Dark Sector certainly didn't re-write the laws and fundamentals of what makes a good game great. In fact, I don't think it wrote any laws what so ever. I picked up a copy of dark Sector last Friday (3/28) and have grinded through pretty much the whole game. So far I've been feeling a little under whelmed and disappointed in my overall experience. Thats not to say Dark Sector isn't a good game; it just doesn't do anything to separate itself from the stigma of an "Average Action Game."Gears of War, GRAW 1 and 2, hell even Lost Planet were kick ass 3rd person action titles that packed some serious power. From graphics to dynamic game-play these titles hooked you from the get go, occasionally punched you in the gut and always left you wanting more. Dark Sector: not so much. In the game you play as Hayden Tanno, a soldier who is picked to investigate an "AWOL" officer who has supposedly unleashed bio-chemicals into the air that causes people to go crazy and then turn into these kind of ho-hum zombies out for blood. Your job is to infiltrate, gather information, blow some buildings up and kill said evil spreader of bio-chemicals. This, like in all action games doesn't go to plan and you yourself are infected with the virus which begins to spread throughout your body, killing you slowly. There are a few perks, however, to being infected with this virus...it makes you one bad ass dude with perhaps the most kick ass weapon I've seen in a while, enter: The Glaive.
The Glaive perhaps is the saving grace of this game;
it's like a Chinese Star injected with steroids. To put it gently: the thing is huge! The Glaive can be used to do just about anything; see some bullets on the ground that you cant reach, throw the Glaive to fetch it for you. Cant target the goofy looking zombie hiding behind some barrels with your shotty? Throw the Glaive and maneuver it through the air to slice the uglies arm or head clean off. This badass weapon can also be enhanced with certain environmental properties, meaning electricity, fire and even ice. This can get fun when your playing target practice with soldiers and other baddies. Oh, you can also perform "finishing kills" on targeted soldiers and other creepies. My favorite is the "Neck Breaker." You sneak up behind a dude, grab him by the back of the head and violently split his lower spine from the top of his head, very fun. There are plenty of other properties that the Glaive brings to the table and without spoiling too much, lets just say its extremely fun figuring them out.Now, onto more pressing issues. The A.I in this game is about as smart as a brick wall. Yeah they shoot at you, charge you and take cover every so often but they just don't challenge you. Just last
night I snuck up on a zombie that was standing in the corner of a room, facing the wall, doing what looked like head banging. I slowly but loudly walked up to the back of him, knocked him in the back of the head and then watched in amazement his next actions. Nothing. He did nothing. The zombie actually turned and looked at me, then did nothing. Its these types of things that hampered Dark Sector's mechanics and somewhat lax features.One last quell I had was the fact that it felt like I was doing the same thing over and over again. And thats simply because...I was. Each mission started with me following the very linear path provided by the developers, shooting some fools, 'Glaiving' some fools, shooting more fools, occasionally figuring out a Glaive puzzle (where to throw the Glaive to unlock a door) then rinsing and repeating. Now, I like shooting dudes in the face and the more I get to do it in a game the better, so in my case I didn't really mind this formula. However, not everyone out there has my undying taste for capping mindless drones and zombies and this could cause problems. If there was a little change up here and there, the game play would be satisfying for all (my opinion of course).
Some other tid bits about the game are extremely good though. The graphics are crisp and look really good. The big Mech's that you can hack and navigate are really fun and easy to handle. Also: the ambiance and sound FX are some of the best Ive heard since Bioshock . They are creepy, believable and very life like. I really liked the second hand weapons in this game as well; the shotgun perhaps being my favorite. You can also upgrade any gun in the game using money you have collected through out each level. You can attach perks like Puncture, Rapid Fire, Fire Power and even exploding cartridges. each weapon has a set amount of spots that you cant utilize, so choose carefully. This is very pleasing and fun to do.
Overall, Dark Sector feels a bit shallow at times, leaving you thinking that it could have been so much more. I haven't played with the multi-player aspects of the game yet but plan on doing so tonight, but in all retrospect I don't know how good it's going to be. If I am to be honest with myself and the readers, Dark Sector falls short of being a truly innovative video game.
out of 10.0-Game Hard-
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