Perfect Dark Zero details

By Ellie Gibson Published 11 May, 2005

Careless talk costs Xbox Live.

That's the trouble with behind-closed-doors presentations. Someone's bound to talk about what they've seen, and if you're really unlucky they'll even go blathering about it all over the Internet.

Which is what's just happened to Rare after showing off Perfect Dark Zero for Xbox 360 at a top-secret event. Amongst the attendees were members of a clan called PMS, who failed to contain their excitement during an Xbox Live interview for Gamertagradio.com.

After waxing lyrical about the virtues of the new console ("Everyone's gonna bow down!" apparently), they revealed that the game will make use of an EyeToy-style camera which scans your body to create an in-game avatar for multiplayer matches.

In addition, PMS said, there will be more than 20 weapons including a gun that makes the user invisible, along with the usual rocket launchers and generally "any kind of thing that your trigger finger would feel comfortable shooting."

Plus there are jetpacks for flying about the place, and you can choose which point to respawn from so you get straight back into the thick of the action.

There's no official release date for Project Dark Zero, though rumour has it the game will be an Xbox 360 launch title. There's also been talk of an online multiplayer mode, plus an "anti co-op" game that sees one player taking on the role of heroine Joanna while the other steps into the shoes of her arch enemy. Expect more at E3.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 7 years ago

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  • Kay #1 7 years ago

    Certainly looks impressive. But, with Halo 3 on the horizon, will anyone care? Plus Rare's recent output has been patchy to say the least, and all their best designers have left anyway.

  • g-funk #2 7 years ago

    That screenshot is a confirmed fake btw, its a doctored screen from HL2.

  • NAC #3 7 years ago

    lol waxing lyrical.

  • Johnson #4 7 years ago

    Anyone else buy a game boy camera in anticipation of the ingame photos for Perfect Dark? Then they dropped it. Bastards. Well, let's hope no US High Schooler decides to take his legally acquired submachine gun to school and massacre his class mates just before PD0 comes out because then, obviously, they'll have to remove real life faces from video games because they're the real problem.

    At least I got to play it at ECTS or whatever the UK trade show was then.

  • jumpdeveraux #5 7 years ago

    "an EyeToy-style camera which scans your body to create an in-game avatar for multiplayer matches"

    /dreads what people will choose to point camera at to skin their avatar...

  • oceanmotion #6 7 years ago

    Its a confirmed fake pic made from a HL2 map so remove that. The PMS women was also tipsy so her imformation might not be that spot on. Also, use this picture from ourcolony.net which is actually Joanna Dark.

    http://ourcolony.net/images/logos/L2893749823.jpg

  • Kiigan #7 7 years ago

    But, with Halo 3 on the horizon, will anyone care?

    About Halo? I wouldn't have thought so, not after the abysmal sequel.

  • jlaakso #8 7 years ago

    "Anti co-op" sounds promising. Never saw the original game, though.

  • mouse Verified Graphic designer, Eurogamer Network #9 7 years ago

    "Anti co-op" sounds promising. Never saw the original game, though.

    It was in the original, under "Counter-Op". It was ok, but never really exciting enough to drag me away from the main multiplayer mode.

  • Captain Fetid #10 7 years ago

    Anti-co-op? What's that, 2 players duking it out against each other? There's a novel idea.

  • Tweakmonkey #11 7 years ago

    "anti co-op" is just a deathmatch surely?

  • Rahul #12 7 years ago

    Sorry what? Project Dark Zero?

  • Tweakmonkey #13 7 years ago

    Anyway, I won't be "bowing down" to the 360 anymore than I would to a state-of-the-art PC. What a ridiculous statement.

  • joephish #14 7 years ago

    I wanna play!

  • Feanor #15 7 years ago

    Jesus, Halo 2 was not abysmal in any way, Kiigan. You may not have liked it, but abysmal? There goes your credibility in one sentence.

    I agree with you, Tweakmonkey, that the bowing down comment was stupid. But if Xbox 360 has as good or better graphics than a state-of-the-art PC and costs only US $300-400 then it's worth giving it a handshake at least. :)
    Edited by Feanor at 11/05/05 @ 14:01

  • freedumb #16 7 years ago

    'and all their best designers have left anyway.'

    How many times will people keep stating whats totally wrong? Rare is made up of about 300-400 staff, about 5/6 left, a couple set up free radical, the others moved on to other projects. They'd already left before the dvelopment of perfect dark. I doubt it makes such a huge difference to Rare's output.
    Edited by freedumb at 11/05/05 @ 14:06

  • Huntcjna #17 7 years ago

    I don't care what any of you say my fond memories of the laptop gun still remain and I want it now god damn it even with minimal information and dodgy screenshot the hype monster had bitten me and Im turning slowly

  • groovychainsaw #18 7 years ago

    Anti - co-op was in the original - one player played Joanna, the other played the opposition. He would play weak guards, every time he was killed, he would beam into the next guard until he either killed joanna or joanna completed the mission. A great idea, but far too ambitious for the N64, which managed an average frame rate of about 5FPS, as I recall, rendering it unplayable, unfortunately.
    Edit - Forgot to mention, you would play through the same missions as in single player, just with someone else playing as your opposition - beats AI any day....
    Edited by groovychainsaw at 11/05/05 @ 14:20

  • Daithi #19 7 years ago

    I listened to that interview (complete waste of time, they weren't the brightest) and have seen a few web sites report the scanning in function since. Thing is, I really don't think that's what she said. I took it to mean one "lucky" attending gamer was scanned in by Rare and he will be a charcter in the game. I'm not so sure everybodys going to have that ability when it comes out.

  • reflux #20 7 years ago

    WHY would anyone care about Halo 3? Halo 4 will be MUCH better so I for one is waiting for that!

  • gylo #21 7 years ago

    ahhh, the laptop gun, that was fantastic

  • Freek #22 7 years ago

    No, anti cop isn't like death match. In the original one player controlled Joana and the other player took control of one enemy soldier. You played through the normal singleplayer levels. If the enemy player was killed you'd be teleported into another enemy soldier.

    "There's 300 to 400 staff, it doesn't matter"
    That's all verry true, the amount. But that's rather not the point. The people that left were project leads. Rather more important people then just some animator or a random code monkey.
    If the director leaves the movie will still be made, but ends up being crap if his/her replacement isn't just as good.
    Not to say Rares games will suck from now on but theres good reason to be a bitt worried. Due to their last couple releases not being up to the same level of quality as the N64 days.
    Edited by Freek at 11/05/05 @ 14:21

  • Zero Beat #23 7 years ago

    Counter co-op was two player splitscreen through the single player missions. Player one was Joanna Dark and player two played the part of a bad guy with the same small amount of health bad guys have when an NPC, obviously you had to try and stop player one. When killed player two changed over to another bad guy previously AI controlled and so on.

    And yeah, we know David Doak, Martin Hollis and some other people left at various times to do their own thing which isn't out of the ordinary. Some of us actually love GbtG too and think that in terms of quality - which obviously you can reach a new level of with better hardware - GbtG is the most polished Rare game yet and Conker looks very promising. I think Rare's GBA games haven't been to their console game standards with Sabre Wulf at one end of the spectrum (Excellent) and Banjo Grunty's Revenge (Average) at the other. It'll be interesting to see what their portable game teams have come up with for E3, are they still making GBA games, have they moved onto DS, PSP (seems less likely) and have they got a decent publisher now (not THQ).

    I want some Banjo X360 alongside my Perfect Dark. \o/

  • Captain Fetid #24 7 years ago

    /gets it now

    Sounds better than I thought then. Yay.

  • Tweakmonkey #25 7 years ago

    Agreed - sounds like a fun 2 player.

  • Galvanizer #26 7 years ago

    No!

    Weren't RARE gonna do something like that with the Game Boy Camera on N64?

  • Zero Beat #27 7 years ago

    They did, there were even some screenshots of the interface for mapping your facial features to the B&W image (and possibly adding a skin shade) in magazines but it was taken out for some reason. Many speculated that Nintendo wanted it pulled because it let you kill your friends and foes and someone might repeat that in real life, some thought it was just an issue of lack of time.

  • Universal_Hamster #28 7 years ago

    Counter co-op was a mode where... Naaa, just kidding. Was really fun though.
    Also, im offended by this "You will bow down" statement. Its obviously not just a figure of speech, and is meant to be taken literally. The idea that xbox 2 must be paid reverence to like a king or even a god is very offensive. *Waves Pitchfork*

  • mcmonkeyplc #29 7 years ago

    What Halo 3? You nut bags if anything its going to be Halo 2.51349088473889 on the 360 first.

  • karstux #30 7 years ago

    What the heck would be the point of behind-closed-doors demonstrations if they didn't anticipate - or expect - that someone would spill "secret" information... and as the recent XBox 360 marketing has proven, nothing travels faster and creates more hype than "secret" information.

  • Nikanoru #31 7 years ago

    there will be more than 20 weapons

    Is this accurate? If so I'd be disappointed, Perfect Dark on the N64 had 34.

    including a gun that makes the user invisible

    They're bringing it as if it's a new thing, like the counter-op. =\

  • nick_f Verified Senior Producer, Microsoft #32 7 years ago

    Perfect Dark didn't sell *that* well, considering the Goldeneye heritage. A lot of people coming to PDZ won't realise how much has been recycled from the original (which was a game truly ahead of its time, and only recently bettered in the multiplayer stakes by Halo 2).

  • Mr_Brown #33 7 years ago

    Pah in my opinion Perfect Dark is still the best FPS, even including Halo 2. It may not have online options, but it has the most advanced bot system ever seen in a game and add the amount of great guns and gadgets and level design on top of that and then the amount of characters and the ebility to edit even these...not to mention the counter operative mode and challenges. How can Halo 2 compare to that. Tis a shame no other game has used these ideas.

    Still I really hope Rare can top Perfect Dark. Ether way I can't bloody wait for this!!!!

  • ShoKay #34 7 years ago

    I think a lot of the love for PD feeds on nostalgia. As much as I love Rare, and as much as I used to play PD endlessly, when you go back and play it now post-H2/HL2/COD, it does seem dated, technology (the framerate is unendurable!) and gameplay-wise, which is to be expected really, it was a great game, but come on, it's over 5 years old isn't it?
    I hope for PD0 they don't worry so much about appeasing lifelong Rare-fans (whisper it: there aren't actually that many of them!) and just concentrate on making a game that's a surefire Xbox Live hit, and if the single player's good that's a bonus I suppose (seems like the Bungie philosophy at the moment anyway)

  • Fixxxer #35 7 years ago

    David Doak left?

    You don't mean Dr. David Doak, surely?

    After all I did for him in the facility....

  • Lothar Hex #36 7 years ago

    How come whenever an Xbox topic comes up, somebody HAS to mention Halo 1 or 2? Is there an unwritten rule or something?

    Anyway, I just hope that the launch titles for the 360 are better than the origionals Xbox ones. Halo 1 carried the thing for the first few months. It'd be nice to see a nice variety of good games for it, and Xbox Live straight out of the box.