Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #664 in Video Games
• Brand: D3 Publisher
• Model: 15782781
• Released on: 2008-03-25
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Dimensions: 6.25 pounds

Features

• Throughout the course of the game, players will witness Hayden's transformation into something more than he was as he fights against the Technocyte Virus taking over his body and the effects it has on his psyche
• After infection by the Technocyte, Hayden gains incredible superhuman powers - including the deadly, bladed glaive that he can grow from his arm and use and throw with deadly accuracy
• Through the use of no HUD, intuitive controls and a 3rd-person over the shoulder viewpoint, you are immersed in the game at all times, focused on gameplay and not gameplay management
• Dark Sector features an innovative and exciting multiplayer gameplay that will allow players to utilize the skills they have learned in the single-player game to excel in a competitive environment

Amazon.com
A new kind of weapon for a new kind of hero.

Dark Sector is a third-person Action/Shooter that thrusts players into a sci-fi flavored nightmare scenario set in the post Cold War era. Playing in the role of Hayden Tenno, an unscrupulous covert operative sent on an assassination mission into Lasria – a fictional Eastern European city on the brink of ruin and rumored to be contaminated by a mysterious and frightening plague, Hayden takes out his mark, but before he can escape is attacked by an unknown enemy. Not killed outright as expected, he is instead infected with the virus that is causing the plague.

New weapons, a new hero

Hayden Tenno and his glaive. View larger.

Hone your skill with the glaive. View larger.

Take on enemies the old-fashioned way. View larger.

Duel-wield glaive & gun. View larger.

The Technocyte Virus and Hayden’s Evolution
Just as with the other victims swarming the street of Lasria, the Technocyte Virus imbues Hayden with powerful, inhuman abilities. These abilities are not static and as they progress they cause severe, accelerated pain; pain that eventually drives their hosts insane, turning them quite literally into monsters of superhuman power. Hayden possesses an unexpected resistance to this maddening pain, but his body is not spared the mutations caused by the virus. The first of these are metal armor that grows from his body and a three bladed, throwable weapon called a "glaive" which explodes from his right arm and can regenerate if lost. But these are only the beginning. Eventually players may also gain the power of limited invisibility, the use of a bulletproof shield and an assortment of deadly melee attacks.

As Hayden slashes his way through the mutants overrunning Lasria he stumbles upon a plot by a rogue operative and his private army of henchmen to harness the power of the strongest of these mutants for some dark purpose. No longer entirely human, but not a mindless mutant Hayden must make a decision whether to use his own new powers to stop this plot or look the other way. But regardless of his choice, he has become the target of both the blind rage of his fellow mutants and a shadowy paramilitary group that seeks to control them.

Weapons: Glaive, Guns and the Black Market
Dark Sector is far from the traditional third-person shooter. The glaive is the game’s signature weapon and as players gain experience they will come to see that it is not only a stylish weapon, but also much more versatile than the traditional firepower available in-game. It is of course deadly as a slashing weapon and can be thrown great distances, but as Hayden’s powers evolve the glaive can be used in unexpected ways, ranging from siphoning and focusing elemental features like fire and freezing cold on enemies, to opening doors and retrieving items from inaccessible areas. But this doesn’t mean that players can shun the conventional weapons scattered throughout the game, quite the opposite.

To be successful players must successfully journey underground to the game’s ‘black market’ where they can purchase new weapons with scavenged rubles and also upgrade their existing weapons. Some of these upgrades include increasing a weapon’s firing rate, larger ammo clips, the ability to fire two simultaneous rounds and a ‘puncture ability’ that allows you to shoot through any enemy to hit another standing behind him. Finding the entrances to the black market are important because firearms in the game are biologically sensitive to mutant powers and unless altered to ignore the existence of altered DNA are useless to the mutated Hayden.

Gameplay Modes and Features
Not only does Dark Sector contains a deep singleplayer story mode, but in addition it features multiplayer functionality allowing players to harness Hayden Tenno’s mutant powers in two different ways, both in awesome 10-person online multiplayer combat. The two modes include:

Infection Mode: Think of this as ‘tackle the guy with the glaive.’ In this timed mode one player assumes the role of a fully-powered Hayden Tenno, complete with shield, invisibility and melee capabilities, while the other nine play as human operatives trying to kill him and take his place. The player in the role of Hayden receives a single point for each kill made, while the soldier that takes him down gets 2, plus the right to wield the glaive in the next go around. Players making assists in the slaying of Hayden receive one point as well. The player with the most points at the end of the round wins.

Epidemic Mode: In this team-based mode, with a set number of rounds per match, two teams, each made up of one Hayden and a group of soldiers, battle to kill the other team’s Hayden. A single point is awarded to each team per kill of the opposing Hayden. Each Hayden begins at full strength and the team with the most points at the end of the round wins.

Other features available in both multiplayer modes include voice chat and global leaderboards.

The Birth of a Superhero
Whether in singleplayer or multiplayer modes the developers of Dark Sector have endeavored to link every action of the player to the mutant evolution of Hayden Tenno. This means that as players progress through the game defeating bosses as well standard enemies they increase Hayden’s mutant abilities and advance his disease. It’s a catch-22 that with every victory Hayden becomes less human, but one that the game’s storyline relishes as the one-time hitman slowly and unsurely morphs into a hero.

Customer Reviews

Its fun but could use some work...
I'm pretty sure I'm near the end of Dark Sector. Overall it's a real fun game, but it could use some work. I agree with another review I read where they said the glaive is too weak at times. Sometimes you'll toss the glaive right into a biohazardous creatures face and it will still be alive. Another thing they could work on is the close combat. There isn't enough variation in the melee "finisher" kills. Also, when your fighting an enemy at close range, hand to hand, the sense of impact and variety of moves seems limited. One other thing is the cover system, there are a lot of items that you just can't take cover behind or vault over, and it can be kind of annoying. All of that aside it's a fun game with some new elements of gameplay. The elemental charge for your glaive is very cool and unique. The aftertouch, although very similar to heavenly sword is very cool too, the elemental explosion is very cool too. The game also has a lot of boss battles that are very fun. Overall Dark Sector is a good game, it just could use some tweaking. If they took a little more time and refined it a little more a sequel could be amazing.

As Good As Expected
Ever since I saw the trailer for this game I knew I just had to have it. I'm not a fan of first person shooters so I was pleased when I saw this was a third person.

The overall idea of the game is a good one. No intro scene showing you how Hayden mutated into the hero he is, instead you play out the transformation. Level one being your training ground and introduction to the system, the black and white look was a great idea from the designers. Level two sees the start of the transformation and the game switches to color.

When you get to use the Glaive for the first time, it feels a little weak but soon you will earn new skills in using the weapon. Later on, you will get the ability to control the Glaive in flight and this is when it becomes valuable. The best way I found to get to grips with its controls was to clear an area of enemies and then spend some time throwing it around. Controlling the Glaive using the motion sensor was cumbersome so I switched that off and used the right stick. I found I was more accurate using this method.

Graphically, the game is awesome and a welcome addition to my game collection. My only complaint (and the reason for only four stars) is the annoying camera angle. When a number of enemies attack you from multiple directions, it can be hard to move the camera around to get a good shot. I had to redo some sections due to a soldier shooting me from behind and struggling to get the camera to swing around so I could take a shot. Camera angles can be an issue for some third person games but this one was particularly frustrating.

That aside, Dark Sector is a wonderful game to look at and fun to play. Trust me, when you start throwing the Glaive around and controlling its flight, you can't help but smile at the slow motion carnage.

My kind of game but 4 stars...
I really liked it. Lots of shooting, the glaive is really cool to use, and the storyline is pretty good. Graphics are great.

Here is what kept if from being 5 star:
- Only one difficulty level
- The story is hard to get into because you never really figure out what things are about
- Not nearly enough ammo
- Strange save points

I would definitely recommend, especially now that the price has dropped.