Developer: Digital Extremes
Publisher: D3Publisher of America
Rating Guide: How I Review Games

Review:

First thing first.  This is not a Krull remake.  Second thing second.  Hayden Tenno is possibly the only pretty boy killer in video games.  Ok, now that those things are out of the way allow me to say that Dark Sector is one of my favorite action games on the Xbox 360 now.  Could it be because I’ve never quite enjoyed a slow motion limb slicing like this?  Or could it be because I’ve never quite enjoyed setting someone on fire in slow motion like this?

It’s probably both of the above plus a few other things that Dark Sector provided.  Digital Extremes and D3Publisher of America have set a pretty good foundation with Dark Sector if it’s ever to be a franchise.  Wanna know more?  Of course you do!

Gameplay, Graphics and Sound

Dark Sector makes it quite easy for anyone to pick up and play.  That is because it’s nearly identical in control to Gears of War.  If you’ve played Gears, then you’ll be a pro from the start controlling Dark Sector.  You can slide into cover and use the A button to run in a cinematic way just like in Gears.  There is no HUD for health as you simply pay attention to the screen as your dealt damage.  The more you get hit, the more the screen turns red so you’ll need to find some cover to heal.  I won’t go on some magical comparison because outside of the control scheme, there are none.  Dark Sector is very much its own game with its own atmosphere and story.

You play the game as Hayden Tenno, an elite black-ops agent sent on a dangerous mission into a decaying Eastern European city that hides a deadly Cold War secret.  Attacked by an unknown enemy, he awakens to find part of his body altered by an infection that has granted him inhuman abilities; he must learn to evolve along with his powers, to survive and to become a hero.  He’s a lethal bio-weapon that you control and dish out large amounts of whoop ass.  Hayden has a generous amount of weapons at his disposal to do such damage.  Machine guns, grenades and pistols are all available in the Black Market.  You come across a variety of upgrades to use on your weapons as well.  Enferon Shells, Fire Power and Stopping Power are just a few that give you laced bullets, more fire power and more ”knock ‘em down” power respectively.

None of these are more important than his glaive.  The thing kicks a lot of enemy ass to be honest and it never gets dull using it.  You can gain quite a few elemental powers for the glaive including fire, electricity and ice.  You can even gain a very cool bullet-time type ability (After Touch) for it that lets you glide the glaive in slow-mo towards an enemy.  Slow motion glaive kills are the new “it”.  Hayden himself even gains powers to use throughout the game.  There’s a force field power that’s really cool especially when you’re getting blasted by gunfire or projectiles.  You even get to do a couple of finishing moves with the glaive after melee attacks (B button for melee and finishers).  I still have vivid dreams of that Hayden’s limb-slicing finisher.

The one thing I did notice though was how easy it was to play through and complete.  I’ll have to start a Brutal campaign to see if the AI gets any better.  Was it Hayden Tenno being way too powerful?  Or was it perhaps that I was just that good?  Or was the AI just that dumbed down?  There were tons of creepy enemies in the game and some crazy boss battles but neither of them were too difficult to defeat.  Most of the stage enemies ended up being more difficult to defeat than some of the bosses.  I also wish there were more classes of enemies to deal death to.

Hayden is voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, Lex Luthor of Smallville fame.  He’s one of my favorite comic book villain actors so I enjoyed the voicework he did.  Visually the game is really dark and impressive.  There’s a lot of blood and a lot of limbs flying around to witness.  You have a huge ninja throwing star thing so a little blood and a few decapitations are expected.  I really enjoyed the level design of the game and its atmosphere also.  It all mixed surprisingly well with the story.  I did find myself getting confused on where to go and what to do next a few times.  Trust in the glaive is my only advice to you when you’re stuck somewhere.

Xbox Live Extras

The multiplayer in Dark Sector was interesting but I didn’t find enough interest to play it repeatedly.  There are only two multiplayer modes, Infection and Epidemic.  You can do these modes online or of course via system link.  Infection begins with one player being a super-charged Hayden with all powers available and additional players have to bring him (or you) down.  It’s called Infection for a reason because whoever kills Hayden will then become infected.  It was fun but not having any variants limited it.

Epidemic is a team mode that has two teams battling to kill the other team’s Hayden.  This was probably the mode that has the lasting appeal because it involves more strategy and one person isn’t just sitting around trying to evade a team of hunters.

Conclusion

Dark Sector has a very good story that I hope sets the foundation for a franchise.  It’s dark, angry and violent just like I like ‘em sometimes.  I was disappointed in the amount of powers that the glaive ended up getting but what it did get was fun to use.  I wanted more because who really wants to use the weapons in the game when the glaive is so bad ass?  Couple that with the fact that the weapons had little variety and it makes sense in giving the glaive more to do.

There were some issues with the AI and the multiplayer but overall Dark Sector was rather enjoyable.  It’s one of those games that you’ll likely want to play through the harder difficulty as you unlock it to get another taste of action.  Normal just seemed way too easy so I have to confirm if it was me being that good or was it really just that easy.  Either way, Dark Sector was definitely worth the wait.  I wish had an exploding glaive ability to use while I ride the train so that I could take care of all the crazy people in this world!