Perfect Dark (Xbox Live Arcade)
Encyclopedia
Perfect Dark is a remake of the critically acclaimed Nintendo 64
video game of the same name
. Originally developed by Rare, it was ported by 4J Studios
, published by Microsoft Game Studios
, and was exclusively released as an Xbox Live Arcade
game for the Xbox 360
on March 17, 2010. The major changes from the original include higher resolution textures and models, and online multiplayer.
The player controls Joanna Dark, a new special agent for the fictional agency, the Carrington Institute. On her first mission, she must uncover the sinister plans of dataDyne, the world's leading developer of new technology. Things become complicated rapidly as she finds herself in the middle of a war between two alien races who have allied themselves with different factions on Earth. The game has been generally well received. While some critics considered the relatively unchanged game to be outdated, most agreed that the title was a great revival of a classic. Perfect Dark was a commercial success, selling more than 285,000 units as of August 2010 and nearly 325,000 units as of year-end 2010.
combined with elements of stealth games. The campaign consists of 17 main levels
where the player takes control of Joanna Dark and each level features several objectives that the player must complete in order to progress. Unlike most contemporary first-person shooters, most of these objectives can be completed in a nonlinear manner, though some can occasionally require previously completed ones so that they become accessible. Objectives can range from disguising oneself to hacking computers, to destroying objects and, less frequently, to completing puzzle challenges. Players can also carry an unlimited number of weapons and almost all of the weapons have two firing modes. For example, the SuperDragon can be used as a machine gun or as a grenade launcher.
The levels in Perfect Dark have no checkpoints, meaning that if Joanna is killed or fails an objective, the player has to start the level from the beginning. Additionally, every level can be played on three difficulty settings and several aspects, such as the enemies aggressiveness, the number of objectives, and the addition of new areas, among others, can vary in function of the chosen difficulty. On the other hand, two players can play the campaign co-operatively
or through a "counter-operative" mode, in which one player controls the protagonist, while the other controls enemies throughout the level, attempting to stop the first player from completing objectives. The player can also explore the Carrington Institute, which acts as the home level
of the game, and take part in different training activities. The most remarkable of these activities is the firing range
, which allows the player to test all the weapons of the game against differently programed targets.
The game also features a multiplayer mode, known as Combat Simulator, where various players may compete against each other on a pre-set map. There are six multiplayer modes and aspects of each mode can be highly customized. Features such as the weapons available, the winning condition, and team management can be changed to match player preference. Computer controlled bots
, known as Simulants, can also be added to the game and each can be individually customised, including their appearance, difficulty and behavior. Players can also give specific orders to the Simulants on their respective team. For example, "Guard" tells the Sim to stay in their current location and guard that area.
, can now be played in either splitscreen or via Xbox Live
. Additionally, although Combat Simulator matches are still capped at 12 entities, the game can now comprise eight human players online simultaneously, an improvement to the original's cap of four human players and eight simulants. Players are also free to play against more than eight simulants, as long as there are enough slots available in a match. For example, a single human player can play against 11 simulants; such a feature was not possible in the original game.
In response to complaints from players about the original Perfect Darks exclusive availability of weapons from GoldenEye 007 during the missions, they are now available to use in multiplayer. In addition, all the multiplayer options, including weapons, arenas and characters, among others, are also unlocked from the start, without the need of completing the Combat Simulator challenges. The online service also provides a leaderboard system and players can earn achievements
by accomplishing certain tasks. To make the gameplay more flexible, the game also includes two new control set-ups, entitled "Spartan" and "Duty Calls", which are based on the popular first-person shooter franchises Halo
and Call of Duty
respectively.
who can disguise themselves as humans, bearing similarities to Nordic aliens
. On Earth
the megacorporation dataDyne has developed in secret Dr. Caroll, the world's first sentient AI computer. Feeling that dataDyne has betrayed ethical and moral standards, Dr. Caroll contacts the Carrington Institute, an espionage agency founded by Daniel Carrington, with the hope of revealing dataDyne's sinister dealings. He is recovered by Joanna Dark, the Institute's top agent, but is later recaptured by dataDyne at Carrington's private villa. Joanna is then sent to Chicago to once again recover Dr. Caroll and uncover dataDyne's plan. She learns that dataDyne and their conspirators plan to kidnap the President of the United States in order to get access to a deep sea vessel which will allow the conspirators to steal an alien megaweapon
buried on the ocean floor.
Meanwhile Joanna is ordered to rescue a Maian survivor named Elvis from Area 51
who is key in stopping the conspiracy. She succeeds and the pair work together to rescue the president. She learns the conspirators are actually Skedar aliens disguised as Scandinavian humans who intend to test the weapon on the Earth before using it against the Maian homeworld. Without permission from the president, dataDyne elect to hijack the deep sea vessel and take it to the ancient alien spacecraft. With the help of Elvis, Joanna follows where she finds a reprogrammed Dr. Caroll decoding the megaweapon. She replaces its current personality with a backup of the original, and the restored Dr. Carroll sets the weapon to self-destruct in order to protect Earth. In retaliation, the Skedar capture Joanna and take her to their homeworld. Elvis rescues her and she then kills the Skedar High Priest, leaving the Skedar in disarray. The game ends with Elvis and Joanna leaving the Skedar planet just prior to an orbital bombardment from the Maian navy.
's Twitter account. Porting
of the game was handled by 4J Studios
, the same studio that previously handled the Xbox Live Arcade ports
of Banjo-Kazooie
and Banjo-Tooie
. The title took roughly 11 months to develop after the creation of a working prototype
. It was released on March 17, 2010 as part of Microsoft's Xbox Live Block Party promotion. A title update was released in April 2010 which addressed bugs, added two control schemes, and expanded playlists. As a cross-promotion with the game Crackdown 2
, users can unlock that game's protagonist, known simply as Agent 4, although a Crackdown 2 savegame
is required on the Xbox 360 hard drive.
Ken Lobb
, creative director for Microsoft Game Studios
, described the development of the remake in an interview with Worthplaying. He explained that they "took the original code, ported it to the Xbox 360
and included deep Live
integration." As Live had to be "written from the scratch", they opted to completely rewrite the game engine
rather than do a port through emulation
. Therefore, despite of the fact that the game plays exactly the same, the code
and renderer is different. He also remarked that, although the original level geometry was kept, the levels received new textures, characters and weapons were recreated, and skyboxes
were rebuilt. He explained "things are large and blocky because that's what PD looks like", meaning that the technical improvements (sharper textures and higher resolution) simply make the game look clearer. He also observed that, as character and weapon models were remodeled from their original low hundreds polygon count to polygons in the thousands, he was worried about them looking awkward in the low-poly geometry level design. According to Lobb "it's one of the areas that I give a lot of credit to the developer on. It just looks right. They were smart about the way they up-resed the models so they still feel like they're kind of retro, but they're clean".
Developers also decided to retain the free aim mode, as they wanted to be faithful to the original game. According to Rare's Producer Nick Ferguson: "We didn’t change the fundamental behavior of the aiming system simply because that is not how Perfect Dark was played". He also observed that the idea of updating the controls was actually seen as a flaw in Perfect Dark Zero
, which tried to "combine the original Perfect Dark system with aspects of Halo
". The original diagonal running
, which allows players to move faster than by running forwards or sideways alone, did not work the first time they implemented the analog stick, so it was manually rewritten as it was considered essential for speedrun
s and achieving some of the target times required to unlock cheats. The game now runs at 1080p
and 60 frames per second
, and although music and sound effects were kept from the original recording sessions, original master recordings have been used to update the soundtrack without compression. The original recording size was 16 MB
, whereas in Perfect Dark Arcade it is over 250 MB.
it holds average score of 79 out of 100. The game was downloaded over 150,000 times during its first week of release and made approximately $1.61 million at the end of the month. As of August 2010, it has sold more than 285,000 units. Sales neared 325,000 units at the end of 2010.
GameZone
's Steven Hopper gave it an 8.5 out of 10 and commented "Perfect Dark isn't a huge overhaul like other remakes on XBLA, but is still a solid and engaging title. FPS fans who missed out on the original would do well to check out this groundbreaking title, and hardcore fans should experience the game with the technical improvements." IGN
's Daemon Hatfield rated it a 9.0 out of 10 and said that while the "not-so-hot parts are the dialogue, voice acting, and some vague mission objectives that can be frustrating", the game "wasn't brought back for the uninitiated -- this is for the fans, and they will be very, very happy"
The game's multiplayer over Live
was generally well-received. IGN praised the selection of weapons, the satisfying gunplay, and leaderboards, which allows players to compare their performance with their friends. 1UP.com
's Scott Sharkey enjoyed the multiplayer as well and said that it was "a great way to re-enjoy a game you already love". GameSpot
's Tom Mc Shea observed that online play can periodically suffer from a good amount of lag, but praised the amount of content and features. The game's original Counter-Operative mode was very well received. Christian Donlan of Eurogamer
remarked that it "still feels ahead of its time even now."
Some reviewers also criticized the game for its confusing level layouts, and felt they have not held up very well over the years. Christian Donlan stated: "Perfect Darks not afraid to throw dead ends at you seemingly for the hell of it, or repeat textures so much in its huge maps that you can get a little dizzy." Similarly, Tom Mc Shea noted that the campaign was "oddly paced", and that "locked doors, unused rooms, and dead ends... can be disheartening to stumble around in a circle until you finally happen upon the correct door you just couldn't locate." Nevertheless he also admitted that "it's a lot of fun to replay them to try for high scores and figure out the many unique objectives." Critics also judged the game's controls. Eurogamer observed that the aim assist on easy difficulties is "almost comically powerful." Game Revolution
commented, on the other hand, that although the game's reticle is "a little floaty, everything is balanced to both modernize the gameplay and keep a lot of the feel that makes Perfect Dark an old-school experience." At the end of the month, IGN named it Xbox Live Arcade Game of the Month for March 2010.
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
video game of the same name
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
. Originally developed by Rare, it was ported by 4J Studios
4J Studios
4J Studios is a video game developer based in Dundee, Scotland. The company has worked with a wide range of publishers including ZeniMax Media, Mojang AB, and Microsoft Game Studios...
, published by Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Studios is the video game production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the development and publishing of games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Games for Windows and Windows Phone platforms. They were established in 2002 as Microsoft Game Studios to coincide with the release of the Xbox, before...
, and was exclusively released as an Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
game for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
on March 17, 2010. The major changes from the original include higher resolution textures and models, and online multiplayer.
The player controls Joanna Dark, a new special agent for the fictional agency, the Carrington Institute. On her first mission, she must uncover the sinister plans of dataDyne, the world's leading developer of new technology. Things become complicated rapidly as she finds herself in the middle of a war between two alien races who have allied themselves with different factions on Earth. The game has been generally well received. While some critics considered the relatively unchanged game to be outdated, most agreed that the title was a great revival of a classic. Perfect Dark was a commercial success, selling more than 285,000 units as of August 2010 and nearly 325,000 units as of year-end 2010.
Gameplay
Perfect Dark Arcade is a first-person shooterFirst-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
combined with elements of stealth games. The campaign consists of 17 main levels
Level (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
where the player takes control of Joanna Dark and each level features several objectives that the player must complete in order to progress. Unlike most contemporary first-person shooters, most of these objectives can be completed in a nonlinear manner, though some can occasionally require previously completed ones so that they become accessible. Objectives can range from disguising oneself to hacking computers, to destroying objects and, less frequently, to completing puzzle challenges. Players can also carry an unlimited number of weapons and almost all of the weapons have two firing modes. For example, the SuperDragon can be used as a machine gun or as a grenade launcher.
The levels in Perfect Dark have no checkpoints, meaning that if Joanna is killed or fails an objective, the player has to start the level from the beginning. Additionally, every level can be played on three difficulty settings and several aspects, such as the enemies aggressiveness, the number of objectives, and the addition of new areas, among others, can vary in function of the chosen difficulty. On the other hand, two players can play the campaign co-operatively
Cooperative gameplay
Cooperative gameplay is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch...
or through a "counter-operative" mode, in which one player controls the protagonist, while the other controls enemies throughout the level, attempting to stop the first player from completing objectives. The player can also explore the Carrington Institute, which acts as the home level
Overworld
An overworld is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres....
of the game, and take part in different training activities. The most remarkable of these activities is the firing range
Shooting range
A shooting range or firing range is a specialized facility designed for firearms practice. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, called variously a range master or "RSO – Range Safety Officer" in the United States or a range conducting officer or "RCO" in the UK...
, which allows the player to test all the weapons of the game against differently programed targets.
The game also features a multiplayer mode, known as Combat Simulator, where various players may compete against each other on a pre-set map. There are six multiplayer modes and aspects of each mode can be highly customized. Features such as the weapons available, the winning condition, and team management can be changed to match player preference. Computer controlled bots
Computer game bot
A bot, most prominently in the first-person shooter types , is a type of weak AI expert system software which for each instance of the program controls a player in deathmatch, team deathmatch and/or cooperative human player. Computer bots may play against other bots and/or human players in unison,...
, known as Simulants, can also be added to the game and each can be individually customised, including their appearance, difficulty and behavior. Players can also give specific orders to the Simulants on their respective team. For example, "Guard" tells the Sim to stay in their current location and guard that area.
Enhancements and changes
Perfect Dark Arcade offers several improvements over the original game. The most remarkable change is that any of the multiplayer modes, including co-operative and counter-operative, which were originally only played in splitscreenSplit screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
, can now be played in either splitscreen or via Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
. Additionally, although Combat Simulator matches are still capped at 12 entities, the game can now comprise eight human players online simultaneously, an improvement to the original's cap of four human players and eight simulants. Players are also free to play against more than eight simulants, as long as there are enough slots available in a match. For example, a single human player can play against 11 simulants; such a feature was not possible in the original game.
In response to complaints from players about the original Perfect Darks exclusive availability of weapons from GoldenEye 007 during the missions, they are now available to use in multiplayer. In addition, all the multiplayer options, including weapons, arenas and characters, among others, are also unlocked from the start, without the need of completing the Combat Simulator challenges. The online service also provides a leaderboard system and players can earn achievements
Achievement (video gaming)
In video gaming parlance, an achievement, also sometimes known as a trophy or challenge, is a meta-goal defined outside of a game's parameters...
by accomplishing certain tasks. To make the gameplay more flexible, the game also includes two new control set-ups, entitled "Spartan" and "Duty Calls", which are based on the popular first-person shooter franchises Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
and Call of Duty
Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in 2003. It is the first game in a series with the same name. The game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game is based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine...
respectively.
Plot
Perfect Dark is set in the year 2023 against the backdrop of an interstellar war between two races: the Maians, who resemble the stereotypical grey aliens, and the Skedar, reptile-like extraterrestrialsExtraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
who can disguise themselves as humans, bearing similarities to Nordic aliens
Nordic aliens
Nordic aliens are said by self-described contactees and some UFOlogists to be a group of humanoid extraterrestrials who resemble European racial images, or more specifically Nordic-Scandinavians....
. On Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
the megacorporation dataDyne has developed in secret Dr. Caroll, the world's first sentient AI computer. Feeling that dataDyne has betrayed ethical and moral standards, Dr. Caroll contacts the Carrington Institute, an espionage agency founded by Daniel Carrington, with the hope of revealing dataDyne's sinister dealings. He is recovered by Joanna Dark, the Institute's top agent, but is later recaptured by dataDyne at Carrington's private villa. Joanna is then sent to Chicago to once again recover Dr. Caroll and uncover dataDyne's plan. She learns that dataDyne and their conspirators plan to kidnap the President of the United States in order to get access to a deep sea vessel which will allow the conspirators to steal an alien megaweapon
Planet killer
In science fiction, a planet killer, planet buster, or similar variations on that meaning, is a fictional object or device capable of either destroying an entire planet or otherwise rendering it uninhabitable - a variety of a doomsday device....
buried on the ocean floor.
Meanwhile Joanna is ordered to rescue a Maian survivor named Elvis from Area 51
Area 51
Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield...
who is key in stopping the conspiracy. She succeeds and the pair work together to rescue the president. She learns the conspirators are actually Skedar aliens disguised as Scandinavian humans who intend to test the weapon on the Earth before using it against the Maian homeworld. Without permission from the president, dataDyne elect to hijack the deep sea vessel and take it to the ancient alien spacecraft. With the help of Elvis, Joanna follows where she finds a reprogrammed Dr. Caroll decoding the megaweapon. She replaces its current personality with a backup of the original, and the restored Dr. Carroll sets the weapon to self-destruct in order to protect Earth. In retaliation, the Skedar capture Joanna and take her to their homeworld. Elvis rescues her and she then kills the Skedar High Priest, leaving the Skedar in disarray. The game ends with Elvis and Joanna leaving the Skedar planet just prior to an orbital bombardment from the Maian navy.
Development and marketing
Perfect Dark was first teased to consumers in April 2009 via a screenshot of a Rare employee's Xbox 360 dashboard which showed an icon for the game. It was confirmed to be in development on June 2, 2009 via Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry HrybLarry Hryb
Lawrence "Larry" Hryb , also known by his Xbox Live gamertag Major Nelson, is the Director of Programming for the Microsoft gaming network Xbox Live. His blog "Xbox Live's Major Nelson" provides an "inside" look at operations at Microsoft's Xbox division. He picked the gamertag Major Nelson after a...
's Twitter account. Porting
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
of the game was handled by 4J Studios
4J Studios
4J Studios is a video game developer based in Dundee, Scotland. The company has worked with a wide range of publishers including ZeniMax Media, Mojang AB, and Microsoft Game Studios...
, the same studio that previously handled the Xbox Live Arcade ports
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
of Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie is a platform and action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998...
and Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie is a platform and action-adventure hybrid video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo in 2000 for the Nintendo 64 as a part of the Banjo-Kazooie series. The game is the successor to Banjo-Kazooie and was one of the most anticipated sequels for the Nintendo 64.The game's story...
. The title took roughly 11 months to develop after the creation of a working prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
. It was released on March 17, 2010 as part of Microsoft's Xbox Live Block Party promotion. A title update was released in April 2010 which addressed bugs, added two control schemes, and expanded playlists. As a cross-promotion with the game Crackdown 2
Crackdown 2
Crackdown 2 is a sandbox-style third-person shooter video game developed by Ruffian Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was released on Xbox 360 in July 2010 and is a direct sequel to the 2007 video game Crackdown.-Gameplay:...
, users can unlock that game's protagonist, known simply as Agent 4, although a Crackdown 2 savegame
Saved game
A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...
is required on the Xbox 360 hard drive.
Ken Lobb
Ken Lobb
Kenneth Alan Lobb is an American video game designer formerly employed by Taxan USA Corp., Namco Hometek, and Nintendo of America, and currently employed by Microsoft Game Studios....
, creative director for Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Game Studios
Microsoft Studios is the video game production wing for Microsoft, responsible for the development and publishing of games for the Xbox, Xbox 360, Games for Windows and Windows Phone platforms. They were established in 2002 as Microsoft Game Studios to coincide with the release of the Xbox, before...
, described the development of the remake in an interview with Worthplaying. He explained that they "took the original code, ported it to the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and included deep Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
integration." As Live had to be "written from the scratch", they opted to completely rewrite the game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
rather than do a port through emulation
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
. Therefore, despite of the fact that the game plays exactly the same, the code
Computer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
and renderer is different. He also remarked that, although the original level geometry was kept, the levels received new textures, characters and weapons were recreated, and skyboxes
Skybox (video games)
A skybox is a method of creating backgrounds to make a computer and video games level look bigger than it really is. When a skybox is used, the level is enclosed in a cuboid; and the sky, distant mountains, distant buildings, and other unreachable objects are projected onto the cube's faces , thus...
were rebuilt. He explained "things are large and blocky because that's what PD looks like", meaning that the technical improvements (sharper textures and higher resolution) simply make the game look clearer. He also observed that, as character and weapon models were remodeled from their original low hundreds polygon count to polygons in the thousands, he was worried about them looking awkward in the low-poly geometry level design. According to Lobb "it's one of the areas that I give a lot of credit to the developer on. It just looks right. They were smart about the way they up-resed the models so they still feel like they're kind of retro, but they're clean".
Developers also decided to retain the free aim mode, as they wanted to be faithful to the original game. According to Rare's Producer Nick Ferguson: "We didn’t change the fundamental behavior of the aiming system simply because that is not how Perfect Dark was played". He also observed that the idea of updating the controls was actually seen as a flaw in Perfect Dark Zero
Perfect Dark Zero
Perfect Dark Zero is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The game had a difficult development cycle, during which a substantial part of it was initially designed for the Nintendo GameCube...
, which tried to "combine the original Perfect Dark system with aspects of Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
". The original diagonal running
Strafing (gaming)
In video games, strafing is the technique of moving the player's character from side to side, rather than forward and backward. In the context of first-person shooters, it refers to the movement alone, even when no weapon is being fired...
, which allows players to move faster than by running forwards or sideways alone, did not work the first time they implemented the analog stick, so it was manually rewritten as it was considered essential for speedrun
Speedrun
A speedrun is a play-through, or recording thereof, of a whole video game or a selected part of it performed with the intent of completing it as fast as possible, optionally under certain prerequisites, mainly for the purposes of entertainment and competition...
s and achieving some of the target times required to unlock cheats. The game now runs at 1080p
1080p
1080p is the shorthand identification for a set of HDTV high-definition video modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scan, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i display standard....
and 60 frames per second
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
, and although music and sound effects were kept from the original recording sessions, original master recordings have been used to update the soundtrack without compression. The original recording size was 16 MB
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
, whereas in Perfect Dark Arcade it is over 250 MB.
Reception
Perfect Dark Arcade received generally favorable reviews from critics. On the aggregate website GameRankings it holds an average score of 79%, while fellow at aggregate site MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
it holds average score of 79 out of 100. The game was downloaded over 150,000 times during its first week of release and made approximately $1.61 million at the end of the month. As of August 2010, it has sold more than 285,000 units. Sales neared 325,000 units at the end of 2010.
GameZone
GameZone
GameZone is an American multiplatform video game website. GameZone's daily coverage includes reviews, previews, news, hints & cheats, and editorials. Additionally, GameZone offers downloads, a child-targeted website and in association with GameStop, hosts GZGameShop, an online retailer...
's Steven Hopper gave it an 8.5 out of 10 and commented "Perfect Dark isn't a huge overhaul like other remakes on XBLA, but is still a solid and engaging title. FPS fans who missed out on the original would do well to check out this groundbreaking title, and hardcore fans should experience the game with the technical improvements." IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Daemon Hatfield rated it a 9.0 out of 10 and said that while the "not-so-hot parts are the dialogue, voice acting, and some vague mission objectives that can be frustrating", the game "wasn't brought back for the uninitiated -- this is for the fans, and they will be very, very happy"
The game's multiplayer over Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
was generally well-received. IGN praised the selection of weapons, the satisfying gunplay, and leaderboards, which allows players to compare their performance with their friends. 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
's Scott Sharkey enjoyed the multiplayer as well and said that it was "a great way to re-enjoy a game you already love". GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's Tom Mc Shea observed that online play can periodically suffer from a good amount of lag, but praised the amount of content and features. The game's original Counter-Operative mode was very well received. Christian Donlan of Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
remarked that it "still feels ahead of its time even now."
Some reviewers also criticized the game for its confusing level layouts, and felt they have not held up very well over the years. Christian Donlan stated: "Perfect Darks not afraid to throw dead ends at you seemingly for the hell of it, or repeat textures so much in its huge maps that you can get a little dizzy." Similarly, Tom Mc Shea noted that the campaign was "oddly paced", and that "locked doors, unused rooms, and dead ends... can be disheartening to stumble around in a circle until you finally happen upon the correct door you just couldn't locate." Nevertheless he also admitted that "it's a lot of fun to replay them to try for high scores and figure out the many unique objectives." Critics also judged the game's controls. Eurogamer observed that the aim assist on easy difficulties is "almost comically powerful." Game Revolution
Game Revolution
Game Revolution or GR is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots, and videos...
commented, on the other hand, that although the game's reticle is "a little floaty, everything is balanced to both modernize the gameplay and keep a lot of the feel that makes Perfect Dark an old-school experience." At the end of the month, IGN named it Xbox Live Arcade Game of the Month for March 2010.
External links
- Perfect Dark at xbox.com