Waaaaaaaay back in early 2004, we got our first glimpse at what the "next-generation" of gaming would look like when Digital Extremes was the first developer to announce that they would be creating a title for "next-gen" systems. The trailer took place on what appeared to be a alien craft, where our unnamed hero skulked through the shadows. After getting our first taste of the future of gaming, our interest in the game was sky-high, but it basically dropped off the radar in a hurry. Did it get canceled? Would we ever see it? We had no idea, and neither did anyone else. Last week, however, we finally got a chance to see Dark Sector in action and running on an Xbox 360 dev kit. There have been a number of big changes made to the title since 2004 (there's not an alien to be seen), but it looks like everything is back on track.
Although no sequels have been announced, we were told right off the bat that Dark Sector was intended to be an origin story of sorts, similar to what you'd see in Issue #1 of a comic book. You'll play as Hayden Tanno, a former CIA cleaner (you know, those people that take care of "problems") who is sent to a former Soviet republic to determine what's behind a biological outbreak. Not surprisingly, it's not long before Hayden himself is infected by the pathogen, something that's pretty obvious once his whole right arm is transformed into a metal limb. He gains the power to produce a sharp, multi-bladed glaive (am I the only one that instantly thinks of the movie "Krull" when looking at this game?) that he can use to take out his foes in a variety of brutal manners.
After that brief intro, the developers decided to walk us through the game in order to show off the different ways that you can do battle. Upon sneaking up on an enemy that was facing away from us, the demoer quickly pulled out his glaive and slit the poor guy's throat, although he mentioned that you can also perform up-close-and-personal kills without your bladed weapon. There's even a cover system in place, and while Dark Sector is a far cry from games like Rainbow Six Vegas and Gears of War, the cover mechanic is a great way for players to determine what challenges are facing them around every corner.
Once we had figured out how many enemies were waiting for us in a wide-open courtyard, our demoer quickly ran toward the closest enemies, cutting his throat and quickly grabbing the machine gun that fell at his feet. While there's no denying that the glaive is a completely bad-ass weapon, sometimes it pays to reach for some good old-fashioned cold steel. You can use any of the weapons that your enemies drop, and the gunplay is similar to that seen in just about any other third-person action game. Simply aim your reticule at your target, pull the trigger, and repeat as necessary. The reticule also controls where your glaive goes when you toss it, although the developers mentioned that you can call it back to your hand in mid-air.
Since there are some moments that you might need a little extra oomph, the developers have given the player an easy way to up the destructive power of their glaive. By simply tossing the weapon through fire, you can set it alight, and it will change the damage that it does when thrown. The same goes for electricity, which you can obtain by tossing the glaive at an overhead street lamp. This comes in handy during combat, but it also gave the developers a chance to create some environmental puzzles. For instance, there was one segment in which an explosive crate was blocking a door, and the player had to figure out that tossing the glaive into the fire first allows him to blow it up. OK, that one was kind of obvious, but we're hoping that the game features some tougher puzzles.
Upon blowing up the crate, the demoer took Hayden inside a bombed-out building, and it was immediately apparent that this wasn't a very good place to be hanging out. The music subtly changed, becoming more ominous in tone, and the interplay of light and shadow made for some downright creepy moments. The developers noted that they had been playing a lot of Resident Evil 4, something that was immediately apparent to everyone in attendance. They explained that the player wouldn't only be fighting the soldiers that we had encountered outside, they'd also have to deal with Maulers, baddies that carry inferon gas, which has the ability to negate Hayden's powers if he stays in the gas cloud too long. Apparently, Hayden isn't the only one that's been infected, as the demo ends with a horrific monster attacking our hero. Is that what he will ultimately become?
While the game is still very early in development and is still suffering from some framerate problems, it looks great, particularly when you take a gander as its impressive lighting engine. Light glints off of the glaive when it's flying through the air, and the weapon itself will automatically emit a bit of light when you're in a darkened area. All in all, the lighting effects are the most impressive thing the game has to offer (seriously, just take one look at the electrified glaive to see what I mean), but it also features a pretty robust particle system. It was a bit tough to tell how good the game's sound design is (after all, the event was in a noisy bar), but the score alternated perfectly between scary and intense.
So, will the first Xbox 360 ever announced live up to our expectations? Well, it's tough to say, since the game (somehow) still appears to early in development. That said, we're impressed by what we saw, and we're looking forward to getting a proper hands-on with the game. Dark Sector may have been a long time coming, but it looks like it might be well worth the wait.
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