com/GuildThread.php?r=1&t=235856#post1”

timyadeadhomie was the last to comment - over 3 years ago...

“Hmmm, interesting.”

Fallout2Forever was the last to comment - over 3 years ago... show previous hide previous

“@xoaks What's God Eater?(Yes, I have a psp and ds)”

Plus XP: The Perfect Rivival by: LeonBelmontX

“Great news! The classic Perfect Dark is coming to Xbox Live Arcade! Check out the article on Plus XP! http://plusxp.com/2010/01/the-perfect-revival/”

created 20/JAN/2010

LeonBelmontX was the last to comment - over 3 years ago... show previous hide previous

“@Vice_Destroyer Thanks Vice :)
@BlairTheGod it's an N64 FPS, a game produced by Rare after GoldenEye in a similar vein. The article covers it all ;)
@funkzillabot Nope, you're probably talking about my fellow writer, Mark Boss. He loves Chobot to pieces and always nabs photos when he can.

”

Perfect Dark (N64) by: bettadud

“Perfect Dark was freakin' sweeeeet. There weren't many fps games on the N64 that had the capabilities of multiplayer against bots, or in this case "simulants". In fact it was like Goldeneye except better O.O They even had a level...”

created 31/JUL/2010

Perfect Dark (N64) by: MmePeridot

“My formative years would've been significantly less memorable if I hadn't wasted almost all of them playing this game. Perfect Dark made me the gamer I am today. /cheers”

created 03/JAN/2010

amedeus8 played Perfect Dark on 22/DEC/09

“Played some for the like hour I got to spend with André.”

created 23/DEC/2009

Perfect Dark (N64) by: Eac

“Ah Perfect Dark... basically GoldenEye with some improvements. I loved playing this at my house with friends -- great game. Even though the graphics are terrible by today's standards, I still love this game.”

created 16/DEC/2009

littlechop played Perfect Dark on 13/NOV/09

“Played with the family again. Yay! Probably will do this every 3 weeks as it seems. Didn't do much in PD, just 6 games (10 minutes each) with some bots to make it more alive.”

created 14/NOV/2009

littlechop played Perfect Dark on 23/OCT/09

“Haven't played this game in a long while, so I had my troubles. But playing against family members is always fun, wether you lose or win. :)”

created 23/OCT/2009

amedeus8 played Perfect Dark on 13/SEP/09

“Played with Ray and André at André's. I'm finally used to the control scheme again (although I do hit the Z button with my right hand), so I was able to hold my own and rack up a pretty fair amount...”

created 14/SEP/2009

amedeus8 played Perfect Dark on 10/SEP/09

“Did a multiplayer match on Felicity over at André's. Got better at the controls - I can actually play the game now, anyways. That said, we lost miserably to the bots. So we played the first co-op...”

created 11/SEP/2009

amedeus8 played Perfect Dark on 07/SEP/09

“Wow there's definitely a playability gap in time, here. The six of us played around on this in threes (I don't have a fourth controller :O ) and holy crap. None of us can control our characters or...”

created 07/SEP/2009