Since the last review I wrote is now collecting proverbial dust, I figured it was about time I got one with a review I’ve been meaning to write for about a month now. I hope I remember how to do this…

Oh, and since this game is an 18 certificate, I feel obliged to fill it with naughty words.

Dark Sector was subject to a hell of a lot of hype, and for valid reasons. The game’s developer, Digital Extremes, had previously worked on successful projects like Pariah and the Unreal Tournament series, a very good pedigree by anyone’s standards. Also taking into account that Dark Sector spent almost 4 years in development, it was difficult to see this game going wrong.

It starts off well enough, with a quick tutorial just to get you used to the game basics, the usual “shoot like this, hide like this, don’t die like that” kind of affair. It’s not particularly interesting; someone gets shot, the main character gets stabbed, and there’s a couple of explosions, nothing we haven’t seen before, but it’s all just building up to what really attracted me to the game - the Glaive.

The Glaive is probably the greatest weapon I’ve had the fortune to use in a game, unless we’re counting the Portal gun. Starting off as a basic “aim and throw” weapon, the Glaive gradually evolves as you progress through the game, and the abilities you gain from it are incredibly diverse, ranging from an explosive projectile, to a shield, or just a simple torch, and each ability can be devastating in a fight - throwing a frozen Glaive into the middle of a horde of enemies, detonating it, and watching everyone flash freeze is one of the most satisfying experiences in any game I’ve played. As the basic “aim and throw” weapon it excels in combat, especially when used with an off-had gun, and you’ll find yourself relying on this superb combination for most situations. It’s clear that Digital Extremes put a lot of work into the Glaive, and as a result they’ve created a unique, stylish and fun weapon, that is remarkably simple to control. I actually recommend trying Dark Sector purely based on the Glaive gameplay, because I haven’t experienced anything like it.

As well as the Glaive, Dark Sector also gives you a few other toys to play with. Shotguns and AK-47s (not including these in an Eastern European setting is committing video game heresy) appear frequently during the game, and you’ll conveniently find rocket launchers just before a boss fight. Originally I thought it was weird that, initially, you couldn’t carry the AK-47s or shotguns, and that you were forced to drop them around a minute after picking them up, but this actually works well. Preventing you from using guns all the time encourages you to play around with the Glaive and an off-hand weapon, and with a decent variety of pistols - including Mini-Uzi’s and something that looked like a sawed off shotgun - this is arguably one of the best weapon combinations I’ve ever used. I can hardly fault it for that now, can I?

Unfortunately, what Dark Sector does well is offset by what it does badly, and what it does badly falls into the category of “Just about everything else”. I think I’ll start by venting about the melee system, which is probably the worst I’ve used in a long time. It’s kind of like the melee attack in Gears or War, just a mindless slug in the direction you’re facing. The mindless slugging worked well with the brutal characters and weapons in Gears of War, but when you’re using a stylish, elegant weapon like the Glaive, it feels half-arsed. Not only that, but for some reason the melee system is piss weak. To be fair, there are finishing moves that you can only do with a Glaive melee, but there’s little variety between them. Personally, I can only watch the same enemy have the same appendage sliced off so many times, before I get bored and just start shooting the bastards instead. Maybe I just have a short attention span.

You’ll fight two kinds of enemy in the game, which can be either split off into two groups - “humans” and “freaky things” - or into one big group dubbed “thick as pig shit”. Seriously, I haven’t seen AI this dumb in a long, long time. I half forgive the game for the stupidity of the “freaky things”, because in their defence they are supposed to be like that. But it really takes away the fear factor when all they’re doing is running around in circles, because they can’t figure out how to get up the stairs. As for the human AI, it’s even worse. Occasionally they’ll decide that they’re too brave for cover, instead opting to stand in the open picking their nose. Or that they’re too scared to keep shooting, and instead run right to the back of the room to hide in the corner, even though there’s a giant crate to hide behind right next to them. Even when they actually do something remotely intelligent, it doesn’t take long before they descend into sheer retardation again - I remember seeing an enemy flanking me, letting out a surprised yell that I was still there, and then running away again. No, really. If Dark Sector didn’t take itself so seriously then I’d assume it was a joke.

As for the story in Dark Sector, it just feels underdeveloped. You play as the ripped-from-Resident-Evil protagonist (who earns bonus twat points because he’s called Hayden), who is sent to generic Soviet compound X, to investigate terror threat Y, before all kinds of Zhit happens. Apart from that there isn’t really anything else to the storyline, with all the additional characters being totally forgettable. The only reason I remembered the protagonist’s name was because he has the same name as Hayden Christiansen, which isn’t a good thing, because Hayden Christiansen is really crap. In retrospect, it’s actually a really suitable name choice. I’ll move on before this becomes a full on tirade…

While I’m ranting, I might as well vent about the graphics in Dark Sector. Don’t get me wrong, the character animations, facial expressions, explosions and all that jazz are fine, they’re actually quite impressive. But everything is the same colour - either it’s murky grey or murky brown - and it’s just dull. There is no better way to keep me detached from a game, than to bore me with dull looking environments and enemies. Maybe I wouldn’t have minded the colour scheme (or lack of) if the story line was deeper, or if the AI was a challenge as opposed to being a minor nuisance, because I remember the murky look working well in games like Gears of War. Unfortunately, Dark Sector doesn’t deliver in any of these aspects, and as a result I struggled to enjoy playing the game.

I haven’t exactly been speaking highly of this game in this review, and for a good reason. Apart from the Glaive, everything Dark Sector does is either average or poor, and it’s actually a really disappointing game. With the amount of development time it had, the excellent history of the developers, and the Glaive (it needs no description, it is just the Glaive), this game should have been one of the games of the year. Instead, it’s just a poor attempt by Digital Extremes to break Resident Evil domination of the “survival horror” genre. There’s a lesson for developers here: Taking the best parts of very different games and throwing them all together under the pretence of “don’t worry, this will be awesome” isn’t going to work. I look forward to playing a real Resident Evil game in 2009, instead of this average impersonation.

7/10 - The Glaive still scores this game major points, and it’s the only reason I’d ever recommend the game, because everything else is totally forgettable. If you’re a massive fan of survival horror or 3rd person shooters, then it might be worth trying out, but only if you’re a massive fan. I’m talking cardboard-cut-out-of-Chris-Redfield-massive. Even then, you’ll probably be annoyed that the Resident Evil franchise has been ripped off so badly.