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Gaming Today’s Impressions Of Dark Sector (Xbox 360)
Dark Sector
Developer: Digital Extremes
Publisher: D3 Publisher of America
Price: $59.99
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Category: Action
ESRB Rating: M for Mature (Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Intense Violence)
Release Date: March 25, 2008
Dark Sector is a game I truly enjoyed fro what is was worth, yet Gaming Today’s impression of the title was a little on the negative side.
Dark Sector unfortunately suffers from a gaming ailment that I’ve begun referring to as “Gears of War Syndrome.” You see, Gears of War really nailed the whole “third-person, cover-based shooter” genre over a year ago; so much so that any title with similar gameplay since can be labeled as being “good…but not as good as Gears of War.” Army of Two has this problem, Kane and Lynch has this problem (among many others), and Dark Sector also has this problem.
I understand the point of the author to a degree, but I really don’t think Gears of War “nailed the whole third-person, cover-based shooter”. I realize that GOW is still one of the most popular games, but I simply was never a fan of the title. I’m honestly not much of a third-person shooter fan, but Dark Sector isn’t getting the credit it deserves. I’ll concede the fact that Gears of War was a good game, but it was far from nailing anything. I think Gears just happened to come out at the right time.
What isn’t similar to Gears of War though, feels borrowed from Resident Evil 4. The story deals with a European town that has been infected by a dictator who plans to release the virus throughout the world (yeah, about the only difference between this and RE4 is that the dictator isn’t a dwarf in a Napoleon costume). You’ll play Hayden Tenno, a special agent sent to stop him, who then gets infected himself.
Unfortunately, I have to disagree with Gaming Today on this point in their review. Resident Evil isn’t exactly an original story itself. The whole zombie infection scenario has been played out hundreds and hundreds of times in movies and games, even games that came out long before Resident Evil.
But like any good “Gears of War Syndrome” title, this one comes with it’s own unique gimmick in the “glaive”; and it’s the main thing that defines this game.
I still have a problem with the “Gears of War Syndrome” term used to describe games like this. Dark Sector is obviously similar in some ways, but the game is different enough to appeal to many people. I’ve personally put in more time with Dark Sector than I ever did with Gears of War. That glaive is certainly a cool weapon that I loved. Every game needs a unique weapon and this one certainly worked. It kind of reminded me of the weapon from Krull.
Dark Sector also comes with a multiplayer mode, but it really only shows why it’s usually better for developers to leave out certain features rather than trying to tack them on unsuccessfully.
Gaming Today got it right on this aspect. Multiplayer mode isn’t even worth playing in Dark Sector. I was certainly expecting more. With the high expectations of gamers these days, developers really should leave out features that simply are not fine tuned. Developers need to learn that poor multiplayer modes will simply land their game as a rental option, instead of a purchase option.
Aside from the glaive, there’s really nothing new about Dark Sector. But it is polished and should provide you with a few hours of fun. It’s pretty much the definition of a rental title with its complete lack of long term appeal and medium play length. It might give you an urge to play through Gears of War again though.
For the most part, they are right about this being the definition of a rental title. I was expecting much more myself with Dark Sector and certainly felt let down. It’s certainly good fun for several days. If you are into third-person shooters, this is certainly worth picking up as a rental for a few days.
All in all, Gaming Today’s impression of Dark Sector wasn’t bad. I’m not sure what their obsession with Gears Of War is all about, but the review itself was informative which is the entire purpose of a good review.
Our grade of Gaming Today’s Review:
Gaming Today’s review is certainly worth checking out. C- isn’t terrible in my book. I just felt like their impression of the title was more of a Gears Of War fanboy piece than a Dark Sector review itself.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:21 am
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April 15th, 2008 at 11:02 am
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