The Perfect Dark reboot Microsoft first unveiled four years ago received its first gameplay trailer today during the Xbox Games Showcase. The single-player experience comes from Xbox"s first-party studio, The Initiative, which is being co-developed with Crystal Dynamics and is touting a thriller that"s bringing back secret agent Joanna Dark. Watch the gameplay reveal above.
Featuring in a near-future setting, the developers say they are building a game that lets players choose how they interact with the world and complete missions. Players can use powerful gadgets and stealth to get an edge against opponents, use parkour to avoid being sighted altogether, go loud with guns, or use a combination.
The unique Cairo setting is described like this:
Perfect Dark’s near-future world has been impacted by what’s known as “The Cascade,” in which the planet has suffered from a series of environmental disasters, rendering entire regions inhospitable to human life. In the wake of the disaster, a hypercorporation known as Core Mantis steps in to create a solution known as The GEN Network, and deploys it in Cairo – restoring ecological balance and creating a freshly walled city, insulated from the hostile environment outside to become a center for technological innovation.
One of Joanna’s gadgets includes a voice analyzer to make immediate deepfakes for getting through security systems or creating distractions. Going loud, players will be able to use their abilities to take down multiple enemies, use hand-to-hand combat, and use environmental elements to their advantage, too.
"Team Perfect Dark doesn’t want this to feel like any one genre – it takes in elements of first-person shooters, immersive sims, and stealth-action, but blends them into a seamless whole," says the studio. "The goal is to offer a true secret agent fantasy – and letting players use their various tools and abilities in the way they want is key to this."
Despite being announced in 2020, no release date has been attached to Perfect Dark yet. The game is coming to PC and Xbox Series X|S and will also be a day-one Xbox Game Pass entry.