The Story So Far...
Since the dawn of man, our planet has been watched. The reasons for this interest differ from race to race: some merely wish to observe until humanity has evolved to a point where they can introduce themselves without sparking mass panic, while the motives of others are considerably less benign.
And not all humans are oblivious to the watchers above and among us. Daniel Carrington, head of the elite Carrington Institute, suspects that rapid technological developments at dataDyne HQ are the results of the corporation taking a dark path to first contact - a path which apparently branches through major Government agencies...
Whether or not his suspicions are justified, it is clear that events are rushing to a head. People are being abducted, animals are being mutilated: someone amongst the stars desperately wants something they believe us to have, and Carrington suspects that the grand plan penetrates far deeper than these surface incidents. Using all means available, the Institute has resolved to find out exactly what's going on before it's too late, and only recently has it been offered its first real lead into the conspiracy: urgent messages from one Dr. Caroll located deep in the heart of dataDyne operations, requesting extraction from the company before alleged threats on his life are actually carried out.
Cue freshly-qualified Agent Joanna Dark, codenamed Perfect Dark thanks to her unprecedented achievements in training. Her first real assignment could hardly be of more importance: infiltrate the dataDyne skyscraper, extract Dr. Caroll and bring him back to the Institute undetected and unharmed. With events at dataDyne shrouded in mystery and yet moving so fast, whatever knowledge Dr. Caroll possesses could ultimately decide the fate of the human race.
The year is 2023. Joanna Dark is sucked ever deeper into the conspiracy that swells out from the heart of the forbidding dataDyne corporation. With a trail of secrets leading her from Chicago skyscrapers to subterranean laboratories, from top secret air bases to sea-bed alien shipwrecks, Joanna's mission slowly unfolds to reveal a conspiracy spanning hundreds of light years...
Running on the celebrated GoldenEye engine and undergoing development at the hands of the very same team responsible for that high-tension classic, Perfect Dark ups the ante on its predecessor in virtually every department. The story is far more ambitious, the objectives more rigorous, the gadgetry more ingenious and the enemies more vicious.
The game boasted a private theatre for its first ever showing to the public at the 1998 E3 in Atlanta, and has gone down a storm in each subsequent appearance. So if you have any worries about the standard set by GoldenEye and how it can be surpassed, put them aside: the Perfect Dark team is well aware of how high expectations are running for its latest baby, and has no intentions of disappointing anyone at the end of the day. Just think: all the ideas that didn't quite make it into GoldenEye, plus much, much more...
Just a few confirmed features to tide you over, then: we have various training sections based at the Carrington Institute, including firing ranges for all available weapons and a hologram chamber where you can take on different opponents; eight different control setups to accommodate rookies and veterans alike; Dolby Surround and widescreen compatibility; and of course a whole host of multiplayer modes including preset challenges, two-player co- and counter-operative settings, and all-out four-player carnage with optional CPU-/player-controlled Simulants... all this and more will be yours in a matter of months. Start getting ready.
Take note, however, that while Perfect Dark doesn't actually require the 4MB Expansion Pak to play a la DK64, it has been designed with the extra memory in mind. Subsequently, the version that runs on N64s not fitted with the Pak features deathmatching for one or two players complete with all associated options (such as Simulants, preset challenges and various game settings), but the main solo missions and deathmatching capacity for three to four players can only be found in the
8MB Pak-enhanced version.
