Dark Sector Review

By Dan Whitehead Published 4 April, 2008

Glaive consequences.

Version tested: Xbox 360

It's never a good sign when a game spends years in development. It's never a good sign when the game's concept changes almost entirely over the course of those years. It's never a good sign when the game is finally released and everyone immediately compares it unfavourably to a game that came out the year before, and it's certainly never a good sign when you play all the way through the game and still have to look up the main character's name on the Internet.

There aren't, as you've probably guessed, many good signs for Dark Sector.

It's a third-person action game in which you play Hayden Tenno (thanks Wikipedia!), a US special agent sent into a former Soviet state to prevent a madman from distributing a biological contagion. You get infected, you get a funky mutated arm, you get superpowers. These include the glaive, which sprouts spontaneously from your hand. A glaive is actually a medieval pole weapon, but the developers clearly preferred bone-headed 1980s Star Wars knock-off Krull to actual history lessons, and so we get a bladed Frisbee thing instead.

You'd better make the most of it because, as with Stranglehold and Assassin's Creed, this is a game that boasts one interesting gameplay feature and proceeds to spend the following six-to-eight hours forcing you to repeat it.

You throw the glaive with the right shoulder button and, as you progress through the game, you gain new abilities to go along with it. The first upgrade allows you to use the glaive to retrieve objects and ammo from a distance. Later you get to control the glaive in flight, guiding it in slow motion to your target. You can even do a "power throw", which is strong enough to cut enemies into bloody chunks.

It can also pick up elemental properties, such as fire, electricity and ice, allowing you to burn, zap or freeze enemies. This ability is also used for sporadic puzzles, in which you have to open a door or remove an obstacle by throwing a suitably charged glaive at the appropriate bit of scenery. These bits are so ploddingly obvious, rarely requiring you to do anything more than scour your immediate surroundings, that the word "puzzle" feels like overkill.

'Dark Sector' Screenshot 1

Maybe if we squat in the middle of the street, he won't be able to hit us with his Frisbee of Death.

But the glaive is a nifty concept, and one that is undeniably fun to use. At least to start with. Having come up with this one good idea, the developers seem reluctant to really follow through with it. For instance, your environmental interactions are minimal at best. This is the sort of game where you can unload a shotgun into a desk lamp without it moving, and it comes as a real shame to discover that your use of the glaive's elemental powers is restricted by the largely physics-free world.

You can charge it with electricity from malfunctioning strip lights, but you can't smash a working strip light to get some electricity. An icy glaive can put out fires and freeze water spouts into frozen pillars for cover, but you can't use a burning glaive to melt these pillars should an enemy duck behind one. You can't use it to smash, cut or topple anything.

It's not all about the glaive though. You can pick up guns from defeated foes, but as you're infected they self-destruct soon afterwards. If you want a permanent arsenal, you must find cash in-game and then drop down manholes to access the "black market". Here you can buy new guns, and beef them up with a small selection of upgrades. It's much like Resident Evil 4, but a fairly inflexible system. You can't see the effect of an upgrade until you install it, and once installed it can't be removed. The glaive is such a ludicrously over-powered weapon that firearms are almost an afterthought and, like most of the game's ideas, this side of things feels half-baked.

So you run into a new area, and - lo and behold - chunks of masonry or toppled furniture are strewn about, almost as if somebody was anticipating a firefight and thought it'd be nice for everyone to have somewhere to seek shelter. You run in from one end, enemies appear at the other, and you attach to the nearest cover, popping out to either shoot them or (more likely) take them down with a series of slo-mo glaive throws. You can roll from one cover spot to another, or make a dash across open ground.

Comparisons to Gears of War feel embarrassingly obvious but are completely justified. Indeed, it often feels like Dark Sector is openly inviting such a criticism. From the shattered gothic scenery, to Hayden's crouched run, to the vault-and-roll cover moves, there are simply too many elements here that feel exactly the same as Epic's hit to be chalked up to coincidence or genre convention.

Gears may not have invented this style of play, but it's the current benchmark and this over-familiarity leaves the proceedings with a distinctly opportunistic feel. It's the Single White Female of third-person duck-and-cover action games.

There are only three types of enemy in the game, none of which pose any sort of challenge except to your patience. Human enemies will shoot and throw grenades, and occasionally break cover and mill about aimlessly in a way that could pass for AI if you were feeling generous.

Then there are the infected, mutated humans who could have stepped out of any Resident Evil game. They shamble or sprint towards you, sometimes wielding lumps of metal. And the super-infected can leap about, turn invisible and spit what looks like acid at you.

It says a lot about the game's hopelessly unbalanced difficulty that even these seemingly tough enemies will go down with a few glaive strikes. Towards the end of the game, as if your enemies needed to be even more outclassed, you also get a shield that can reflect their projectiles back with lethal accuracy and the power to turn invisible.

'Dark Sector' Screenshot 2

Yes, of course there are gory finishing moves. What did you expect?

And so it goes on. And on. And on. The game really has no concept of pacing, throwing wave after wave of identical foes at you before letting you progress to the next stage-managed arena, while chapters seem to begin and end at random intervals. Some last about ten minutes, others three-quarters of an hour. There are no dramatic peaks along the way, no unique shoot-outs in memorable or strategically inspiring locations, just lots of trudging through linear environments relying on the diminishing "wow factor" of the glaive to keep things interesting.

Chapter Four, in particular, feels like it goes on forever. After a climactic boss battle, the level simply carries on for another fifteen minutes or so, before eventually morphing into Chapter Five for no apparent reason. Coupled with the repetitive combat, the effect is soporific.

And, oh, the boss fights. They're both freakishly hard and laughably easy to beat. This contradiction comes about because success in each case relies on you discovering the secret combination of attacks that will actually inflict damage, despite giving you no clues as to what this might entail, or even how much damage you are - or aren't - inflicting.

For example, the first major boss battle takes place in a ruined church against something called Colossus. A mutated Kong-like creature, he swings about the vaulted ceiling, lobbing enormous bits of stone at you. There's a fire nearby, so you set the glaive ablaze and throw it at him. He falls to the ground. You unload your guns, or hit him with the glaive a few more times, then he jumps off and you repeat the process. And you keep repeating it until you run out of ammo, or he kills you with one hit from his huge projectiles.

'Dark Sector' Screenshot 3

You'll eventually pick up a complete suit of Guyver-style armour, making you even harder to kill. Oh, the challenge.

You see, it turns out that when he's on the ground you need to run up to him and hit him with a melee finishing move. All those shots you wasted? No effect whatsoever. He's basically bulletproof, until you trigger the animation that makes him not bulletproof.

The final boss encounter is even more ludicrous, with Hayden dropping dead for no visible reason should you fail to inflict the right sort of damage at the right time. And yet once you've worked out which attack to do when, all of the bosses can be defeated without breaking sweat in a matter of seconds. It's an utterly obtuse design decision that leaves you frustrated and annoyed rather than elated.

And this pretty much sums up the Dark Sector experience. Everything seems designed for the initial impression, with little attention given to anything below the surface. The graphics look lovely at first, but soon lose their lustre as you realise what a rigid, fake world they represent. Your brooding avatar, Hayden, is the weirdest looking action hero ever. His lank trendy hairdo and pale, squashed face often makes it look like you're playing some bizarre White Stripes shoot-'em-up. The glaive is fun for the first few chapters, but ultimately proves to be an underdeveloped gimmick that adds nothing more than a different way to kill things.

And as for the story... Oh my goodness. If there's a more incoherent narrative in gaming this year, I'll be amazed. It's abundantly clear that this is a game that spent so long in development that they forgot not everyone in the world would know the back-story of Hayden Tenno.

There's some femme fatale, and an old Russian guy, and a Rasputin villain, and some kind of underground psychic stuff and it's all introduced and explained in context-free cut-scenes full of earnest posturing and clichéd dialogue. It's all so garbled that you won't understand, let alone care, who turns out to be a traitor, murderer or whatever.

'Dark Sector' Screenshot 4

In the multiplayer modes, most of the time you'll be playing as an Oompa Loompa.

There's multiplayer as well, but it's been implemented in such a half-hearted way that I'm struggling to muster the enthusiasm to talk about it in much detail. The main problem is that the online modes take the one element that everyone will want to muck about with - the glaive - then all but remove it from the equation. In both multiplayer game modes, Infection and Epidemic, only one person gets to play as Hayden, with all his attendant powers, while everybody else has to run around in stupid hazmat suits trying to earn the right to play with the fun toys.

The maps are dull, the inspiration minimal and the whole section feels like it was tacked on because some market research said that you have to have some multiplayer. The fact that most of the people I found online were blatant Achievement addicts boosting each other's scores by taking it in turns to win says all you need to know on this subject.

And so Dark Sector ends up as the sort of game I find most disheartening. Games that are crap from the start are easy to dissect and dismiss. Games that start off with promise but then wind up paddling round and round in the shallow end of the game design pool are incredibly frustrating.

This could have been fantastic - it should've been fantastic - yet by the end it barely scrapes in as above average. If you're desperate for something new to play, then rent this over the weekend and you'll have breezed through it by Monday, having been moderately distracted for most of the time. The glaive is fun, for a bit, so there's always that as well. Just don't be surprised if in six months time you've forgotten you ever played it.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Dan.

About Dan Whitehead

Dan has been writing for Eurogamer since 2006 and specialises in RPGs, shooters and games for children. His bestest game ever is Julian Gollop's Chaos.

Read more articles from Dan by visiting the Dan Whitehead archive page.

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Comments (121) Latest comment 4 months ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Triggerhappytel #1 4 years ago

    Well, that's rather a shame, although hardly unexpected. I think this has looked painfully generic ever since the redesign took place.

    Also, given it is not an Unreal Engine 3 game (I was very surprised when I found out it wasn't, a few days ago), it seems stupid that they've tried so hard to emulate the ugly greyish look UE3 is so good at. A bit more originality in the art and style could have helped make the game stand out a little more.

  • space_ace #2 4 years ago

    review reads like 4/10, score is 6/10?

  • DanWhitehead #3 4 years ago

    From the EG scoring policy:

    "A game scored six is 'good', and many of its audience will enjoy it, but approach with caution. It's not good enough to consider rushing out and buying without a fair bit of research first, but worth a rental if your curiosity demands it, and, depending on taste and tolerance of certain issues, it might be something you wouldn't be ashamed to have bought. Six isn't a disastrous score by any means - it's the first score on the way up to represent what we'd deem as a 'good' game, that had the potential to be great but was sufficiently flawed in crucial areas."

    There's nothing broken here, it's just not a very interesting or exciting game. As I said, it just scrapes into the 6/10 zone thanks to the glaive.

  • Xerx3s #4 4 years ago

    Oh dear, this could have been so much. If only they didn't go from uber cool scifi setting to bog standard grim world setting. Worst design decision in the history of bad design decisions?

  • spookyzombie #5 4 years ago

    I've been playing this over the last couple of days and a 6/10 is about right in my book. I don't think I'd actually buy Dark Sector at full price, but I maybe would in a couple of months time when it's in Gamestation's '2 for £40' or Blockbuster's '2 for £38' used price range. I'm also pretty sure that the main character is in fact ex Big Brother winner Anthony. Nice to see him getting work.

  • DanWhitehead #6 4 years ago

    I think the main character was maybe supposed to look like Karl Urban, from Lord of the Rings and Doom, but it really does look like someone took a picture of Jack White and then got a little over-zealous with the "pinch" filter in Photoshop. It's very hard to engage with the story when every cutscene just leaves you thinking MY GOD WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIS FACE?

  • muscleblade #7 4 years ago

    Im pretty sure that im going to like this. Bought it yesterday and looking forward to playing this in the weekend.
    You say 6/10 is good, but you did give Bulletwitch the same score so it cant be that good either can it?

  • Peew971 #8 4 years ago

    @ Triggerhappytel: From what I've heard, the guys who created that new engine used to work at Epic... There you go ;)

    I think this review is spot on, except the glaive manages to save the game somewhat because it's a nice weapon. Then, the AI, difficulty level, story, level of interest, everything in this review... is true :/

  • Prodigy_BE #9 4 years ago

    Hm... shooter fans will have to wait for Haze then?

  • rashes #10 4 years ago

    @Prodigy_BE

    Huh? Shooter fans are spoilt at the moment....

  • Darren #11 4 years ago

    Sounds like a wasted opportunity from that review but I was put off buying it by its similarity to Gears of War in the video reviews I've seen. I remember the teaser trailer for this game from around when the Xbox 360 launched and thought the game would be cool but the final product bares little resemblance to it.

  • Darren #12 4 years ago

    @DanWhitehead - If you think Hayden Whatshisnameagain looks weird, try Condemned 2... Ethan now looks like he's had his eyes stretched apart surgically and his face squashed vertically and no longer looks anything like the person from the first game!!! LOL

  • zoidberg #13 4 years ago

    Three pages of bile for a 6/10?

  • Rirekon #14 4 years ago

    Damn it, I so wanted this to be awesome!

  • Darren #15 4 years ago

    @Rirekon - I'd read some of the other reviews then because it's been getting 7 - 8/10 scores elsewhere so the flaws EG mention may not bother you. Really this game needs a demo but for some bizarre reason many recent Xbox 360 games have launched without them, including SEGA Superstars Tennis and Condemned 2 which are on the PS3's US PS Store. Dunno why the Xbox 360 doesn't have them, odd really... :?

  • GitSomE_UK #16 4 years ago

    @zoidberg

    I'm glad there's three pages of review to help you make an informed decision as to buy or not. Many gamers may have gone out and bought this based on the eye candy shots alone and taken a chance with the game only to be disappointed and 40 sheets lighter.

  • DanWhitehead #17 4 years ago

    Really this game needs a demo...

    Actually, I think a demo for this game would be misleading. As I said in the review, it's a game that's all about the first impressions not long-term appeal. People would come away from twenty minutes of carefully chosen glaive-lobbing thinking the rest of the game would be awesome, and not just another seven and a half hours of doing the same thing over and over.

  • brockenheimer #18 4 years ago

    Mr reviewer sir, if you really rate this as above average, you should really add a bit more balance to the review. zoidberg's not far off when he says three pages of bile. Reading through it, I was honestly expecting a 3 or 4 since I know how keen you are on the whole "5/10 is average not 7/10" schtick. Re-read it and pretend you haven't played it and don't know what score it's going to get. Not much positive in there is there?

  • muscleblade #19 4 years ago

    "not just another seven and a half hours of doing the same thing over and over"

    This can be said about most games.

  • DanWhitehead #20 4 years ago

    This can be said about most games.

    Indeed it can.

  • nickthegun #21 4 years ago

    Id hate to see the score for a game you actually like.

  • DanWhitehead #22 4 years ago

    I might be mistaken but I think I read elsewhere that the PS3 version uses the sixaxis tilt mechanism to control the glaive?

    I was reviewing the 360 version, but - yeah - the PS3 version uses teh power of SIXAXIS to control the glaive.

  • rudedudejude #23 4 years ago

    Saw this on GamerTV, the developer said the word Glaive at lease once every 4 words.

    It looked shit, glad he delivered.

  • mikeck #24 4 years ago

    Regarding the Glaive issue...any Warcraft III players who have played the mod DotA will know that one of the characters has a glaive as a weapon and it works in exactly the same way...a throwing weapon. I'm not disputing that a glaive was a pole weapon, but the throwing glaive isn't a new concept to this game, therefore not something to be moaned about ;)

  • DanWhitehead #25 4 years ago

    Re-read it and pretend you haven't played it and don't know what score it's going to get. Not much positive in there is there?

    The positives are that it's a functional third-person action game and most of the things it gets right are cribbed from other games. That makes it a 5/10. It has a gimmick that's fun for a while, which is just enough to nudge it up to a 6/10 rental option. I'd say that's pretty clear and covered at the start and end of the review. With any flawed game, I'll always prefer to use the main body of text to explain which bits don't work, and why, rather than simply rehashing the basics it gets right.

  • Moonprince #26 4 years ago

    teh power of SIXAXIS to control the glaive

    grow up? bit sht when a reviewer is engaging in that kind of fan boy crap...

    shame

  • nickthegun #27 4 years ago

    To be honest, the things 'cribbed' from other games reads like a bit of a slating, rather than damning with faint praise.

    I might need to re-do my GCSE Reading Comprehension, but I didnt get the impression that any of that section was very complimentary.

    Not that im arsed, I do like to see a good slating.

  • BillyBrush #28 4 years ago

    Oops i just bought it!

    Oh well, i think games have got better this gen, so even the 'realtively' bad ones are turning out sweet

  • Darkedge #29 4 years ago

    6. And a game that involves so many fun moments like Viking gets a 5. EG have some consitancy please - the reviewer make this sound like a 4.
    Is the editor of this site doing ANYTHING to create any consistency here?

    I'm sorry but this sounds like rubbish, tedious unoriginal crap
    Edited by 1 at 04/04/08 @ 10:10

  • MightyMouse #30 4 years ago

    So, better than Vikings then?

    ALSO

    So, worse than Krull then?

  • GamesConnoisseur #31 4 years ago

    I bought this game earlier in the week and first session was giving me 7/10 impression but after a few goes, I think 6/10 is a fairer score but on PS3 it would probably get a few more percentage points due to lower competition of FPS and 'teh power of' SIXAXIS/DUALSHOCK 3 ;-)

    In PSM3 magazine I browsed at WH Smith its said to be the best graphically game other than COD4, Uncharted on PS3, I thought that was worrying actually!

    Deffo a rental rather than a purchase, its not that bad but just too generic, too much of a clone of Gears of War.

  • BPotemkin #32 4 years ago

    It doesn't surprise me that the game has an incoherent storyline. Digital Extremes' last game, Pariah (on the original XBOX), had a very confusing plot where characters would pop in and out, and things in general just wouldn't make sense. I think the official explanation was that this was deliberately done to give the player a sense of mystery, but really, it's just lazy storytelling.

    Also, I wish I could glaive you all.

  • Les #33 4 years ago

    @ Arbiter

    Don't work in game development but I share your opinion on the standards of writing about games.

  • Dizzy #34 4 years ago

    Played this a bit at a friend place. Not even worth a 3/10 IMHO.

  • Aretak #35 4 years ago

    The PS3 fanboys out in force I see. The Sixaxis is shit. Get over it.

  • shab #36 4 years ago

    "I was reviewing the 360 version, but - yeah - the PS3 version uses teh power of SIXAXIS to control the glaive."

    So....the whole raison d'etre of this game is the "glaive", yet you fail to mention the PS3 version can use the SIXAXIS to control the Glaive [or that indeed there is a PS3 version], something that could fundamentally change the game play for some people and even perhaps influence their buying decision.

    When exactly are you going to give review space to the PS3 on mutiplatform games?

    I have always rated this site and it is one of my first stops when looking for a review, but as a PS3 & 360 owner I would appreciate at least a synopsis of the PS3 versions, if only as a warning to avoid a sloppy port etc.





  • DanWhitehead #37 4 years ago

    Watch out, a reviewer criticised the Sixaxis... stand back boys...

    I didn't even do that, sadly. I just confirmed that the PS3 version allows you to use the motion-sensing controls, and jokingly used the hilarious internet phrase "teh power" to describe it (in a comment, not the review) which apparently is all it takes to outrage the thin-skinned and bring about the DECLINE OF VIDEOGAMES JOURNALISM EVERYWHERE.

  • NthSimulachum #38 4 years ago

    I don't think the slavering, consistency-obsessed masses will be happy until Dan and Kristan's heads are on pikes. Not glaives.

    "Ooh it's a six, but the review reads like a four..."

    Surely you have something better to do with your time?

  • Triggerhappytel #39 4 years ago

    greggywocky - "Well, at least they didn't spell it with a 'k', I suppose...."

    ...What, Dark...?!

    ...

    ...

  • Triggerhappytel #40 4 years ago

    ^ Sorry, being puerile and I couldn't resist that one ;)


    @ Peew971 - yeah, I'm not sure of the exact details (not much on Wiki), but as far as I remember, Digital Extremes used to be partnered with Epic, or the two used to collaborate, or something.

  • BPotemkin #41 4 years ago

    The main character's name is HAYDEN TENNO.

    Even the power of the SIXAXIS can't remove teh funny from that.

  • miiiguel #42 4 years ago

    Every thread becomes a place to justify that PS3 is not that bad, Sixaxis or something is not that ridicules, and it can almost equal other consoles. Damn..., give me the 360 amrican kids any day of the week. At least they seem to ignore (in a healty way) the PS3. Can't you do the same? - ignore the 360!~

    Ffs, do you really thing PS3 is that bad that needs hordes of soldiers praising it, and insulting reviwers? This is a 1st in video-gaming industry. I guess the fault is Sony's for lauching such a console, because if it was REALY that good, you wouldn't need to do that.
    Edited by 2 at 04/04/08 @ 11:20

  • robg #43 4 years ago

    This game sounds rubbish, yet most Wii games only get 2 or 3 out of 10 more than this (4 at the most) - Wii is rubbish.

  • creepylizard #44 4 years ago

    NthSimulachum
    04-Apr-08 11:06:39 I don't think the slavering, consistency-obsessed masses will be happy until Dan and Kristan's heads are on pikes. Not glaives.

    "Ooh it's a six, but the review reads like a four..."

    Surely you have something better to do with your time?
    ignore poster


    fecking A. I choked on my scampi when I read that

  • AbyssUK #45 4 years ago

    I'd just like to point out that Eurogamer does actually yet you write your own reviews.. so quit bitching and write your own if you don't like the one they have done.

  • The-Bodybuilder #46 4 years ago

    Stupid dan. Don't you know that using TEH PAWA of the sixasix will completely change the dynamics of the game for the better? Just like lair?

  • Moonprince #47 4 years ago

    Thing is though, allot of your reviews seem to get ripped on don't they...

  • miiiguel #48 4 years ago

    "Also, if you have just reviewed the 360 version, disregarding the Sixaxis implementation unseen and untested is IGNORANT."
    Humm... it says 360..., it's on the 360 section, I wonder why he's ignorant (capital leters ?)...

  • miiiguel #49 4 years ago

    I think he did the PS3 death-squad a favor not mentioning sixaxis...

    I wonder, if, our fellow PS3-lovers, never think about why usually nobody questions the Nintendo's implementation of its motion sensing games, or even the general quality of 360's games..., and yet PS3 absolutly needs to be defended all the time (unpolitely most times). Something went wrong, PS2 never needed this.

    That said, why don't agree sixaxis maybe wasn't a good idea (heck, shit happens!). I'm sure MGS will be awesome.
    Edited by 2 at 04/04/08 @ 12:06

  • BPotemkin #50 4 years ago

    'Since when are reviewers and critics beyond reproach or criticism?'

    Never, and nobody is making the case for that. The problem with these talkbacks here though is that users will make issues out of fairly insignificant issues and tramp it up as if the reviewer made some egregious mistake. You might be right about failing to mention the SIXAXIS thing, but then again, Dan replied in here that you can use it.

    And let's be honest:

    'review reads like 4/10, score is 6/10?'

    'Three pages of bile for a 6/10?'

    'Re-read it and pretend you haven't played it and don't know what score it's going to get. Not much positive in there is there? '

    '6. And a game that involves so many fun moments like Viking gets a 5. EG have some consitancy please - the reviewer make this sound like a 4.'

    These criticisms aren't constructive so much as whining. If people want to criticize, at least be mature about it.
    Edited by 1 at 04/04/08 @ 12:28

  • TheNinkyNonk #51 4 years ago

    What's with all the hate for the sixaxis? I have a DS3 and although the motion sensing can be a bit tacked on (as it is for many Wii games to be fair) I think in certain games it really adds to the experience and makes for a nice change. For example: using it to control the snake cam in R6V2 or fly Ratchet and Clank around. I've had plenty of these "oh, cool - wasn't expecting that" moments with it and then it's back to the thumbsticks. Works perfectly if you ask me.

    Oh and Motorstorm with motion steering and a few pints / mates is an absolute blast!!
    Edited by 1 at 04/04/08 @ 12:12

  • miiiguel #52 4 years ago

    And..., I don't know why is it offensive to make a litle joje with the universaly known as a underwhelming feature such as the sixaxis. Reviwers can't make jokes now? I remember they talk (joking) about the rings and also about some poor implementations os 3rd parties games on the Wii. It's true, so I don't get it, when this affects PS3, the animosity.

  • miiiguel #53 4 years ago

    @ Arbiter
    Didn't ask what you own, becasue I really don't care. Just find it very odd this constant need to unpolitley defend PS3 (again, PS2 never needed this!). I wish you didn't call me names, it's very rude, and suits you bad, but that's really up to you.

  • DanWhitehead #54 4 years ago

    Once again: I didn't say anything disparaging or negative about the bloody Sixaxis controls.

  • muscleblade #55 4 years ago

    "with the PS3 being slightly higher rated than the 360 version."

    This is the case because the competition is much weaker on the PS3 and the PS3 only mags rate this game higher cause its better compared to the competition on the PS3 than on the 360.

    Im 100% sure it has nothing to do with the sixaxis ( wich is crap btw).

  • ParanoidZombie #56 4 years ago

    I'll disregard this review. Dark Sector will be my first "guilty pleasure" of 2008, like Bullet Witch was in 2007. And I really enjoyed Bullet Witch, even if the game was kinda crap. Does that make me a bad person?

    I think the review is a bit too harsh, TBH: Dark Sector is a "B-game", like John Carpenter's Vampires or Ghosts of Mars are B-movies. It's shallow, fun, full of gratuitous gore, it has a shotgun and a rocket launcher, you can turn invisible, the plot is as nonsensical as an italian Z movie from the 80s (a bit like RE4, then), I mean how can you dislike a game like this?

  • smoothn00dle #57 4 years ago

    Good and detail review!

    It is sad, a game with such potential, failed so far. Why? Digital Extremes put too much focus on graphic and too little on details. They have been making generic shooters for years. I can see they try something new here but at the end they just fall back into their comfort zone.

    This game borrow many Japanese game design elements like fire, ice and glavies. A trend??

  • BPotemkin #58 4 years ago

    'Seriously, looking at Gamerankings.com you'll see that this is far and away the lowest score the title has received, with the PS3 being slightly higher rated than the 360 version.'

    'This is the case because the competition is much weaker on the PS3 and the PS3 only mags rate this game higher cause its better compared to the competition on the PS3 than on the 360.'

    Technically, none of these propositions are correct. The reason (and I really hate myself for looking this up) is that there are simply more reviews for the X360 version then there are PS3 version. Most of the discrepancy is due to the fact that some of the reviews originate from system-specific websites/magazines (e.g. Team XBOX, PSX Extreme); hence the small gap.

    None of this matters, though. What really matters is that the main character is named HAYDEN TENNO. Did they pull that out of a name generator?

  • The-Bodybuilder #59 4 years ago

    What people like arbiter is forgetting is that THE GAME IS FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED IN DESIGN. It isn't th glaive (or it's control) that's the problem, it's the story, graphics, AI, physics-free world, stupid bosses, rubbish game design that makes the game crap.

    Focusing on the small part about the glaive whilst glossing over 3 pages of put-downs is stupid. Having TEH PAWAAAAAA of the sixasix isn't gonna change anything.

  • miiiguel #60 4 years ago

    Shessh! You can't say "teh powa", it's censored, or is just the reviwers who can't say it ? Can they say RRoD ? What about Wii and gimick in the same sentence. Stupid rules!
    /confused/

  • muscleblade #61 4 years ago

    @ParanoidZombie

    Thats exactly why i bought it. The perfect B game. The most polished and perfect and original games arent always the most entertaining ones - the same thing can be said about the movies. The Oscar winning movies arent always the most entertaining movies either.

  • ParanoidZombie #62 4 years ago

    @muscleblade: ;)

    @the other guys: Dark sector is not shit, it's a 6/10. Just because the game isn't AAA doesn't make it shit. And stop saying that you hate clones, generic stuff and rip-offs, because you never buy innovative stuff. Right now, you're all playing R6vegas2, halo3, COD4, DMC4, PES08, GT5p, Army of two or whatever, not Okami, No More heroes, Rez, Portal, Psychonauts or The Club (best shooter of 2008 so far, by a country mile). Don't blame game designers for trying to make money by giving you what you want, which is Dark Sector with better production value and an ego-friendly multiplayer.

    ... Too much coffee, sorry about the rant.
    Edited by 1 at 04/04/08 @ 13:30

  • Dizzy #63 4 years ago

    They should make a commercial of the PS3 version of this game with some androgynous 20-something player steering the "glaive" with the Sixaxis. Just like Nintendo does. Instant sales!

  • grandmaster Verified Director, Digital Foundry #64 4 years ago

    I enjoyed this game for what it was - two nights of decent enough fun and a lovely graphics engine powering it all. A solid rental in my book, or worth picking up when it inevitably drops down to £17.99 at Play.com. That said, I think 6/10 is a fair enough score. I'd be irked if I'd paid full price for it but while it lasted, I enjoyed it.

    You aren't dropping dead for no reason at the final boss battle by the way; the bloke is firing off a sonic weapon - as evidenced by an increasingly fierce piercing whine and an accompanying visual effect. You just smack him in the chops with an electrified glaive to put a stop to that. As there's a preceding cutscene showing the bloke to be vulnerable to attack it's pretty obvious what you're supposed to do.

    Granted though, it's a cheap one-shot kill somewhat at odds with a boss that is otherwise completely incapable of killing you. I think it's actually just trying to bore you to death.

    Good call on the church/Colossus boss melee kill though. That just made no sense whatsoever.

  • DanWhitehead #65 4 years ago

    You aren't dropping dead for no reason at the final boss battle by the way; the bloke is firing off a sonic weapon - as evidenced by an increasingly fierce piercing whine and an accompanying visual effect.

    But that psychic audio/visual effect has been used throughout the game, whenever he's talking inside your head (cliche alert!), with no ill effect on your health. The first time you play the final boss encounter, there's absolutely no reason to think that this noise is what's killing you. Couple that with the fact that you have only a few seconds at most to hit him, and there's no obvious reason why you just fell down dead.

  • Darren #66 4 years ago

    Is this game made by the same team that did the dreadful Pariah on the Xbox? If so, then that explains Dark Sector's iffy design because that was another game that promised the world and failed to deliver.

  • muscleblade #67 4 years ago

    @Darren

    Sure is

  • DanWhitehead #68 4 years ago

    Yep, same developer.

    And the original trailer from when it was a sci-fi Splinter Cell is here: http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=Mucf3kdVzes

  • Triggerhappytel #69 4 years ago

    @ DiamondIce - I found this trailer, but I think its original reveal was a little different to this, too, without that Michael Rosenbaum doing the voiceover, too. Couldn't find that, though.

    EDIT - damn, beaten to it. Never mind!
    Edited by 1 at 04/04/08 @ 14:46

  • grandmaster Verified Director, Digital Foundry #70 4 years ago

    I must be a drooling maniac but as single-player games go, I enjoyed this tons more than Rainbow Six Vegas 2.

  • SeesThroughAll #71 4 years ago

    This game always failed to interest me before, and after reading this review, I can't really say I'd be arsed to try it now.

    Thanks for the sharp critics on this one EG.

    Please do not feed the trolls, people.

  • dryden555 #72 4 years ago

    Eurogamer's reviews tend to be more subjective but that's fine with me because EG has never suggested that their reviews are "objective game journalism," unlike Gamespot.....

  • clockworkzombie #73 4 years ago

    One of the reasons I like this site is negative reviews of bad or average games, if it is humorously done so much the better. Not all games poop rainbows.




  • Stratus #74 4 years ago

    Wow! After renting the game a few days ago I was looking forward to Eurogamers review as I personally really enjoyed the game (and normally put ALOT of faith in Eurogamers opinion I might add...) Surprised by a six based on how utterly, intentionally negative the entire review was. I mean come on! When we start complaining about a character models face looking off aren't we stretching into Obama VS Clinton territory? I thought that the other characters faces were beautifully done with some of the best hair effects I've seen in Hi-def without that nasty "fake effect." The games environments were suitably Soviet-coldwar-esque without reverting to the obligilatory "Quake browns and greys" complaint leveled at every "dark" game released since Quake2.

    The ability to add "aftertouch" to the Glaive was quite refreshing in my well played opinion. Many other sites complained about the Gears of War problem of "whack a Mole" where the entire game was based on waiting for an enemy to pop his head up for a kill-shot. In Dark Sector you simply send the Glaive around, over, under said obstacle and decapitate, maim, or amputate the enemy with vicious glee. Pretty cool I believe!

    Yes, once again a Next-Gen title with a piss-poor story. What the #@$5 else is new. Videogames do not have great stories. This game is no exception. I thought Halo2 and 3 had unbelieveably bad stories that left me with a headache (that was the alcohol, shut up conscience) and Gears of War had a terrible story as well (what the hell was that whole Resonator crap anyway?) I don't play games for the story (I read novels when I want a good story.)

    I thought this game good enough that I am seriously considering trading in a few to get it to own so I can finish it on Brutal and gain that Achievement.

    What get's me is the entire tone of the review. It is sooo overly negative that it honestly makes me wonder whether the developer has insulted Eurogamer in some way. Then it gets a six. Based on this review I wouldn't even have rented the title.

    Glad that I did before I read it.

    Peace!

  • haubitzer #75 4 years ago

    Cool game. The basic mechanics are clean and juicy and some of the encounters spectacular, and that's all I want from my third-person-cover-system shooters.

  • TheNinkyNonk #76 4 years ago

    Got it. Like it. Jaded reviewer 101.

  • Stratus #77 4 years ago

    It's amazing how many people seem to actually be really enjoying this one, even with the vast majority of reviews being rather "meh" or underwhelming. Makes me wonder what some of these reviewers are looking for. While Dark Sector isn't groundbreaking or revolutionary (gotta love the aftertouch though) it's a solid romp through a dark world with some technically well rounded visuals and intuitive controls and unlike many recent hits doesn't force me, someone looking for a videoGAME to sit through countless pointless, poorly written cutscenes or listen to countless squadmates banal quips every time I want to kick some freakin' ass. Scuse my outburst.

    The Eurogamer review complains about powering the Glaive with elemental properties such as fire or electricity to solve puzzles but not being able to provoke these powers by breaking lights in the ceiling, essentially letting the gamer create their own power sources for the Glaive. That would be unfrickinbelieveablyamazing!! Yet in countless other games (Zelda anyone?) it's perfectly allright to throw the boomerang through a set environmental object like a torch to set fire to some obstacle revealing the way (with fairy music playing in the background for good measure.) In my book a puzzle is only there to momentarily give me time to enjoy the graphics before I resume the melee. Maybe the next one will allow the player to create their own way by destroying the environment but that may be a ways off.

    The Eurogamer review FAILS to mention how cool it is to, having just decimated a squad of goons by eviserating them with the Glaive, target their fallen weapons from cover, send the Glaive streaming towards the fallen automatic weaponry springing the enemies weapon into the players hands to continue the assault. Very cool if you were out of ammo for your own weapons, and in cover. Yes, these weapons can be obtained from a distance with the Glaive.

    Also no mention of the ability to "jack" the enemies own mecha and take the battle to them with armour piercing automatic weaponry, countermeasures (chaff) and a frickin' HOWITZER!! (There's even a good Achievement for doing so the first time you encounter one.) Granted, a very small portion of the game, but to not even mention it seems a grave injustice, especially to those of us who haven't played the game are are reading a REVIEW to decide if it's something we'd like to spend sixty dollars Canadian on...

    On the subject of the boss battles not holding your hand, I remember being incredibly frustrated by the first one where NOTHING seemed to really hurt my nemesis. When the burning Glaive seemed to slow him (it?) down and allow me to empty all of my ammunition into it with no discernable affect I ran up to it in frustration triggering the necessary button push revealing what needed to be accomplished. No IGN guide needed, no tutorial to hold my hand, I knew what the game had taught me so far and acted as if my very life depended on it by sheer instinct! There was a definate feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment by felling the beast by sheer resolve and tenacity. Each and every boss in the game was conquered the same way.

    Glad that other gamers are enjoying it as well!
    Edited by 2 at 06/04/08 @ 01:33

  • Paulanator #78 4 years ago

    Couldn't agree with you more Stratus.

    Really loving this game so far, it's one of those games I just can't put down - I've even stopped myself playing it a couple of times for fear of finishing it too fast.

    I think it deserves far more praise than it's been getting and the glaive is possibly one of the best 'mini-innovations' I've seen in a long time.

    And the graphics are absolutely gorgeous in places, easily one of the best looking games of this gen so far in my opinion.

    Glad I ignored reviews like this one before I bought it. A 6 just seems really harsh, especially when the Lost game got a 7 on here a few weeks back!

    Seriously, if you love your third preson shooters then you should definately check this game out.

  • grandmaster Verified Director, Digital Foundry #79 4 years ago

    Some interesting points there Stratus and a great counterpoint to Dan's review.

    The thing is that I find myself agreeing with both you and Dan about certain aspects of the game. The upgrades system could've been better, it does get somewhat repetitive later on (before ramping up nicely in Chapter 8/9/10) and I'm with Dan on the logic of taking on the bosses. The game sets up its own rules which seem to go out of the window with the bosses.

    But weirdly, I do feel like completing this again on the higher difficulty level and not just for the allure of the extra gamerscore. Similar to Criterion's Black, I can imagine that the skills you learn from playing the game make replaying the earlier stages much more fulfilling. And everything you point out about what makes this game fun, different and entertaining is right on the money. More than that, the limitations of the upgrades system mean that I've yet to experience most of the weapons, let alone upgrade them - another compelling reason to play through again.

    I think it's one of those games that could've benefitted from a 'double header' review. My heart says this is a 7 or even an 8 out of ten, but reading EG's description of a 6, it does seem to fit the required criteria.

  • TheNinkyNonk #80 4 years ago

    After more play I'd say this is a cracking game. It's not original, granted, but it takes good bits of GeOW and RE5 along with it's own twists, has a great atmospere and it plays really well.

    If you liked either of the afore-mentioned games, you'll find plenty to keep you going here. I'm with Gamespot: 7.5

  • Stratus #81 4 years ago

    Hello once again guys. I'll leave this alone after this last post. I traded in Call Of Duty 4 (finished the unbelieveably short single player campaign on Hardened, Veteran is the most unforgivingly, ridiculously cheap excuse for AI I've ever played and not worth the Achievements) along with Bioshock (awesome but no more replay value) and picked up Dark Sector. I can't wait to finish it on Brutal.

    Last comment. Eurogamer is famously known for their (more often than not) hilarious quips as captions for their reviews and screenshots.

    Could it be that they reviewed Dark Sector so harshly simply to be able to type..."Glaive consequences?"

    Naaah...that's just jaded.

    Cheers!! I'm out.

  • FortysixterUK #82 4 years ago

    The review came across as overly damning, as so many EG reviews often do, however, having played the game for a couple of hours now, I'm enjoying it.The game is all macho and over the top violence and runs very well. If you like fast action shooters like Gow then you'll probably like this. Anyway, as per usual, I expect this thread to die now, usually does when I post.

  • MiY4MOTO #83 4 years ago

    Well, I'm with ParanoidZombie, grandmaster & Stratus et al with this one. I bought it expecting a 'B' game, something fun to put me on between bouts of R6:V2 & Condemned 2. However I was totally unprepared for it to grab me the way it did. I've still to put either of those games back in my 360.

    I'm loving it. I find it fun, challenging & I for one quite like the boss battles. It makes a change for a game not to hold your hand and show you how to defeat a boss. Yes, I struggled with the one in the church until I decided to try and bitch slap the guy out of frustration only to discover that this was the desired response. However in the games defense the enemy does glow red at this point, which is the visual clue that you can do a "finisher" move on an enemy of any size, so maybe we just weren't paying enough attention.

    I for one am enjoying it far more than I did Resident Evil 4, maybe thats because my expectations were so much lower in this case. The visuals are great, I particularly like the colour palette it uses and how it uses it. The bleached out tutorial level opens, then follows with the almost psychadelic 2nd level after you've been infected, I found it a really nice contrast.

    It's nice to see a game with colour rather than the usual browns and greys that we seem to always get these days (Resident Evil 4, Resistance Fall of Man etc. I'm looking at you!). The cover system works well, much better than Army of Two's attempt (which has to be the most disappointing game this year so far). For me at least has ticks in all the right boxes.

    Yes the narrative is odd, the guys face looks a little strange, and you get the feeling theres a bigger story somewhere that you might have skipped, (it could be in the manual to be fair, since I've not looked.) but basically not every game can be Half-Life.

    Without the poor, average and above average game, a truly great game wouldn't stand out against a crowd. For every Half-Life there must be dozens of games that are at least worth playing thru. This I think is one of them. I traded in Army of Two for it.... best trade in decision I've ever made.

    Try it, you might be pleasently suprised. I was.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/08 @ 14:05

  • muscleblade #84 4 years ago

    This game really eceeded my expectations more than any other game ever. 6/10 for this is way to harsh imo. For me so far its a solid 9/10. Havent tried the multiplayer yet though. The gameplay is incredible. The graphics is some of the best ive seen too.
    If this is a 6 i agree that Viking is a 5. To me Viking is a solid 7.

  • espibara #85 4 years ago

    Strange really,

    I never ever complain about review scores or feel the need to argue against them but dark Sector is a solid 8/10.

    Sure its RE:4/gears of war in its design and execution but at times the graphics look better than gears, and the gun/play mechanics like RE:4 are solid. Apart from some clipping issues the graphics and level of polish is top notch.

    The story of a mutant virus in russia needs flesing out but is very atmopsheric, the opening level is fantastic, the black grey monotone and the Havoc gunship fight at the end of Lvl 1 are excellant. The fact you know hardly anything I suppose is like being the lead character he knows nothing also. Its great that once infected your level of skills increase as the infection overcomes you.

    There are down sides the story could have been fleshed out more and although teh glaive is cool some more weapons would have been nice.

    ABout 60% of the way through and this a definite keeper for my collection.

    Although not very original Darksector is easily an 8/10 game.

  • muscleblade #86 4 years ago

    I have finished the game on normal and im half way through on Brutal. Ive also played a few rounds of multiplayer. This is the most underrated game ever imo. I loved the singleplayer and even the multiplayer is very good. 9/10. I liked this more than Bioshock tbh. I still loved Bioshock of course 8/10.

  • espibara #87 4 years ago

    Well I must retract my last post saying its an 8/10 game easily. Dan Whitehead is correct as by the end of teh game Dark sector has started to out stay its welcome. Its design flaws and overall lack of imagination turn it into a bit of a trawl towards the end, plus the boss fights are pretty horrible and the Multiplayer is a blatant last minute tack on. Plus the lack of any form of story or simple narrative for such a single player game is simply not good enough. A good solid game but nothing fancy. 7/10 from me.
    Edited by 1 at 22/04/08 @ 13:30

  • muscleblade #88 4 years ago

    Hmmm i actually loved the Boss fights. They were different in a good way. I also thought the length of the game hit the sweet spot. About 8 hours. The multiplayer was kind of original and fun, and the graphics on the multiplayer maps are fantastic. I didnt experience any lag either. The story is not very good and the game is very linear. Its very oldschool in design but to me thats a good thing.
    Edited by 3 at 23/04/08 @ 09:29

  • djed #89 4 years ago

    OMG ENEMIES WITH RIOT SHIELDS, FRAK FRAK FRAK! They're up there with chainsaw man from Resident Evil 4.

    Nice, quick adrenaline boost.

  • convercide #90 4 years ago

    I agree with the review. It's so linear it hurts and sucks dramatic balls. As for the lead character, what is this emo shit?

  • Beano #91 3 years ago

    Why is this on the front page ???

  • seasidebaz #92 3 years ago

    It's worthy of front page, this!

  • ademkermad #93 3 years ago

    hahaha lol
    front page!?!?

  • des #94 3 years ago

    WTF?
    April?
    I am not that drunk

  • nickthegun #95 3 years ago

    Whats with the time stamp?

  • redgiemental #96 2 years ago

    EERRRRRRRROOOORRRRRRRR

  • Davemanz #97 2 years ago

    And for whatever reason this is on the front page. Fascinating.

  • Keivz #98 2 years ago

    It's back on the front page again. EG must secretly love this game.

  • Widge #99 2 years ago

    I've been waiting ages for this to come out.

  • tachometer #100 2 years ago

    Funnily enough this game stands up with the majority of stuff released nowadays, two years of development has yielded very much

  • reelbigkris #101 2 years ago

    Bugger, I've travelled into the past! I knew that I should have kept my de'lorean under 88mph!

  • Widge #102 2 years ago

    thats d'ohlorean

  • Stagga #103 1 year ago

    LOL! Can't keep an average game down! Apparently this keeps appearing on the front page every few months, no doubt some Eurogamer employee is taking backhanders to promote it....

  • bdc #104 1 year ago

    Weird, this is on the front page again!

  • convercide #105 1 year ago

    It just appeared there for me too. :)

  • Venatio Verified Expo Community & Gaming Manager, Eurogamer Network #106 1 year ago

    Good to get this bumped to the homepage again.

  • StolenGlory #107 1 year ago

    Eh? Why has the review for this festering turd of a game been resurrected?
    Edited by 1 at 02/12/10 @ 10:24

  • Venatio Verified Expo Community & Gaming Manager, Eurogamer Network #108 1 year ago

    Tech problem. Sorting it out now.

  • StolenGlory #109 1 year ago

    Ah cool. Was quite amusing though :)

  • rogueJT #110 1 year ago

    This is sort of weird.

    I noticed this is in my collection last night and said "I don't remember ever buying this" which as exactly the tone of the review.

    Then it magically appears on the front page today.

  • 1Dgaf #111 11 months ago

    I quite enjoyed Dark Sector. Worth renting, certainly.

  • DiamondIce #112 5 months ago

    The review is back again.

    Plus I quite liked the game.

  • StolenGlory #113 5 months ago

    The Dark Sector review returns once more it seems...
    Edited by 1 at 12/09/11 @ 16:26

  • DiamondIce #114 5 months ago

    Bargain. Zavvi are selling the game for £39.99.

  • telboy007 #115 5 months ago

    I liked this game, thought it was quite good!

  • Lunastra78 #116 5 months ago

    Aye, the yearly tradition of Dark Sector review cometh again to entertain readers both new and olde! Pass the ale, good fellows!

  • fluff_the_tiger #117 5 months ago

    BARGAIN AT 39.99!

  • tinners #118 5 months ago

    Hmmm this or gears 3?

  • onyxbox #119 5 months ago

    yeah, looking back I'd say this game deserved more than a 6.. I seem to remeber really enjoying it.

  • onyxbox #120 5 months ago

    There's an error with article.... it's also available on PS3 but is only showing for 360 ;)

  • Bombonera #121 4 months ago

    bloody hell, this is on the front page AGAIN. :)