Perfect Dark GBC
Joanna Dark is an agent for the Carrington Institute, a secret organization
funded by anonymous sources and dedicated to protecting the world. Through
their highly trained operatives and special devices (gadgets), Carrington
keeps an eye on terrorists, world powers, and strange happenings. The speed in
which the dataDyne corporation has established itself through the development
of new technologies is starting to worry the institute. So when Carrington
receives a message from Dr. Caroll, a scientist wishing to escape dataDyne,
they send their best agent, Joanna, to infiltrate the company headquarters.
_Perfect Dark_ is a 3D first-person shooter similar to Rare’s earlier
GoldenEye 007, though with more of an emphasis on stealth. Joanna can pick up
and use a variety of firearms, including shotguns, submachine guns, sniper
rifles, various explosives, and others. In addition she carries quite a few
spy gadgets such as IR scanners, night vision, probes, and a deadly laptop.
Most weapons have secondary fire modes and reloading them is displayed in an
on-screen animation.
Shields are scattered through the stages and can be picked up for additional
protection. There are no health-restoring items and Joanna cannot jump. Like
_GoldenEye 007_ , the game has three difficulty levels, with the higher ones
featuring more accurate enemies, less ammo, and more objectives for the player
to complete within each mission. Cutscenes with voice acting advance the story
between missions.
The game also features a training mode set in the Carrington Institute.
Completing the firing range challenge there unlocks the classic weapons from
_GoldenEye 007_. In addition, the campaign can be played in a co-operative
mode for two human players or one human player and up to three computer-
controlled teammates (in split-screen mode), as well as in a “Counter
Operative” mode, where one of the players takes control of an enemy and tries
to stop Joanna from fulfilling her mission.
Multiplayer includes a variety of modes. Among those are the traditional
deathmatch as well as the objective-based Capture the Flag and King of the
Hill modes. Other scenarios and objectives include surviving as long as
possible while carrying a briefcase, hacking computer systems with randomly
placed data uplinks, and hunting down a single player as a team. Stages,
teams, and weapon placement can be customized by players.
The Xbox 360 port has redone graphics to support a 1080p full HD resolution at
60 frames per second. It also incorporates full multiplayer support over Xbox
LIVE.