Rare reveal abandoned plans for Perfect Dark sister title Velvet Dark

As part of celebrating their history with Xbox One exclusive Rare Replay, the British developer’s creative director Gregg Mayles has revealed that they had once planned a sister title to Perfect Dark called Velvet Dark.

Velvet Dark is protagonist Joanna Dark’s sister, and appeared as the second player’s character in Perfect Dark’s Co-op mode.

Rare’s design document, which is dated 30th October 2000, covers the ideas that were being considered for the game. Mayles recalled that it had been destined for Nintendo 64, but mention of Game Boy Advance compatibility suggests that it would have eventually seen release on GameCube if green-lit by Nintendo.

Mayles has only shared the design document’s contents page, but that’s enough for us to ponder what might have been. ‘Serum Background’ and ‘Serum Abilities’ seem to indicate an organisation that the adventure would centre around, while ‘Squad AI’ was to be introduced suggesting a lean toward more co-operative play.