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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Action Developer: Digital Extremes Publisher: D3 Publishing |
First announced in 2004 as one of the first games in development for the next generation consoles, “Dark Sector” was originally set to
be a science fiction game which would possibly be set in space and include a hero that wore a suit that gave him special abilities. Over
the four years of development the game has gone through a large number of changes in style, setting and design.
The game begins in the fictional, present day Russian city of Lasria. Here the lead character of the game is introduced, American
Special Forces agent Hayden Tenno. Players take on the initial mission in a black and white film style the acts as a tutorial that helps
players adjust to the game relatively simple controls in order to prepare for much bigger battles. Hayden infiltrates a military compound
and has to fin Mezner, the man responsible for the outbreak of a terrible infection. The infection serves as one of the main points of the
game, anymore information would ruin the game, but it is safe to say that there is a lot of expected action quickly.
One of the biggest downfalls of the game is the fact that the storyline that seemed like it was going to be the drawing point of the game
at the beginning, stumbles in areas including a thin plot line and a weak cast of characters. Through the game players will encounter a
number of people that have little to do with the overall storyline. The plot just doesn’t come together as many may have hoped for.
Though the storyline isn’t as strong as it could possibly be, the new weapon introduced in “Dark Sector” is the silver lining to the entire
game. The glaive is introduced to players early in the game and is a very powerful weapon that can be thrown or used during melee
combat. When thrown, the glaive returns to Hayden like a boomerang making it a very effective weapon for combat against large
squads of enemies. As players work their way through the game, they will discover that the glaive has many other uses beyond its use
as a weapon. It can be used to unlock doors, retrieve objects from a distance and even be imbued with any of three elements
commonly encountered in the environment ranging from fire, electricity and ice. These elements will often be needed to accomplish
certain puzzles from opening mechanically locked doors to extinguishing fires.
“Dark Sector” is a very primal game, especially with the incorporation of the glaive. The glaive easily chops of limbs and slices through
enemies like a knife through butter. For close range combat, the game offers an easy to use melee system. In order to offset the
sometimes clunky combat with some disputable hit detection, the option for players to do a finishing move to their enemies. By getting
close to enemies and pressing the melee button when prompted to, Hayden will deliver a killing blow that will finish off enemies in an
extremely gory and painful way.
As players advance through the game and the infection takes over the body of Hayden, he begins to develop new abilities that are
referred to as Evolutionary Powers. Early in the game players gain the ability to “power throw” the glaive with heightened strength.
Another, probably the most impressive talents is the “after touch” ability which allows the players to take a camera view behind a mid-
flight glaive and alter the course of the weapon. With all the abilities that are available and the entertaining new weapon, the gun play in
the game isn’t as fun anymore. Of course, there are times when guns are a necessary elements to move through the game, but
sometimes it is just more fun to slice off limbs than a shot in the head.
In order to break up the shooting and glaive throwing, there are many times when players will have to search the environment around
them. In some instances, exploration isn’t only essential to furthering progression through the game, but it will also allow players to
find much needed ammunition, weapon upgrades and money that can be spent in the Black Market.
Throughout the game Hayden takes on a number of boss characters that can prove to be a challenge at times. The bosses are often
much larger than Hayden and range from mutated beasts to machines of war. During these battles there are rarely any hits that are
deadly within one hit and health is usually regenerated while heading behind cover. Despite the ease of some of the battle, they are still
somewhat entertaining because they cause players to think and create a strategy for defeating the bosses.
One thing that many gamers look for in games today are the multiplayer options. “Dark Sector” offers two different multiplayer modes,
Infection mode and Epidemic mode that take place on any of five maps for up to ten players. Infection mode begins with one player as
Hayden with all abilities and skills available, and the other nine players are the enemies. The problem with this mode is that the nine
other players are outnumbered by the one player with all the abilities, which is somewhat disappointing. Epidemic mode is
comparable to the standard teach death match. Two teams of up to five each, features one player on each team as Hayden. The
objective of the game is for each team to try to kill the other team’s Hayden, which may prove to be more difficult than it sounds.
The game as a whole has a lot of great elements, including the glaive, but lack in multiplayer and overall storyline. However, it proves to
be a great addition to any collection and gives a promising look into the future of gaming.
be a science fiction game which would possibly be set in space and include a hero that wore a suit that gave him special abilities. Over
the four years of development the game has gone through a large number of changes in style, setting and design.
The game begins in the fictional, present day Russian city of Lasria. Here the lead character of the game is introduced, American
Special Forces agent Hayden Tenno. Players take on the initial mission in a black and white film style the acts as a tutorial that helps
players adjust to the game relatively simple controls in order to prepare for much bigger battles. Hayden infiltrates a military compound
and has to fin Mezner, the man responsible for the outbreak of a terrible infection. The infection serves as one of the main points of the
game, anymore information would ruin the game, but it is safe to say that there is a lot of expected action quickly.
One of the biggest downfalls of the game is the fact that the storyline that seemed like it was going to be the drawing point of the game
at the beginning, stumbles in areas including a thin plot line and a weak cast of characters. Through the game players will encounter a
number of people that have little to do with the overall storyline. The plot just doesn’t come together as many may have hoped for.
Though the storyline isn’t as strong as it could possibly be, the new weapon introduced in “Dark Sector” is the silver lining to the entire
game. The glaive is introduced to players early in the game and is a very powerful weapon that can be thrown or used during melee
combat. When thrown, the glaive returns to Hayden like a boomerang making it a very effective weapon for combat against large
squads of enemies. As players work their way through the game, they will discover that the glaive has many other uses beyond its use
as a weapon. It can be used to unlock doors, retrieve objects from a distance and even be imbued with any of three elements
commonly encountered in the environment ranging from fire, electricity and ice. These elements will often be needed to accomplish
certain puzzles from opening mechanically locked doors to extinguishing fires.
“Dark Sector” is a very primal game, especially with the incorporation of the glaive. The glaive easily chops of limbs and slices through
enemies like a knife through butter. For close range combat, the game offers an easy to use melee system. In order to offset the
sometimes clunky combat with some disputable hit detection, the option for players to do a finishing move to their enemies. By getting
close to enemies and pressing the melee button when prompted to, Hayden will deliver a killing blow that will finish off enemies in an
extremely gory and painful way.
As players advance through the game and the infection takes over the body of Hayden, he begins to develop new abilities that are
referred to as Evolutionary Powers. Early in the game players gain the ability to “power throw” the glaive with heightened strength.
Another, probably the most impressive talents is the “after touch” ability which allows the players to take a camera view behind a mid-
flight glaive and alter the course of the weapon. With all the abilities that are available and the entertaining new weapon, the gun play in
the game isn’t as fun anymore. Of course, there are times when guns are a necessary elements to move through the game, but
sometimes it is just more fun to slice off limbs than a shot in the head.
In order to break up the shooting and glaive throwing, there are many times when players will have to search the environment around
them. In some instances, exploration isn’t only essential to furthering progression through the game, but it will also allow players to
find much needed ammunition, weapon upgrades and money that can be spent in the Black Market.
Throughout the game Hayden takes on a number of boss characters that can prove to be a challenge at times. The bosses are often
much larger than Hayden and range from mutated beasts to machines of war. During these battles there are rarely any hits that are
deadly within one hit and health is usually regenerated while heading behind cover. Despite the ease of some of the battle, they are still
somewhat entertaining because they cause players to think and create a strategy for defeating the bosses.
One thing that many gamers look for in games today are the multiplayer options. “Dark Sector” offers two different multiplayer modes,
Infection mode and Epidemic mode that take place on any of five maps for up to ten players. Infection mode begins with one player as
Hayden with all abilities and skills available, and the other nine players are the enemies. The problem with this mode is that the nine
other players are outnumbered by the one player with all the abilities, which is somewhat disappointing. Epidemic mode is
comparable to the standard teach death match. Two teams of up to five each, features one player on each team as Hayden. The
objective of the game is for each team to try to kill the other team’s Hayden, which may prove to be more difficult than it sounds.
The game as a whole has a lot of great elements, including the glaive, but lack in multiplayer and overall storyline. However, it proves to
be a great addition to any collection and gives a promising look into the future of gaming.
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