Perfect Dark

Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter where players complete levels to unlock content and progress through the game's storyline. Players maneuver their character from a first-person perspective and have the ability to lean left or right, look up or down, crouch, crawl, and drop from most ledges; there is no jump ability. Interaction with the environment is via a single button, which can activate computers, operate lifts, and open doors. Players can carry an unlimited number of weapons, ranging from handguns to assault rifles, rocket launchers, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, and combat knives.

Besides their primary mode of fire, weapons have a secondary function that enables an alternate fire mode or grants players special abilities. For example, the secondary function of the K7 Avenger assault rifle detects threats like explosive devices. Most weapons have a finite magazine and must be reloaded after a certain number of shots. Some can be used in duplicate, one in each hand.

Players have a certain amount of health , which decreases when attacked by opponents. Although the game does not feature health recovery items, players can pick up shields that protect them with a secondary health bar. Players and opponents can disarm each other at close range, and players may use this feature to steal weapons or knock foes unconscious. Damage taken during combat is location-based, with a shot to the torso causing more damage than a shot to a limb.

A number of tutorials and training activities can be taken in the game's home level. The most notable of these is the shooting range, where players can test their proficiency with the game's weapons in individual challenges. In addition to training activities, players can find information about the game's locations and characters, which are gradually unlocked as they complete levels. Campaign Perfect Dark features a campaign mode where a single player controls the game's protagonist, Joanna Dark , through a series of levels collected together into missions.

In each level, the player must complete a set of objectives while opponents controlled by the game's artificial intelligence try to hinder the player's progress. Objectives generally require the recovery and use of high-tech gadgets like night-vision goggles or door decoders. The player has freedom as to how to approach encounters, and many objectives can be completed in a nonlinear order. Stealth is an important element of the gameplay because the player can kill opponents without being seen or remain undetected by using disguises.

If Joanna fails an objective or her health is fully depleted, the player must start the level again from the beginning. Each level can be played on three distinct difficulty settings. These affect aspects such as the number of objectives that must be completed, damage taken from opponents, the effectiveness of the game's optional aiming assistance, and the availability of ammunition and protective shields. Four bonus levels may be unlocked by completing the campaign on each difficulty setting and all the challenges in the firing range.

Some of these bonus levels allow the player to assume the role of a different character. If all the levels have been completed on the highest difficulty, an additional setting becomes available, allowing the player to customise various aspects of the game's opponents, such as their health, aiming accuracy, and the damage they inflict. The player may unlock cheats by completing levels within a certain time limit. The campaign includes a co-operative mode, allowing either two players or one player and up to four computer-controlled bots , to tackle a level together.

If two players play, the game splits the screen horizontally or vertically. Options such as friendly fire can be disabled, and only one player is required to survive a level. A "Counter-Operative" mode is included, allowing one player to play a level as Joanna while another takes the role of an opponent attempting to stop her. The player-controlled opponent has less health than Joanna but will reappear as another opponent when defeated.

The opposing player may choose to take control of another opponent at any time by swallowing a suicide pill.