Last year marked our first look at Dark Sector during Game Developers Conference, so it's only natural that in the weeks leading up to its release that our final hands-on play would occur at this year's conference in San Francisco. Much has changed in those twelve months and a lot has been revealed of Digital Extremes' intense third-person action game. While new details regarding the single player campaign were sparse, D3 Publisher was more than happy to hand a controller over to take a multiplayer for a spin.
Before jumping into the nitty-gritty details of multiplayer, let's get you up to speed on what Dark Sector is all about. You take on the role of covert CIA operative Hayden Tenno. Sent into the former Soviet state of Lazria, Hayden ends up the victim of a horrid chemical spill that transforms his right arm. Not all is doom and gloom for Hayden though, as he's capable of wielding a powerful glaive with the ability to take on the elemental properties of whatever it comes into contact with. Even better, the glaive returns to Hayden's chemically-hardened arm when thrown. Through the course of the adventure, you'll accumulate additional powers upon defeating key enemies including a temporary bullet shield and cloaking.
In previous versions of Dark Sector, it was possible to target multiple enemies with the glaive and then throw it for combination attacks. This has been dropped in favor of an after-touch mechanic. Upon throwing the glaive you can influence its movement with the left thumbstick. On PlayStation 3, motion controls can be utilized to navigate the glaive in a way not to dissimilar to Heavenly Sword. This new mechanic is a hell of a lot easier to use and more entertaining. Zooming in on the glaive to watch it slice an enemy in half is far more satisfying than killing five foes at a distance. Of course, this fundamental change affects multiplayer as much as the campaign, if not more.
Two multiplayer modes were on display: Infection and Epidemic. Infection tags one player as Hayden and the remaining five as shock troopers. The goal is to kill Hayden, at which point the killer becomes Hayden. Although the numbers don't favor the one player taking on Hayden's role, he or she has access to a number of abilities unavailable to his/her opponents. All of the powers unlocked in the campaign can be toggled in multiplayer; in short, the reflective bullet shield, cloaking, and others can be used during a match. Staying alive while playing as Hayden means utilizing these abilities wisely. Shock troopers aren't totally helpless, though. Proximity mines strategically placed on the map can quickly dispatch an unaware Hayden.
Epidemic, the second multiplayer mode on show, divided six players into teams of three. Each team has one player as Hayden, which is the object of contention for the opposing team. Think of it like capture-the-flag but instead of running the flag back to you base, you just need to kill it. It can get pretty hectic since two Haydens are running about whipping out special powers and making a mess of the map. One of the coolest moments during the match saw one Hayden cloak himself to sneak up behind the other Hayden, who was killed in an over-the-top instant stealth kill.
A total of five maps are being promised upon the game's release. We only played on one of those maps--a cloud-covered industrial complex that suited the game's title well. The map sizes were surprisingly small, even when considering the low player count. During the Infection rounds, it was a little too easy to locate Hayden and pick him off. Hopefully some of the other maps expand in size because right now they're a touch too tiny for our tastes. The low maximum player count is also a source of frustration, but it's preferable to have a quality multiplayer experience with six players instead of a weak one with 50. It's also worth mentioning that Dark Sector enables use of computer-controlled bots if you don't just want to tool around by yourself. Not enough multiplayer games are including this feature and we're happy to see it here.
About four weeks separates us from the release of the game on March 25. Development is essentially complete, so it's a matter of final polish and we’ll see how it all comes together soon enough.
