Dark Sector was first unveiled in 2004 - four years ago! Well, those 4+ years have clearly been spent “borrowing” from other games - which is in no way a complaint. Truth be told, if you are going to “borrow” from other games, then Resident Evil 4 and Gear of War are pretty much the most sterling choices you could make.

Set in modern day….I want to say lace w:st="on">Russialace> - but probably shouldn’t, you take control of Hayden Tenno a special forces agent. Tenno has a rare condition which in layman’s terms means; he doesn’t feel pain. The kind of disease which in theory sounds good, but not something, after contemplating it, I would personally want. Sure, you can’t feel pain - doesn’t mean you don’t get hurt. Anyhow….jumping into the game you’re dropped right into the action. 3rd person shooter is I guess what you’d call this, but for a better description see RE4 and GoW. Over the shoulder kind of deal. The very first mission is oddly played in black and white and plays like a stealth game - I certainly couldn’t say mission one is a fair representation of the overall gameplay, but does allow you to familiarise yourself with the controls. The controls work very well - except for possibly a major niggle - the accuracy is a little off. It’s not ‘spoil the game bad’ but just needs to be noted that precision is not an easy goal to achieve. A common theme now is having no health pick-ups. Sure, this is not original and has been done many times before, but I like it. It works very well and feels far more intuitive than relying on a health bar.

Fast forward to the end of level one, and you’ll see young Hayden Tenno (hey, why not Gary Smith?) become infected with the very disease he was sent in to stop. Nice work Hayden - I see promotion in your future. Things get a great deal more interesting once Tenno is infected - or should I say ‘part’ infected. See, before Tenno left for his mission, he was given an antibiotic. This antibiotic protects against infection. This is great, our man is home free - except he’s not. Although the antibiotic works, it only works in a semi preventative way - meaning Tenno’s transformation will take longer. As a semi infected virus carrier, Tenno’s right hand goes all awesome on us. Growing from his hand is a glaive, working exactly like a boomerang the glaive can be thrown to take out enemies and it will swiftly return. A weapon that never runs out of ammo. The glaive also works as a torch and as the game progresses and the virus takes a deeper hold - the glaive becomes even more useful. Almost working like an obedient dog, you can send your glaive of to fetch things. Ammo, money and weapons - just lock-on and ol’ glaivey will bring you back a ball. As a treat for retrieving an item, I like to give the glaive a Power Throw - which does require expert timing, but causes maximum damage to any enemies that are unlucky enough to be in it’s path. Using the power throw you’re able to decapitate your enemies. Now, maybe it’s just me, but I think it should be of the utmost priority to decapitate enemies. There’s something very satisfying indeed about scoring a kill by removing a head. Not content with just fetching and decapitating - the glaive also has other features. After Touch gives you control over an in-flight glaive. Simply tap the RB right after releasing the glaive and the camera will follow it. You now have control over the movement of the glaive. This is handy for multi-kills and switch pressing puzzles. Later on you’ll also earn a handy Shield power. A little tricky to operate, sure, but once mastered - a must in avoiding death. Ever fancied electrocuting someone? Well, simply chuck your glaive at an electrical flash and it will return to you fully electrified. Whilst this effect is limited, it can be a life saver. Working in the same way, you can also set your glaive on fire and earn it the power to freeze things. All the various things that can be applied to the glaive also serve another purpose than just killing; Puzzle solving. Whilst the puzzles won’t rattle any brains, they do add another element to the otherwise all-action gameplay.

During the game you’ll collect, as well as money and ammo, Upgrades. These upgrades are for your weapons and are applied via the black market which are accessed through manholes, which will pop up every now and again. Ripped straight from Resident Evil 4, you’ll be greeted by an admittedly, not as funny, trader. Applying upgrades is free, but it’s wise to purchase some new weapons. Weapons can be picked up from enemies but are fitted with a device to prevent miss-use by virus carriers and will self destruct in 30 seconds. So, aside from quick burst’s, by default the only firearm you have, is a pistol. The weapons you by are not fitted with the self-destruct device, obviously. The pistol can be duel wielded with the glaive. This makes for glorious carnage as you throw your glaive to wound an enemy and then promptly blow it’s head off. Not content with just shooting, freezing, burning, electrocuting and slicing? How’s about a finisher? Yes, finishers are here and present and require just a simple tap of the B button. Whilst they require no skill at all to perform - they gosh darn look good. Snap a neck, remove a head or take off an arm and stab ’em through the chest. Excellent.

Visually, Dark Sector is unsurprisingly dark. It’s not Splinter Cell, Condemned dark, but you will at times rely on your torch. The actual lighting effects are good, with the fire effects looking very nice indeed. The character animation is mostly very good, the odd spoil of erratic after death movement and some clipping not really ruining it. There isn’t as much environment damage to really make the visuals ’killer’, but that’s not a problem exclusive to Dark Sector. Some PC’s and TV’s are just indestructible - just like real life…. Coupled with the sound effects - the overall package is very good. The voice-overs are top notch, but the soundtrack is generic - but as a gamer who prefers to play a game with the music setting in the middle - this makes no odds to me personally.

Those used to GoW and RE4 (among other games) will have no trouble with the controls. Aside from the less than accurate aiming, which I alluded to earlier, everything works very smoothly and although some of the glaive abilities do require a small bit of patience to master, they do work as intended. I was fooled into thinking the game was tougher than it actually is during the first level. I personally found mission one’s final battle quite frustrating, but was put at ease when I became infected. Don’t get me wrong, it’s no easy ride, but it shouldn’t have you swearing obscenities - that is unless you wish to tackle ’Brutal mode’ which is, as the name suggests - Brutally tough.

Although the game was designed with the single player in mind, there is an online multiplayer. The multiplayer does feel tacked on and I imagine it was. With only 2 modes it’s sparse of options and customisation. The first mode being ’Infection’ sees on player take control of a fully upgraded Hayden Tenno battling against up to 9 Hazmat troopers. The goal of the troopers is to work together to take down Tenno - with the trooper who nails his coffin shut taking the Tenno role there after. The second online mode is called ‘Epidemic’ and is a team game. Each team has one fully powered Hayden Tenno with the numbers made up by Hazrt troopers. Whilst there are a few different variations, the most fun is the, named by me, ’Keep Hayden Alive, Kill the other Hayden’ mode. The multiplayer does work well, but with only the 2 modes isn’t going to be knocking on CoD4’s door anytime soon.

Overall, the limited multiplayer may put some people off. Me personally? Well, I regard the single player experience as a reward for my time. The multiplayer just comes a nice bonus. Dark Sector isn’t perhaps as epic as the long development time would have us believe, but it is a lot of fun to play. The glaive is a fantastic feature and is what Dark Sector is all about. Certainly not falling into the ‘gimmick’ category, the glaive is an all important part of advancing in the game and it’s added abilities are all used enough to warrant them being here. It is impossible to deny that Dark Sector hasn’t received a bucket load of influence from RE4 and GoW, and perhaps though not toppling them, it does stand up against the single player GoW. My suggestion? Well, if you do like those two games - and you should, then Dark Sector will do you proud. Gory, glorious fun.>>