Electronic Theatre Retro Review: Perfect Dark

With the imminent release of 4J Studios’ high-definition makeover of Perfect Dark on Xbox LIVE Arcade, the team here at Electronic Theatre decided that this week’s Friday Feature Retro Review would be the perfect space to look back at the original Nintendo 64 release. Originally released in 2000, the ten years since Perfect Dark arrived on retail shelves has seen dramatic change in the First-Person Shooter (FPS) genre, and yet RARE’s two Nintendo 64 classics – Perfect Dark and it’s spiritual predecessor, Goldeneye 007 – are still regularly referred to as examples of near flawless design. Looking back at Joanna Dark’s first outing, there’s little reason to doubt that argument.

Perfect Dark’s single-player campaign is essentially staged as two separate components: the investigation, and the attempt to save the world from certain destruction. Set in 2023, the seventeen stages take the player through garish neon streets, tropical getaways, onto Airforce One and alien space craft. As Joanna Dark, the first agent ever to pass the Carrington Institute’s training program with a perfect score, the player is sent to investigate a suspicious informant at the dataDyne corporation. Once dataDyne learns of your actions, they kidnap the founder of the Carrington Institute, and following a rescue mission Joanna learns that dataDyne are working with an alien race, known as the Skedar, who are planning on stealing an incredibly powerful weapon from Earth’s ocean floor and test-firing it on Earth. After rescuing a survivor from another alien race, the Maians, Joanna embarks upon her mission to stop bring down dataDyne, and stop the Skedar’s evil plans.

The twisting plot offers some fantastic opportunities for RARE to demonstrate their artistic talents, but also to create some of the most inspiring levels seen on the console hardware of the time. The level design, even to this day, is simply astounding. Offering player numerous routes through many of the levels, the design presents an openness that is rarely matched in modern FPS games. There are areas which may not be uncovered even after several playthroughs, though these spaces possess just as much character as those on the beaten track. Hidden alleyways present unique gameplay opportunities with entirely different routes to success, corridors leading to upper floors provide sniping opportunities when your first instinct is to walk out into the courtyard, and gangways tease the opportunity to pin-down the enemy’s entry point from a safe distance.

Complimenting the single-player campaign are a number of additional features extending the gameplay opportunities within. Not only does Perfect Dark follow it’s spiritual predecessor in offering multiple difficulty settings with varying objectives, but also allows for split-screen co-operative gameplay through the entire campaign. More than this however, is a gameplay mode that strangely is yet to be replicated in modern FPS’ - including that of it's own prequel release, Perfect Dark Zero: Counter-Operative mode. Here, one player plays as they normally would, attempting to complete objectives and progress through the level, however they will not only face artificial intelligence (AI) enemies, but also a rival player. The second player takes control of a randomly selected enemy (of course, a fair distance from the player each time) and must hunt down the player, dealing damage as best they can before being eliminated. Once downed, the second player will take control of another randomly selected enemy, and once again pursue our protagonist. With the power of modern consoles, it would of course be possible to develop such a gameplay mode for online play with possibly tens of players as enemies against a single – or even multiple – players attempting to complete the objectives in spite of the resistance. As to why this avenue hasn’t been pursued, after such an compelling experience had been presented a decade ago, remains a mystery.

Perfect Dark offered a number of firsts that have since become staples for the genre within it's weapon set – on-screen reloading, the ability to shoot through walls (and not just with the cherished Farsight weapon) dual functions for every weapon, and enemies that are intelligent enough to change their reactions depending on the weaponry the player currently has equipped. More than this, Perfect Dark also sported vehicles for the player to mount. Although very limited in scope, it’s easy to see the humble beginnings of the inspiration for Halo: Combat Evolved’s Warthog level design in the simple hover bikes. Add to all this the likes of the remote camera, sentry turrets and alternate vision modes, and even before addressing the popular multiplayer aspect of Perfect Dark, we can see just how much influence RARE’s magnum opus has had on modern FPS development.

The multiplayer mode is of course one of the most widely respected aspects of the Perfect Dark package. Featuring split-screen for up to four players, up to eight AI bots, team matches and numerous tactical gameplay options, Perfect Dark’s Perfect Dark Image multiplayer mode absorbed months of game time upon release. And of course, none of this time would ever feel wasted, as Perfect Dark keeps a running tally of all your multiplayer achievements; a grand single-system scoreboard featuring new awards and titles to be earned. While Goldeneye 007 is often remarked as one of the finest multiplayer games ever devised, Perfect Dark is clearly miles ahead of it’s predecessor in terms of depth, and it’s purely a case of timing that left the successor in the shadow of James Bond’s Nintendo 64 adventure in the eyes of many gamers. Perfect Dark was delivered to the public at a turbulent time in the videogames industry, with the Dreamcast already finding it’s feet (prior to being cut-down mid-stride) and the PlayStation 2 looming; although many great titles followed, Perfect Dark was considered one of the final hurrahs for the Nintendo 64 by the videogames playing public as they prepared for newer technology.

Of course, another barrier to Perfect Dark’s commercial success was the necessary use of the Nintendo 64’s RAM Expansion Pak. Although a handful of elements could be played without, the entire single-player campaign and most of the multiplayer options required its use. Obviously, the hardcore Nintendo 64 gamers would’ve already acquired a RAM Expansion Pak for use with Turok 2: Seeds of Evil years earlier, or even have received one within the Donkey Kong 64 package - as the Platform title simply could not be played without it, Nintendo decided to include the add-on within the box, a decision that was met with criticism from those who had already handed over £30 to purchase the unit separately - but for those without, Perfect Dark was pretty much a simple demonstration of what could be possible with the added RAM.

As previously mentioned, the level design is still remarkable to this day, but the artistic direction is equally astounding. Buzzing neon metropolises reminiscent of Blade Runner, underground private military bases and organic alien space craft are ventured through with pace, with each new level being instantly distinguishable from the last. The face mapping technology had achieved a far greater standard of clarity here than in any other game running on the same or technologically competitive hardware, which is why it was seen as a shame that RARE were forced to remove the Game Boy Camera interoperability for mapping your own faces onto the game’s character models. While Perfect Dark may not stand-up to current-generations in terms of visual proficiency, it more than competes with today’s blockbusters in terms of imagination.

Ten years after it’s original release, Perfect Dark maintains it’s stature as one of the most deep and inventive FPS videogames releases ever seen. Though the pursuit of greater technology allows for those looking back to see the strings holding it altogether, Perfect Dark remains an example of some of the finest design our industry has ever offered. While the likes of Halo, Battlefield and BioShock may have since taken the leading positions in the genre, it’s unlikely that a decade after their initial launch players will be able to look back and find many elements that remain unsurpassed by modern releases. Not only was Perfect Dark ridiculously far ahead of it’s time at launch, but even in today’s highly competitive market, RARE’s masterpiece could give even the biggest blockbuster titles a run for their money. Whether the forthcoming Xbox LIVE Arcade recreation of Perfect Dark can live-up to this precedent remains to be seen, but the hopes are undoubtedly high.