This forthcoming retro FPS is a throwback to the Nintendo 64 era

The retro-styled first-person shooter is hardly a new phenomenon: Ion Fury, Amid Evil and Dusk are only three recent examples. But Dark Data feels especially novel, as its clearly a hat tip to a distinctive, platform-specific style of FPS, namely, Nintendo 64 classics like GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark.

Those games haven't exactly aged well (I'm sure many will disagree with me, and that's ok), which is probably why it's taken so long for a game to ape their style. Dark Data nails the aesthetic, especially the awkwardly chunky character models. That said, modern concessions have clearly been made, as you can see in the trailer below. The lighting looks far more advanced than anything the 64 could ever manage, and the frame-rate looks alarmingly smooth. Like, it's definitely running consistently higher than 20fps. If you're a stickler for authenticity, that may be a deal breaker.

There's no single player component: Dark Data is a local multiplayer FPS with four game modes including deathmatch, team deathmatch, "HOLD YOUR DEATH" (dunno) and "Capture the Floppy" (Capture the Flag but with floppies, I guess). It supports up to eight players in a match, or four on a team, and there are bots if you need 'em. The game boasts 17 weapons, 10 maps, a character creator and a bunch of cosmetic stuff to earn.

Here's the trailer. Dark Data launches September 4 on Steam.

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.