We've been wondering when more details might start to leak out about Xbox's recently cancelled Perfect Dark reboot, and it's now begun - courtesy of an apparent "former developer" who's shared some details with the outlet MP1st.
Let's start with those details. The outlet says it's seen documentation that mentions The Initiative was working on "Vertical Slice 1" of Perfect Dark as recently as April of 2025. The name suggests it was a "playable proof-of-concept", and it's said to have belonged to "Season 1" - meaning the new Perfect Dark was likely going to have an episodic format as previously rumoured.
In terms of gameplay, the documentation refers to something called an "Adrenaline System" that would regenerate and give you abilities such as healing, increased damage, slowing down time and various other powerful perks.
Altogether, the creative vision was described as re-imagining the Perfect Dark franchise while still keeping the essence of the original Nintendo 64 game:
"The primary inspiration for this approach was the HBO series Westworld, which successfully reimagined a classic property for a modern audience while exploring fresh themes and concepts."
Right, let's get to that concept art! There's quite a lot here, and we're not going to share absolutely everything, but the focus for all of these screenshots is on the locations that were planned to appear in the game.
The documentation is said to refer to these locations as "Eco Sci-Fi", featuring "futuristic design with a focus on sustainable, green environments".
We'll leave you with some of those images below, again shared via the folks at MP1st.
