As you already know, a “re-inventing” of Perfect Dark was announced at The Game Awards 2020. This information had been leaked some time back, and it is great to finally confirm a new Perfect Dark. Should we get excited yet? Should we dismiss this and just admit that any new take on Perfect Dark will just let us down? I don’t know for sure yet, but I have some insight on the story, theories, questions, and possibly a few answers.
I am fairly confident I know what the story is going to be about. That said, if you are looking to go in fully blind, now is the time to stop reading!
This teaser trailer showed very little about the game, but it is currently the best we have to go on. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here:
When we first see the Perfect Dark teaser, the camera starts off facing the stars. It then proceeds to view Earth from the perspective of a satellite. The narrator in question remains unidentified, but because of the perspective, it could be alien life watching Earth. In the original Perfect Dark, we met a friend named Elvis. Elvis is an alien who has an obsession with Earth. We also met malevolent lifeforms from other planets, some of which had even infiltrated our world governments. However, the narrator then goes on to use the word “us”.
This could be for many reasons, but Occam’s razor tells me that this is not an alien perspective. We may not have any aliens featured in this re-invention of Perfect Dark. Of all the great letdowns we could get, this would be one of the worst, in my opinion.
Fingers crossed!
Secondary modes:
Perfect Dark was groundbreaking in many ways. Of the ways it improved upon the first-person shooter genre, secondary modes really stood out! You could take nearly every attack in the game and switch it to a secondary function. Even your fists could be changed from punch to disarm. No slappers here.
Getting back to the trailer, we are in the perspective of a drone cam. The CamSpy, DrugSpy, and BombSpy are weapons we are familiar with from the original Perfect Dark. “Search mode” is the current setting of this drone in the trailer. Under the drone cam, we see three small bars with the first highlighted.
My speculation is that this implies we will be able to switch between modes for weapons. This would also imply that the 2 functions per item mechanic may be enhanced. Could we see this camera view as an item? Will it be multifunctional as a tranquilizer and bomb? So many questions and possibilities, but I am hoping so!
Also of note are the square targets around the heads of civilians. This is reminiscent of the target lock-on secondary function of the CMP-150.
There are such cool weapons in Perfect Dark. They deserve an entire article of their own.
The Plot:
I am fairly certain I know what the plot will be about, and it’s pretty cool!
First off, the voice in the trailer first says, “I remember when everything changed.” Secondly, it lists disasters, “The floods. The Storms. The Fires. People dying in the streets.” Initially, this might lead us to believe that the plot will be about natural disasters. I don’t quite believe that to be the case.
The corporations had promised a better world, but clearly, something isn’t right. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have a game, would we? Now, you might be thinking it will be about corrupt corporations. There is probably a little bit of corruption. That is not what we are thinking it will primarily be about, however.
This is where things get interesting. The narrator then states, “… the laws of nature aren’t meant to be broken”. He continues, “We need to know what they’re hiding”. We will come back to this soon.
… And the puzzle pieces start to fall into place.
A sign, as the camera first enters the building, is in Korean which translates to “International Energy Symposium”. Next to it is a sign in English that reads “Water. Life. Hope.”, which is likely a reference to global government outreach programs. I believe this was a genuine effort by major corporations to help provide water to citizens worldwide.
After we push through the hallway, we enter a room. In this room there are plants in glass cases all around. If you look closely though, you can see that the plants are growing rapidly. I actually watched the video in 0.5 speed and that’s when I took notice.
The plants are breaking out of the glass and crawling through the lab.
Something has clearly gone horribly wrong.
What may be happening, is all of these outreach programs pushed for breaking the laws of nature. They pull up excessive water to feed the planet ended up drying out the planet. This could explain the extremely arid climate. They create super crops to grow quickly and feed everyone, but also caused plant life to grow out of control. Outreach programs to help clean the air, what kind of adverse effects could this bring when taken to the extreme? Perhaps they sought to prevent storms, yet somehow made things worse (DARPA, anyone?), which would explain the unusual and violent clouds swirling around. Time and time again, while seeking to improve upon nature, we bring upon ourselves new problems.
I have come to believe that the plot will be about good intentions (maybe not fully good, but at least some of that) bringing upon us massive destruction. The only malevolence of the corporations responsible could be that they are trying to cover it up.
There will likely be more because Joanna Dark is looking for answers. What answers might she be looking for? Who’s responsible? Could it be Mr. Blonde?
That Laptop Gun, though
Every hardcore Perfect Dark fan had probably made mental note of the gun mounted to the wall in a hallway. The way it is shooting and its shape bring back memories of the laptop gun. Though it may just be a standard sentry gun, it would be awesome if they brought back the laptop gun and its secondary function.
That’s it from me
I didn’t notice any other details which could be telling of an overall plot, but I think I am correctly guessing the basic idea.
All I know is that the original Perfect Dark is a masterpiece. I really love it. If this new Perfect Dark wants to compete it will probably need to include government conspiracies, aliens, unlockable cheats, multi-functional weapons, amazing but tough challenges, co-op, and hopefully some killer music as well. I love the odd meters they threw in — that 15/8 time multiplayer menu music just hits right, ya know?
Did you notice anything that I’ve missed? If so, let me know in Discord: https://discord.gg/zCWz4vt
I’d love to hear about it!
