NA: November 22, 2005
EU: December 2, 2005
Perfect Dark Zero is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was exclusively released as a launch title for the Xbox 360 video game console in 2005. The game is part of the Perfect Dark series and a prequel to the original Perfect Dark. The story of the game follows Joanna Dark, a bounty hunter working with her father and a computer hacker, as she joins the Carrington Institute agency to prevent a rival corporation from getting possession of an ancient artefact which endows individuals with superhuman powers.
Perfect Dark Zero features a campaign mode consisting of 14 missions that can be played co-operatively and a multiplayer mode where a maximum of 32 players can compete against each other in numerous types of deathmatch and objective-based games. Both the co-operative and multiplayer modes support split-screen, system link, and the Xbox Live online service. The game was under development for five years and was originally intended to be released for the Nintendo GameCube and later the Xbox. During development, several intended features were canceled so that the game could meet the Xbox 360 launch.
Upon release, Perfect Dark Zero sold more than one million copies worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics, garnering a score of 81 out of 100 at review aggregate website Metacritic. The game's numerous multiplayer modes singled out as strong features. However, some critics felt that the game did not meet the expectations, criticising single-player aspects such as its story and voice acting. In 2015, the game was included in the Rare Replay video game compilation for Xbox One.