It has been revealed that Erik Medina has joined the Perfect Dark development team at The Initiative as the Animation Director. The personnel had worked on various projects like the Tomb Raider, Ghost of Tsushima, and New World, all of which have been quite successful.
Perfect Dark Reboot is going to be a video game that will be jointly developed by The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics. The game was first showcased during The Game Awards 2020 and sent fans back in time when it was first released in 2000. This series has been focused on futuristic storytelling with aliens which was new for that era.
Thus, the title reboot was revealed in 2020, and fans have been eagerly waiting for more updates. With modern technological and graphical leaks, the game will likely be created with the original vision in mind. Erik Medina is known for various successful works, and his best is considered to be Ghost of Tsushima.
Former partial Art Director of Ghost of Tsushima and Animation Director on New World, Erik Medina, has joined The Initiative as Animation Director on Perfect Dark.https://t.co/hM9TUARRf7 pic.twitter.com/q8ml6BViYT
— Klobrille (@klobrille) November 16, 2023
With his experience in modern 3D art style and animation, Perfect Dark could be created with a cinematic approach to narrative. This type of storytelling has been well done by Crystal Dynamics over decades and an ideal example would be the Tomb Raider reboot series. Thus, the same type of approach can be taken for the reboot as well.
Speaking of Tomb Raider, Erik Medina worked as the Principal Animator for the title from 2010 to 2012. That project was the development of the reboot, which was created with the next generation in mind. With his entry to The Initiative development team, the vision for the next-generation title could be kept in mind.
Perfect Dark could be the next best game Xbox published with a pleasing art style
Xbox has published iconic series like Gears of War, Halo, The Plague Tale, and more throughout the year. Yet they haven’t found much success in 2023 which points towards the need for a new IP to set in. During The Game Awards 2020, the Perfect Dark Reboot was announced with a teaser trailer raising hope for the fans.
The original Perfect Dark game was a science fiction title that was developed by Rare and published by Xbox. This was a first-person franchise, that took place in a future where aliens and flying cars exist.
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Only two games were released to continue the story taking place in the future but were discontinued after 2005. After years of silence, a remade version of the game was released on Xbox in 2010 but didn’t get much traction as it didn’t feature a new story.
Following the announcement of the reboot in 2020, a new story has been planned for the franchise which involves a lot of brainstorming. With the hiring of Erik Medina as the Animation Director of the game, it is possible that he would take a cinematic approach to the story and give a lot of work building. As seen with Ghost of Tsushima, the director has done a great job with it and has helped it become a GOTY nominee in 2020.
