Perfect Dark

Perfect Dark (パーフェクト・ダーク in Japan) is a first-person shooter video game for the Nintendo 64 game console; developed and published by Rare. In Perfect Dark, players assume the role of special agent Joanna Dark, an operative for the Carrington Institute.

Related Topics:
Japan - First-person shooter - Video game - Nintendo 64 - Game console - Rare - Special agent - Joanna Dark

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Perfect Dark is frequently described as a "spiritual sequel" to GoldenEye 007, a game developed previously by Rare in 1997. Although it does not feature the James Bond license, the gameplay styles are extremely similar and it runs on an enhanced version of the same game engine. Perfect Dark was released on May 22, 2000, fairly late in the lifespan of the N64, and perhaps for this reason it failed to have the same impact as its predecessor, despite being in many ways technically superior.

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Sequel - GoldenEye 007 - 1997 - James Bond - Gameplay - Game engine - May 22 - 2000

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Some of the improvements on the GoldenEye engine included the addition of a secondary firing mode to almost all weapons, the ability to fall off some ledges, a more advanced lighting system (allowing gunfire to illuminate rooms) and the ability to disarm guards or shoot their guns out of their hands. The inclusion of multiplayer computer-controlled "bots" of variable skill levels was also a step up from its predecessor. Also like GoldenEye, enemies had heads that were randomly picked when the level was loaded, but now enemies' heights also vary.

Related Topics:
Guns - Bot

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The new enhancements required more RAM than GoldenEye, and the N64 Expansion Pak was required for most features of the game to be accessible (including the one player "solo missions" story mode).

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RAM - Expansion Pak

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A 2D Game Boy Color game also called Perfect Dark was released in the same quarter as the N64 version. The two games could share data by utilizing the N64-Game Boy Transfer Pak. However, the Game Boy version bore no resemblance to the original, nor did it achieve any measure of the success. The storyline of the Game Boy version also conflicts in several areas with the N64 version.

Related Topics:
2D - Game Boy Color - Perfect Dark - Game Boy - Transfer Pak

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Rare has announced that they will be releasing a sequel, Perfect Dark Zero for the Xbox 360.

Related Topics:
Perfect Dark Zero - Xbox 360

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