Perfect Dark
Created | Updated May 27, 2003
Perfect Dark is a first person shooter released for the Nintendo 64 in late spring-early summer of 2000. Running on an updated version of the engine for Goldeneye and produced by Rare, it had few innovations, but due to a far more involved storyline than most ever attempt, it stood out as a pinnacle of console gaming goodness. Perfect Dark chronicled the adventures of Joanna Dark, star agent of the Carrington Institute, as she discovered a plot within the United States government involving the sadistic Skedar aliens and a mighty weapon deep under the ocean. During her travels, Joanna also encounters an alien of a race known as the Maians, sworn enemies of the Skedar. Elvis, as the friendly little guy is known, assists Joanna on several occasions. Climaxing in a battle on the Skedar homeworld, they return home to earth in order for Joanna to be able to dispatch any new threats to world security that may come along. Overall, the single player game could be beaten in two hours with a skilled player. However, it wasnt the single player mode that made it stand out the most. The multiplayer game, in which up to four humans could participate, was the shining point. Due to the inclusion of bots, or computerized players, one could even play the multiplayer on their own. Boasting thirty differnt challenges, and infinte playtime in the standard arena, the ability to add up to 8 bots and 4 human players, customization of individual player files, and the ability to customize certain aspects of the maps and rules settings for each map, the Combat Simulator was where Perfect Dark got its glory. An interesting side note, Perfect Dark was one of the first games to require the Expansion Pack for full play. Without it, only 35% of the games features- Multiplayer challenges, one to two player multiplayer(combat simulator) and the ability to use up to 8 simulants- were available. Thus, for anyone interested in the game, it would be very advisable to pick up an expansion pack before buying the game. Otherwise, not even the singleplayer story mode is available.
