Perfect Dark: Gameplay Reveal And New Details Unveiled at Xbox Games Showcase
June 9, 2024
Secret agent, Joanna Dark, you finally have yourself a new mission. After years of hectic development, the Perfect Dark reboot, at long last, has something to showcase. And it looks like it's going to be well worth the wait.
The gameplay reveal didn't skimp out on content in any way. There's a lot to analyze there from the gadgets to the gunplay to the movement. Heck, you could probably even roughly plot out some major narrative points just from the trailer alone if you really wanted to. I don't know about going that far, but we'll definitely get past surface level thoughts here with a little help from Joe Skrebels' write-up about the game.
Moving and Shooting: Joanna Dark Is A Living Weapon
One thing that immediately stands out about Perfect Dark is the first-person perspective. Fans of the franchise might take that for granted, but, overall, the perspective isn't all that conducive to stealth which gets a decent amount of focus in the gameplay trailer. The extraordinarily smooth movement and highly interactive action makes it quite clear, though, that there's a purpose behind the camera. The Perfect Dark team wants you to feel empowered. Not because Joanna Dark otherwise isn't. Au contraire, it's because the secret agent of this story is a living weapon. It's a lot more interesting to experience things from her perspective.
One of the central philosophies behind this reboot was the concept of physicality as a way to differentitate it from the typical first-person shooter. More jumping, more sliding, more realistic human actions. You can absolutely see that in the trailer, be it through the rooftop parkour or Joanna sliding under a closing security shutter. However, the implementation of the philosophy isn't just limited to movement; you can see it in combat as well.
About 2 minutes and 50 seconds into the showcase trailer, you can see Joanna counterattacking one of the security personnel, evading their attempted slash and then promptly restraining them by their wrist. That's all immediately followed by her knocking the man down with her leg, pinning him down with her knee while shooting at his companions, and then cracking his helmet with her gun. None of this is done through cutscenes as far as we can tell. It's all gameplay and it looks amazing. Greater physicality...a brilliant idea. Fits the spy genre perfectly.
A Secret Agent Needs The Right Gadgets
A secret agent is nothing without gadgets at their disposal. We only really got a look at one tool, a voice analyzer, but it's apparent that these things will be integral to the experience of the Perfect Dark reboot. Just this voice analyzer alone can have a huge impact on the surrounding environment by copying the voices of NPCs. It can bypass security systems and distract characters, among other things.
Another major focus of the gadgets appears to be providing you with as much information as possible. As you can see in the image below, one tool allows you to scan NPCs to get some light intel on who they are and what they have on them. You also have at least one type of "vision" at your disposal that helps you quickly identify metal (or perhaps, even just interactable) objects and different types of characters even through walls. This is all but a mere taste of what the full game will have to offer, but it's definitely enticing.
So...What's The Mission? And What's Up With The Setting?
Well, first I want to clarify that this is unlikely to be the only mission within the game. The previous entries in the series had over a dozen missions to their name so I'd expect a similar quantity here. But for this specific mission, Joanna has been sent to Cairo to find and apprehend Daniel Carrington. That name will be familiar to fans of the franchise, as in the original series, he was actually Joanna Dark's boss. His role in the reboot isn't exactly clear yet, but I'm sure he'll make for some interesting plot developments.
To provide some context for the world of the Perfect Dark reboot, it is set in the near-future, following a series of environmental disasters known as 'The Cascade.' Entire sections of the planet have been rendered inhospitable - that's where "hypercorporations" such as Core Mantis have stepped in. They've managed to restore life in places such as Cairo, insulating them from the surrounding hostile world to create postmodern utopias. Hmm, there's more than likely something afoot here...
With no confirmed release date, it's hard to say if Perfect Dark is anywhere near complete. For all we know, this one map could be all they have finished. Honestly, you should probably be prepared to see it in the next several Xbox presentations. There is great potential here, but it's not something that can be rushed. Nor should it be. The dev team should take as much time as they need to get things, well, perfect.
