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By colmwarner (19th May 2008)

In Dark Sector, you play Hayden Tenno, a Special Forces operative sent into a former Soviet state to blow up a compound where biological weapons are being created. He becomes infected, and as the virus spreads throughout his body, he develops more and more amazing abilities. And just as I’ve glossed over the storyline, unfortunately, so have Digital Extremes, the creators of the game.

Usually, games have immaculately rendered cut scenes, and slightly lower quality graphics in-game, but you forgive these for the action. With Dark Sector, however, the in-game graphics are exceptional, but the cut scenes are sloppy. Hayden looks great as a special forces operative in the initial level, but when the mask comes off, he’s a little too pretty, and the detail out-of-play looks like an afterthought. In addition, where the modern player has become used to the cut scenes providing pivotal plot twists, the Dark Sector storyline hints at depth but never delivers. Hayden initially wants to get out of the first mission, saying it doesn’t sit right with him, then he’s ordered to do the mission, and off he goes to do it. During the game, you run into Mezner (the crazy bad guy), and also some guy who is connected to you and the government, and some girl who I suspect was a former colleague, now working for Mezner. She makes vague references to things in Hayden’s past, and that’s it. The background is never explained, but it’s okay, because you’ll find your interest was never really heightened anyway.

So why would you buy this game? What could possibly lead you to forgive the shoddy plotline and sometimes-dull graphics? Simple. The Glaive.

Hayden’s first mission goes nearly to plan, and the only hiccup is being stabbed in the shoulder by a strange metal man. At this point, he becomes infected by the virus he was sent to destroy. As the game progresses, the virus spreads, and each time the virus spreads, a new ability is discovered. The first ability is the Glaive itself. Imagine a shuriken throwing star, but the size of a car tyre. Now imagine it had the properties of a boomerang, returning after every throw. Now imagine that you can throw the Glaive and miss an opponent, but move your body so that the opponent is on the return path of the Glaive, and it will still cut him on its way back to your arm. Well, no need to imagine any longer, the guys at Digital Extremes got there first and have created an amazing weapon that will delight any player as it dismembers, amputates and decapitates it way through horde after horde of oncoming enemies.

The Glaive is visually amazing, and functionally perfect. As it is part of Hayden’s arm, his other arm is free to wield a pistol or rifle. This allows Hayden to throw the Glaive at one enemy, while shooting another. Shielded enemies can be stunned with the Glaive, and then finished with bullets. Sounds pretty cool, but we’re still only scratching the surface.

Pretty soon after getting the Glaive, Hayden discovers the “steal” ability. Stealing is done by focusing the Glaive on a remote object, then throwing it. The Glaive will return with the stolen item. Enemies’ weapons in this game have sensors on them that will make them self-destruct when they come in contact with someone who has been infected, so Hayden can only use weapons for a short amount of time. However, with no shortage of enemies at any stage throughout the game, he can empty magazine after magazine into them, and then recover fresh weapons from the recently slain without having to leave cover. But that’s still not the extent of the Glaive’s prowess. When the virus spreads a little more, Hayden learns about the power throw. The power throw is executed by holding the right bumper until the symbol turns yellow, then releasing. However, the change in colour lasts less than a second, after which the throw will be normal again. Power throws allow Hayden to force open gates, and will cut enemies clean in two if it hits them. While you miss the cries for help that enemies give when Hayden amputates one of their limbs, power throws are great for getting you out of a tight situation quickly.

The next ability is “after-touch”, where Hayden throws the Glaive, and then controls it mid-flight. This is great for taking out enemies that are behind cover or around corners. It takes a while to master this ability, but there’s a button behind a fence you have to hit pretty soon after acquiring the ability that will help you master it. After-touch combined with power throwing allows you to get the “double decap latte” achievement, where you behead two opponents with a single throw. Next comes the ability to charge the Glaive with the elements. If you see a sparking fuse box, or light-fitting, throw the Glaive at it, and it will return sparking. For a short time (normally 2-3 throws), the Glaive will deal increased damage to enemies, and they will spark when you hit them. Charging the Glaive with fire is even better, as the enemies will burst into flames, and even ignite other enemies they come into contact with. Sometimes you have to create fire by running into a room, opening a gas valve, charging the Glaive with electricity, and then throwing the charged Glaive through the gas. One section of the game relies entirely on using one torch to light another, and then always using the nearest source of flame for dealing with the constant onslaught of soldiers, zombies and attack dogs that are in your way. The Glaive can also be used as a torch and charged with ice. Combining ice with fire attacks leads to a brilliant effect of shattering enemies.

After this, the abilities acquired don’t really focus on the Glaive so much. The Shield ability allows you to deflect incoming projectiles towards the target of your choice. The Explosive ability works by charging the Glaive, then pushing down on the right stick to emit a small explosion, or shockwave, great when surrounded by multiple foes. Later comes stealth, where Hayden becomes invisible until hit or until he attacks.

As mentioned earlier, the Glaive can be dual-wielded with some firearms (rifles require both hands to shoot). Enemy weapons can be picked up or “stolen”, but there is also the black market, which is accessed by walking on manhole covers. Here you can buy weapons that won’t destruct when you hold them, and these weapons can also be upgraded. Upgrades and money are scattered all over the maps, and the upgrades can also be applied at the black market. These range from Enferon shells to capacity and firepower upgrades. Each weapon has a limited number of upgrade slots, so you must choose wisely, as upgrades cannot be removed from a weapon once applied. While the Glaive is the primary focus of the game, the firearms are not to be overlooked. Rifles have a decent kick when fired on automatic, and staying on target isn’t easy. The shotgun is fantastic at closer range, and can dispatch many enemies with one blast.

The finishing moves in the game are little slow-motion works of art. Hitting the melee button when close to an injured foe will result in an impressive and agonising finisher, and there are quite a few of them. Ranging from bending the elbow the wrong way and slicing the throat with the Glaive to spinning decapitations, these finishers are an excuse to come out from behind cover and tackle the enemies at close range. The finishing moves against bosses are unique to each boss, and are combinations of blows and shots, some delivered by sticking the pistol right under the chin, looking the monster in the eyes, and then blasting a round into his head. If you like gore, then you’re not going to be disappointed by any of the moves in Dark Sector.

Ambiance is also well maintained. The mood is visually dark throughout, and the music and atmospheric sounds do help build tension. The scenery is similar to Gears of War, and while the developers claim to have a proprietary engine, the similarities don’t end there. The cover system is also similar to the Epic Games release, and then there’s the sprinting, where the camera zooms in closer, and turning is limited in sprints. This zoom is also used when the after-touch ability is employed. But this isn’t a bad thing. Gears of War was an excellent game, and if anything, only the best elements of the game have been used here.

The maps can be a bit confusing at times and there are also areas where there are unlimited enemies spawning. These can be fun for unlocking achievements, but they also waste valuable ammunition and time, and can leave you feeling frustrated. In other areas, there are fights that can simply be skipped by sprinting to the next save point. This will stop reinforcements, and just leave you currently spawned enemies to deal with. Some of the objectives aren’t immediately obvious, and hundreds of axe-wielding zombies running at you doesn’t really afford you much time to look around.

One thing that really forces you to finish the single-player campaign is that only the unlocked abilities from your campaign are available to you in multiplayer mode. As you don’t get invisibility until fairly far into the game, you need to finish the campaign to stand a chance in multiplayer. There’s only one Hayden per team in Epidemic Mode and one per map in the Infection Mode. Everybody else plays soldiers armed with either shotgun or automatic rifle. In infection mode, all of the soldiers hunt for Hayden, and whoever kills Hayden becomes the Hayden for the next round. In Epidemic mode, there are two teams, and each has one Hayden. The object is to kill the Hayden on the other team without getting killed yourself. There are 5 maps, and game play again has a Gears of War feel to it. Start at opposite ends, meet in the middle, great action, maps are a bit small.

Dark Sector was a long time in development, and while the developers must have been under pressure to get the game on the shelves, it just seems as though somebody presented awesome game play to a team, and then was told there was no time for character development, or a deeper plotline. Or maybe it was another victim of the writers’ strike. All of the boxes were ticked, but at times it felt a bit hollow. There were times during play that I’d really have like to have marked this game higher, but every time I finished a level, the cut scene made me want to punish it again. Co-operative play would also have made this a better experience, but still; Dark Sector is a solid addition to any collection. And if just a little more thought goes into a sequel, I’ll personally head up any queue to buy it.