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Dark Sector
Meet black-ops agent Hayden Tenno, not a very pleasant fellow with a bit of a psychotic past. Hayden’s latest mission takes him to a former eastern bloc nation for some covert stuff but things don’t quite go according to plan and he’s infected with a mutating biological compound. OF course this being a videogame, Hayden does not die but instead gains incredible powers, in this case a huge, three-bladed weapon called a “glaive” which can be thrown at enemies. Much like some nightmarish boomerang the glaive always returns to Hayden after each throw and most of the game revolves around this mechanic.
Visually and gameplay wise this game has a very Gears Of War style look and feel to it. Although running on its own propriety “Evolution” Engine instead of the now customary Unreal Engine favored by most games in this genre (3rd Person Shooter), Dark Sector doesn’t really stand out from the pack. The graphics is very stylish and moody but often marred by repetitive textures or clipping issues. There is some nice lighting and special effects but you will often find yourself stumbling through the dark with just your flashlight offering some illumination. There are a few standout levels like the trek through a crumbling graveyard at night but the ten chapters felt a bit samey looking for my taste. One thing there’s no shortage of in this game is blood so if you are the squeamish type then you should probably avoid this title. Decapitations or even amputating enemies is par for the course and the game even has a few gory “finishing” moves with which to take out stunned foes. Enemies aren’t in short supply either but sadly ammunition is and to ad insult to injury all enemy weapons in the game can only be used for a few seconds before they self destruct. This means you’ll have to rely a lot on your glaive which unfortunately feels somewhat underpowered or melee combat which is pathetic. The game becomes very frustrating later on due to these factors so consider yourself warned. This being a console port the usual array of “issues” rear their ugly heads. The game will auto save when it sees fit even if that is in the middle of a messy fight. If you like to save wherever you want I’m afraid you are out of luck. At least the checkpoints are fairly spaced. The controls are stolen straight from Gears Of War and work well for the most past but dodging involves some finger cramping key combinations and a careful avoidance of the dreaded “Windows” key. Remapping the keys causes the game to sulk and crash every now and then plus playing with a gamepad felt way too slow and cumbersome. What I liked about the game was the glaive related puzzles that break up the action. Early on you gain the ability to control the glaives flight path in first person view which is not only nice for rooting out enemies behind cover but also for hitting switches otherwise inaccessible. Your glaive can also be powered by hitting fire, electricity or ice with it which makes for some cool puzzles. The story left me somewhat cold and Hayden is not a very likeable lead but his actions are explained later in the game which redeems him somewhat. The black market aspect of the game, accessed via conveniently placed manholes, allows you to upgrade weapons or buy new ones but the shortage of cash limited this feature a bit. The boss fights were pretty spectacular and rarely straightforward which is nice. The audio in the game is quite good and a few of the levels are genuinely creepy due to the excellent sound effects. The voice acting is decent and Hayden is voiced by quite a famous actor. Despite its Gears Of War similarities Dark Sector feels like a game better suited on console than computer. I had fun playing it but it falls far short of greatness in many areas and there are lots of small things that just sour the whole experience. If you can live with the dodgy controls and uneven difficulty level then give DS a try. The game has a decent length and many cool touches but just don’t expect a triple A title. |
System Requirements
TAGS: Hayden Tenno, Glaive, Dark Sector, Evolution Engine
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