Dark Sector is a fantastic action game that is hindered by a weak storyline and an inconsistent graphical presentation.
Your character's name is Hayden Tenno…a government agent sent out to a desolate country in the USSR to hunt down your main enemy named Mezner, who has access to a toxin that mutates human beings into zombies, creatures and werewolf-like beings. Early in the game, you get infected with the toxin and your right arm gets coated with some sort of flexible metal…and then you get the Glaive…the weapon of choice for much of the chaos you will cause throughout the game.
The Glaive is a three bladed weapon that looks like an extremely large shuriken that you will throw as your long range attack but it can also produce some really brutal finishers when enemies are up close. As you progress throughout the single player campaign, your Glaive will also gain new powers that really add to the variety of ways you can attack your enemies. It will be able to absorb cold, heat and electricity. The spectacular result is that you can electrify, freeze and burn your enemies to death. In addition, the Glaive will also have the ability to scoop weapons left on the ground by your recently deceased enemies. Even with all these different ways to dispose of your foes, the most awesome ability is called "Aftertouch".
The Afterouch can be triggered when you throw the Glaive with the right bumper and then you click the right bumper again when it leaves your hand. The camera then zooms in from a third person perspective and you get to control the Glaive in slow motion with the right analog stick. Not only does this offer you some spectacular kills up close and personal but it's necessary to master this ability to solve certain "open door" type puzzles.
All of the action is seen from a third person perspective similar to Gears of War. You can carry two guns at any given point but you will mostly always use the handgun/Glaive combination. The other weapon slot is for a shotgun or machine gun but you're unable to use the Glaive unless you switch back to the handgun. There are weapon upgrades and a small variety of guns you can purchase in the Black Market however, the choices are pretty limited and I can't help to feel that this aspect of the game was throw in. Even the upgrades didn't seem to have that much effect on my newly modified firearm.
Last but certainly not least, your mutation also brings powers of invisibility and power shield which definitely help in the later levels of the game.
As you can tell, I've taken a lot of time to describe the different abilities, weapons and methods in which you can defeat your opponents. The reason I went into great detail is because the variety of attacks and the way you dispose of the mutated beings, is the best aspect of Dark Sector.
Hayden is seen in a third person perspective similar to Resident Evil 4 and uses a cover system à la Gears of War. For the most part, this works really well although when the action gets hectic, the camera doesn't turn as fast as you would want it to.
Overall, the graphics are good but at times, inconsistent. Some levels look fantastic with some memorable visual moments and in other instances; they seem to dip in quality with uneven and low resolution looking textures. You'll also get that "haven't I been here before" type of feeling as some of the environments seem to closely resemble previous areas. The visuals definitely fall into the "acceptable" category for this type of game.
The sound design is very good. The music quality is as good as any recent title I've played and it does a fantastic job of letting you know when you're in trouble or when the action has stopped. There are occasional sound hiccups when the action gets hectic but overall the sound effects are fantastic, particularly in surround sound. By the way, Hayden's voice is played by Michael Rosenbaum (aka Lex Luthor in the hit tv series Smallville), and he does a pretty good job delivering lines of a somewhat weak storyline.
About the storyline…it starts off as really intriguing and then just fizzles out like a can of flat soda. In the end, watching the cut scenes was almost tedious because with the way the storyline unfolds combined with certain boss battles, none of it frankly makes any sense whatsoever.
Finally, the multiplayer on Xbox Live for Dark Sector is very basic with only two modes and it's very difficult to find anyone to play with. If you're looking for a good multiplayer experience, this is not the title for you.
If you put aside the occasional graphical inconsistencies, basic multiplayer and weak storyline, Dark Sector is a solid action game that I definitely recommend. It offers a 10 to 12 hour long single player campaign. It has very accurate controls with spectacular ways to eliminate your opponents. If you combine that with the solid musical score and quality sound effects, there is definitely a good title to be played here.