It turns out that after shipping the perennial classic GoldenEye 007, developer Rare was outbid to work on a videogame adaptation for the next James Bond film. When one door closes, another opens, however: this loss gave the developer an opportunity to experiment and try something new.
In a recent installment in Rare’s making-of series,“Rare Revealed”, where the studio looks back through its storied history, the creation of Perfect Dark is discussed in depth (as spotted by Polygon). When they lost out on the Bond license, Rare decided to try several new things that couldn’t have been done in a Bond videogame, like playing as a female character, extra terrestrial enemies, and a sci-fi setting.
Perfect Dark went on to become another classic, releasing in 2000 for the Nintendo 64. The title was rereleased as part of the Rare Replay anthology this summer. For more info on the game's development, or a detailed look at more Rare classics, take a look at the video below, along with Rare’s series.
Rare is currently working on Sea of Thieves for Xbox One.
