At last week's Game Awards, a new 'Perfect Dark' game was finally announced to the world, being developed by 'The Initiative', an in-house team filled with veterans from different companies over the years.
A new 'Perfect Dark' has been rumoured for years, with titles such as 'Perfect Dark CORE' and 'Perfect Dark Vengeance' being developed and cancelled at Rare, the original creators behind the series.
While it's unclear as to whether this new entry is a reboot, sequel or prequel, it looks to be under development by a very-experienced team, known for God of War, Tomb Raider and much more.
But as we've seen from previous sequels, remakes and reboots, Perfect Dark needs to balance two acts so that it can be a mainstay for this new generation of consoles.
Perfect Dark History
The first game was released back in 2000, as the next FPS game from Rare following the success they had with GoldenEye three years earlier. While they had the chance to develop something similar to the Bond movie 'Tomorrow Never Dies', they passed to make an original IP.
Perfect Dark has long been seen as another highpoint of Rare's back-catalogue, with its fantastic multiplayer and technical-prowess of using the N64 and its expansion 'pak' to the maximum of its abilities.
Once Microsoft bought the company in 2002, a prequel was in development, and released as a launch title to the 'Xbox 360' in the form of 'Perfect Dark Zero'. While a fun game, it didn't seem to move with the times, and ended up being a rather average shooter.
As discussed earlier, sequels were in development, but were scrapped by Microsoft, with a focus on 'Halo' and 'Gears of War' at the time instead. Rumours would carry on throughout the last decade, but it wouldn't be until last week that the series would finally return.
READ MORE: From Russia With Love; How the PS2 game gave Sir Sean Connery a final farewell to Bond.
Perfect Dark Threeie
While we don't know whether this is a reboot, remake or a sequel to the other two games in the series, it's important to note that this is not being developed by RARE this time.
It's similar to 'Crystal Dynamics' taking the reigns of Tomb Raider in 2005, or 'Toys for Bob' taking over Crash Bandicoot from 'Radical Entertainment'. More or less, these developers understood what made these brands work in the past, and adapted them for the modern age, turning them into franchises fully resurrected.
What made 'Perfect Dark' so memorable was that it was a first-person James Bond game done well, with a fantastic multiplayer mode to boot, and a great story. Not forgetting that it's from the same developers who brought out 'GoldenEye', but carrying on these traits into this new game would be a fantastic start, especially for a game launching as an Xbox Series S/X exclusive.
There's certainly room for Perfect Dark as we head into 2021 and beyond, and there is a big need for a female-protagonist in this genre who have been saturated by Master Chief and countless Call of Duty male characters.
It's time for a change in this new generation of consoles, and if there's anyone to lead the charge, Joanna Dark is the perfect choice for this.
READ MORE: It's time for Banjo-Kazooie to arrive on the Switch.
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