In-between missions, you can explore the Carrington
Institute hub and play around with your weaponry.
Familiarise yourself with the layout, as late on in
the campaign the Skedar launch an assault on
the facility, and Dark, not exactly dressed for the
occasion in cocktail dress and heels, has to rescue
hostages and deactivate a bomb.CLASSIC SCENE
Halfway through the game, Joanna finds herself
needing to smuggle herself – and her bag of lethal
tricks – aboard the president’s plane. This requires
a more subtle touch than the norm – namely,
commandeering a passing stewardess’ uniform.
Getting your weapons past security, however, is a
tricky task. First you’ll need a suitcase...
CLASSIC LEVEL
A
rriving on the scene while the
console was in its twilight
years, this spiritual successor
to Goldeneye 007 (p.124) saw
the debuting espionage agent Joanna
Dark – true to form – pass under the
radar of a great many N64 owners.
Which was a pity, because technical
wobbles notwithstanding, this was
a lively follow-up that solidified
Goldeneye’s rock-solid foundations in
numerous ways. No longer a slave to a
film licence, Rare took the opportunity
to cast Perfect Dark in the (then) far-
flung future of 2023, unlocking the
cabinet to a plethora of sci-fi weaponry
that would have left Bond lore-bores
shaken, not stirred.
Memorable gadgets included the
FarSight, a cumbersome-but-deadly
railgun that could target and fire
through solid walls; the CamSpy, a
reconnaissance drone that could be
used to scout ahead; and of course,
the famous laptop gun, which not only
shape-shifted into an innocent-looking
PC for easy storage, but could also be
deployed as a sentry gun.
Perfect Dark doesn’t get the
multiplayer love GoldenEye does, but it’s
very much its equal, with imaginative
twists such as the counter-operative
mode, where one player played
through a campaign mission while the
other attempted to halt them with a
succession of cannon fodder soldiers.