Ecofiction is an interesting genre that's cropping up more and more lately. One great example is The Last of Us. Rather than sticking to traditional zombie narratives of a mysterious virus or otherworldly force reviving hordes of the dead, a strange fungus controls the undead in The Last of Us, creating an interesting narrative of humans trying to survive against nature itself and struggling against the consequences of their own impact on the environment. Ecofiction is a pretty rich environment for storytelling, so it's not too surprising to learn that The Initiative's Perfect Dark reboot will be taking an eco sci-fi turn.
It's certainly a different look for the franchise. The original Perfect Dark and Perfect Dark Zero were more concerned with pretty traditional sci-fi. Perfect Dark involved aliens using humans as pawns as a part of an intergalactic war, while Perfect Dark Zero explored a mysterious artifact that could give people superpowers. However, one common thread through these games is the focus on evil corporations scheming to sate their greed and lust for power. The trailer for the Perfect Dark reboot suggest that the eco sci-fi plot of the new game will follow a similar narrative. dataDyne is still up to no good, and it's up to Joanna Dark to stop dataDyne from ruining the world.
The Battle for Earth
Perfect Dark's trailer makes it clear that the Earth is unwell. It implies that climate change has spun wildly out of control, and all across the world, humanity is struggling to cope with natural disasters that run rampant. However, the unidentified narrator of the trailer explains that corporations have developed technology that's bringing natural disasters under control, and so humanity is starting to put a lid on climate change. On the surface, that sounds good, but as is the tradition of Perfect Dark, these corporations can't be trusted.
The central question of Perfect Dark's eco sci-fi narrative is what exactly dataDyne is doing that's giving it such control over natural forces. It sounds like Joanna Dark and possibly the Carrington Institute, her traditional employer, don't trust dataDyne's developments and want to figure out what it's up to. The trailer suggests that dataDyne really is developing some unnatural things. The flying camera briefly shows an arboretum where plants seem to be growing wildly out of control, and at the end, Joanna controls a huge thunderstorm looming over a city in Egypt. It's likely that Perfect Dark's ecological story will focus on human hubris and the dangers of trying to manipulate the forces of nature.
Reexamining Corporate Foes
The original Perfect Dark games are clearly a very different type of sci-fi compared to the reboot's focus on nature and climate change. Their alien-filled narratives were much less grounded in reality than the more contemplative nature of The Initiative's reboot. However, Perfect Dark is the perfect franchise to get adapted into a piece of criticism aimed towards corporations' relationship with the environment. After all, Perfect Dark has always been about companies acting irresponsibility in the name of their own interests. It's a logical translation that dataDyne can act callously toward nature and the environment in the Perfect Dark reboot, considering how selfishly it's acted in the past.
Although there's definitely an interesting narrative in place for Perfect Dark, the big question is now whether or not The Initiative can pull it off. The trailer was impressive, but the game is still largely a mystery. The Initiative is also a very new studio pulled together by Microsoft to make high-quality games. It might have good resources at its disposal, but the team at The Initiative still has to learn to work together to achieve the vision for Perfect Dark that they share. The eco-friendly narrative of Perfect Dark should be an interesting way to bring the franchise into the modern age. This is The Initiative's big chance to both release an impressive game and make a statement.
Perfect Dark is in development.