What is Perfect Dark?
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare and released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. It is considered a spiritual successor to the highly acclaimed GoldenEye 007 released for the N64 in 1997.
In Perfect Dark, players take on the role of Joanna Dark, a special agent working for the Carrington Institute, a research agency that works to combat dataDyne, an evil corporation with plans of world domination. The game features a single-player mode with 17 main missions and 3 secondary objectives as well as a counter-operative mode where two players can compete against one another.
From a graphical and gameplay perspective, Perfect Dark took the standards set by GoldenEye 007 to new heights with improved lighting, textures, models, and animations. It also introduced numerous innovations to the first-person shooter genre on consoles such as stealth elements, computer-controlled bots in multiplayer, combat simulations, and more complex mission objectives.
The game was met with critical acclaim on its initial release for advancing the genre and received multiple Game of the Year awards in 2000. It is still considered one of the best first-person shooters on the Nintendo 64 along with GoldenEye 007 due to its tight gameplay, advanced graphics and sound for the system, immersive missions, and local/online multiplayer modes.