14 DAY TRIAL // Dark Sector has an official release date of March 25, 2008, so it's about time to take another look at the sci-fi themed shooter from Digital Extremes. They are best known for their work on the early Unreal games, and are developing the game for D3, publisher of casual success Puzzle Quest.
The story is pretty much run-of-the-mill, that is if you happen to be a Gears of War and Resident Evil fan with a taste for apocalyptic stories. It starts out with a former secret agent type, Mizner, the main antagonist, that defects to a fictional nation somewhere within Soviet ruled Eastern Europe. Once there, he gets hold of a virus that creates mutations and he goes on a path that will make him the ruler of the known world. As I said before, pretty standard sci-fi action up until here.
One of the most interesting things is that the hero, given the impossible name of Hayden Tenno (was it meant to sound Eastern European?), is also given a direct face-to-face meeting with the mutation virus in the beginning of the game. This leads to his right arm being mutated in a very good-and-enemy-killing way. A glaive, a three-blade throwable weapon, is now part of the arm and any conventional weapon the player uses with his left arm will be dual wielded. It makes sense to use the glaive as you reload or to take out enemies at a distance. It's worth noting that the glaive can take on different effects if it passes through fire or electrical current.
Throughout the game, the main character continues to mutate and his whole appearance chances accordingly and new supernatural powers become available. The guys over at Gamespot have seen how after a boss fight Hayden picked up one of his special abilities, a shield projection power that lasts for a few seconds and throws damage back at enemies. Speaking of enemies, there will be plenty of them as Hayden has to fight not only mutants created by the virus, but also secret agents in biohazard suits that treat him as a mutant..
Aside from a dark and engaging single player game the developer promises innovative multiplayer modes and a wide variety of environments for combat. With the release date just around the corner, we'll soon see how the game shapes up.