We have an excellent $10 game for you to enjoy. Forget about trophies and multiplayer. Think back to 2008 when the PS3 and 360 were just getting into their stride. It was a time when any new independent property (IP) had us wondering if it would be the next Metal Gear franchise. Dark Sector is not that game. It certainly cannot compete with today’s stunning games, but for $10 you won’t feel let down. It provides a passable story, a likeable enough hero, and a cool combat mechanic.
Dark Sector is a 3rd-person shooter developed by Digital Extremes. A solid development team that has worked on very good franchises, such as Bioshock and Unreal. You play Hayden Tenno, a CIA washman voiced by everyone’s favorite Lex Luthor, Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum. Born without the ability to feel pain, Tenno is exposed to a biological weapon which infects his right arm and allows him to create the 3-spoke glaive and use it as his primary weapon. Although there are firearms in the game, you’re frequently placed in situations where you would normally find yourself saying, “I wish I had a remote-controlled glaive to throw at this dude hiding behind that crate.” The glaive is actually pretty cool. I enjoyed controlling it with the gyroscope within the PS3 controller and upgrading it from time to time. Although the enemies are not incredibly intelligent or difficult, it’s fun to rough up bad guys in a different way than other games offer.
The game looks great and controls well. The environments are not extremely varied but the atmosphere is pretty cool and easy to get into for a few minutes every other day. There is a cover system similar to Gears of War and Uncharted, and an economy similar to Resident Evil 4/5. It’s long enough for an action game – maybe 8 hours on hard. I recommend this game to anyone looking to just dominate some bad guys and not sink their heads into a deep story. Dark Sector can be found for $10 new at retail or 100-150 Goozex points.