I picked up
Dark Sector by D3Publishers yesterday and gave it a quick whirl this morning.
Dark Sector is a First-Person-Shooter (FPS) with elements seemingly taken from Sci-Fi Super Hero comics as you find yourself in the role of Hayden sent into the ruined Eastern-European city of
Lasria where the Russian military hides a secret from the Cold War. The box promises that you will become a super weapon thanks to some sort of virus ... Spiderman/Venom anyone?
After a cryptic intro that tells you little, other than that the whole plague in Lasria seems to come from a submarine and that Hayden seems to be a whiner, rather than your nuts-n-bolts superhero commando, you steer Hayden in over-the-shoulder perspective through a prologue with graphics held entirely in grey. Lovely!
The graphics on a whole are of a good quality and the cut scenes are nicely done - definitely next-gen consoles standard fare though. The sounds and music are of a good quality, though I wonder why every enemy I shoot, kill, maim has to scream. Certainly a head-shot or beheading would not allow him to do so, and yet they all do ...
Unfortunately these enemies also seem to be more or less cardboard cut-outs. I should not be so unfair, because they actually will act "intelligently" and run away seeking cover as you shoot at them, but standing behind cardboard boxes with your entire back exposed to the enemy really begs the question whether it could not have been done better. For the most part though, they will duck and cover, hide behind pillars and wall sections and only temporarily duck out to shoot at you.
Unfortunately this is made a little bit more exciting thanks to the jerky controls. Whilst in over-the-shoulder view, Hayden spins so quickly you get dizzy, once you start aiming (Left Trigger) it is a bit better, but it is still really difficult to precisely target someone hiding behind boxes. Halo, etc. achieved this in a much better way.
Excitement arises at the end of the first level as you face a boss enemy and finally face that dreaded virus.
I have currently reached Level 3 and will continue to explore what the game offers. More will follow later!