Previous Next

A young man discovers he can be metal in a former Soviet republic. Sadly, this is not a euro-metal concept album.

It's tough being first: as Dark Sector was the first announced next-gen game ever, it drew comparisons and derision as newer, more fanciful ventures hit consoles while *Dark Sector* was left in the dark. Four years later, the game is not without inspiration from its contemporaries: but make no mistake, Digital Extremes' third person shooter lives up to the hype.

Visually, Dark Sector is at the top of the next-gen heap, with a consistent, artistically-found visual style. While not photo-real, the world and its actors are rendered in such a way that the player is sucked into the action. Special effects, such as the filtering that takes precedence when using the glaive's slow-motion capabilities, apply themselves seamlessly in a way that keeps the presentation running smoothly.

Gameplay-wise, it's hard to fault Digital Extremes for their one-track mind when dealing with fighting. Wherein the game begins with some killer gunplay, it quickly evolves past that to an environment where using a gun (unless upgraded, via pick-ups and shops) is almost pointless. Instead, Dark Sector becomes a game about the symbiote and its lethal glaive--a giant, Kull-like- throwing star that manifests abilities of its own. About 2/3 of the way through, I found myself using the glaive for almost all my kills - balancing the slow-motion in-flight controls with elementally-charged explosions to clear areas effectively. For hard-to-reach areas, a sniper rifle sufficed, but only barely.

Whereas the glaive is excellent for throwing, its melee capabilities are the exact opposite. Whether with weak hits, or melee jabs that fail to connect due to poor collision detection in close-range, it almost seems as if Digital Extremes tried to force the player to concentrate on throwing their star weapon. It's equally infuriating when in close-quarters, knowing that throwing the glaive--even from two feet away--does far more damage than a smack to the face. That is, unless an enemy's health is low. Then, you can grab them and do a finishing move... that usually involves a melee attack.

Sadly, a dark shadow does hover over the proceedings: as the game is heavily inspired by other franchises, it's hard to go through a single level without saying "Hey, I've seen that before!" Whether it be the atmospheric feel that looks like it came straight out of Twilight Princess, the secret agent in Europe with horrific things coming from who-knows-where plotline from Resident Evil 4, or even the run animation that's directly ported from Gears Of War, they serve as an odd sort of distraction - almost as if the game is a cover album by a major band (see: Rush's Feedback).

While it sure isn't a AAA game, it's hard to fault Dark Sector for anything past the seriously broken melee attack. Given that the game's axis is the equivalent of a Steven Seagal flick intermingled with a Top Cow comic book and the graphical chops to make it all palatable, Dark Sector makes for a fun ride throughout.