While Sam Fisher jets around the world to play with his little night-vision goggles, we have more important things to do—like ridding a former Soviet-bloc state of a virulent enemy force. Fortunately, D3 helped us complete this messy little chore by showing us Dark Sector near the end of Game Developers Conference last week. Boasting impressive visuals and open-ended action gameplay, Dark Sector should easily deliver on its potential when it hits Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year.
Dark Sector puts you in the role of Hayden Tenno, a CIA agent sent on an assassination assignment to the Eastern European city of Lasria. The former Soviet-controlled city holds dark secrets unknown to Hayden, who is unwittingly attacked shortly after arriving. Waking up with his right arm and shoulder ensconced by a mysterious infection, Tenno finds himself wielding a powerful glaive and superhuman powers. You must evolve Hayden’s abilities in order for him to survive and uncover the nefarious intentions behind his alteration.
The single player campaign served as the focal point for our look at Dark Sector, matching the emphasis it will receive in the final game. Multiplayer modes will be offered, but those are to be divulged closer to the game’s release. We started in shortly following Hayden’s transformation, having just acquired the glaive as a complement to his stash of firearms. The game takes on an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective sans a heads-up display. Short of moving to a first-person perspective, the goal is to immerse you into Hayden’s world. You’ll gauge his state of health contextually, taking clues from the edges of the screen turning red. Ammunition levels are displayed on the weapons themselves. While issues could potentially arise with this sort of approach, it does appear that it will succeed in drawing you into the game.
You’ll be able to utilize Hayden’s glaive for both combat and puzzle-solving. As Sheldon Carter, the game’s producer puts it, “The puzzles in Dark Sector are meant to pace the fighting”; in short, intense combat sessions will be broken up by short puzzle sequences. A tiny reticle allows you to target enemies and objects with the glaive, which loops back to you when thrown. You can launch the glaive on its own to attack enemies, as well as combine it with elements for added effect. For example, knocking out a street light charges the glaive with electricity or running it through a fire emblazes the glaive accordingly.
Watching enemies be electrocuted or set on fire is disturbingly entertaining, but really these elemental augmentations are suited for solving puzzles. Sheldon Carter walked us through one such puzzle in which Hayden must bypass organic webbing to continue through a building. A nearby gas leak hints at the prospect of burning the webbing away, but you have to find a way to light the leak first. Hitting a fuse box in an adjacent room places an electric charge on your glaive, which can then be used to light the gas leak on fire. After running the glaive through the fire, you can then apply it to the webbing to burn it clear. Expect puzzles like this to populate indoor locations, while outdoor environments will offer up the action.
Beyond the glaive, Dark Sector incorporates a number of other elements into combat. Cover will play an important role in keeping Hayden alive. Walking up to a wall and pressing up against it is sufficient for Hayden to take cover. You can also use cover to survey enemy movements and go in for stealth kills. Pressing the A button after sneaking up on an enemy executes a finishing move. Should a weapon get dropped by a defeated enemy, Hayden can pick it up and wield it himself. While not shown, you’ll be able to buy new weapons and customize those already in your possession by visiting Lasria’s black market. Using cash taken from dispatched enemies, you can beef up your arsenal with goods from this underground market.
