Perfect Dark
It is one of Xbox’s highest profile upcoming projects, and they featured it for a blockbuster moment in the dead middle of its excellent showcase. That’s Perfect Dark, which previously has had nothing but short cinematic teasers. Now? We can see what it is, and what it is looks…very good.
The trailer features a large amount of gameplay, indicating that the vision here is more of an immersive sim shooter rather than just…a normal shooter, in a way that reminds me of something like Deus Ex. But past that, its gunplay also looks excellent, and it feels like things are really coming together for The Initiative after rumors that things were going wrong behind the scenes. If that is true, we at least couldn’t see it here.
The one main red flag is that despite featuring gameplay this time around, there is still not just a missing release date, but there’s not even a release year for the game. With other games teased as being out in 2025 during the showcase, Perfect Dark is likely not going to get here until 2026, probably 2+ years from now. Again, this was a game that was first revealed at the 2020 Game Awards, and even if AAA games are big these days, that’s still an incredibly long wait.
What I found interesting is that it felt like if the game does pan out, that Joanna Dark could perhaps return to become one of Xbox’s first party icons, given that they’re in need of some new ones. You will notice that in this fantastic showcase, there was absolutely no Master Chief or Halo at all. Marcus Fenix is back, but they had to go back in time to make sure he didn’t age out of the series. Joanna Dark, Xbox star? I can see it. But again, the game really, really has to deliver.
That’s true about all these games. I was amazed at just how good a dozen plus of these featured games looked, and the biggest miss for me was Dragon Age, which is of course not even an Xbox game. This was excellent all around and at least in part, that was helped by a big, impressive look at Perfect Dark. I just hope I can play it some time before my son’s high school graduation (he’s two). We’ll look for more info next year, I’d venture.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
