While it has been over a decade since Joanna Dark has been on console, she is set to return courtesy of The Initiative's Perfect Dark reboot. Little is known about the upcoming reboot other than The Intiative teasing Joanna's next mission which take place in a world being torn apart by various ecological disasters. However, a leaker has seemingly taken the initiative and given a new tease about the action players can expect to see in the upcoming game.
As mentioned, little has been shared about The Initiative's upcoming Perfect Dark reboot since it was announced at the 2020 Game Awards. The announcement trailer teased Joanna Dark's mission pitting her against a sinister corporation in a technologically advanced Egypt. Initiative also teased the damage the various environmental disasters has done to the world and the role it may play in Joanna's mission.
The report comes from Twitter user and XboxEra Podcast host @Shpeshal_Nick whose latest post teased the gameplay in the Perfect Dark reboot. His post was in response to a quote from The Initative saying the studio was trying to differentiate the gameplay by focusing on "spy fighting" as opposed to just relying on traditional FPS design. Nick added to this, saying the action would be "almost 'John Wick-esque'" at release.
If the goal of The Initiative is to emphasize "spy fighting" in the next Perfect Dark, it makes sense for the studio to pull from the John Wick film series. The Keanu Reeves-led series has been praised for its action, combining fast-paced, hard-hitting hand-to-hand fights with creative gunfights. It's a style of action which has already found its way into other films, like Atomic Blonde and Nobody, while the series has slowly found its way into the games space through crossovers with Fortnite and the prequel game, John Wick Hex.
The original Perfect Dark released back in 2000 for the Nintendo 64 as a FPS from Rare, acting as a spiritual successor to 1997's extremely popular Goldeneye 007. Perfect Dark shared many similarities to Goldeneye, most notably its gameplay while running on an upgraded version of the same engine. It was met with almost universal acclaim at release and was one of the last major releases before the Nintendo GameCube was released in 2001.
Rare would revisit the series with 2005's Perfect Dark Zero, serving as a prequel to the original 2000 game. The game was one of two titles, alongside Kameo, which served as Rare's contribution to the Xbox 360's launch. Perfect Dark Zero was met with largely positive reception, though some critics felt the game's single-player experience was a step down from the original game and the voice acting was described by multiple outlets as "laughable." Developer 4J Studios would later revisit the original game with its 2010 remaster of Perfect Dark for Xbox 360.