Dark Sector given green light

It's impossible to mention Digital Extremes' sci-fi shooter Dark Sector without the obligatory reiteration that, yes, the game was technically the first announced title for what is now the current generation of consoles. However, announced is one thing, and actually showing up on retail shelves is a beast altogether separate. After the original reveal in 2004, the game took after its namesake and went dark, only to resurface in December 2006.

Since then, Digital Extremes has given audiences fairly regular looks at its long-in-development shooter, and the game appeared to be on track for release in January. Dark Sector apparently needed a bit more time in the cooker, though, as the date came and went with the project still under construction. Confident in a new date, D3Publisher has officially dimmed the lights, and Digital Extremes is at long last ready to release Dark Sector on March 25 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Dark Sector will be powered by Digital Extremes' proprietary Evolution Engine, and will transport players to the sordid underbelly of a decrepit Eastern European city. There, players assume the role of genetically enhanced black-ops agent Hayden Tenno, who must navigate the squalor to uncover the city's mysterious Cold War secret.

While Digital Extremes may not be a household name, its most notable work to date certainly is. The Canada-based development house is credited as cocreators of Epic Game's massively popular sci-fi shooter series Unreal. Most recently, Digital Extremes released Pariah for the PC and Xbox in 2005, with Warpath following on the same platforms in 2006.