Decent Action Shooter
I think the reviews for Dark Sector reflect the unrealistic hype that surrounded this game prior to release. Its was supposed to the first "next gen" game with unmatched graphics, gameplay, etc. Well, given that description, it would have to be put back in its place because it has the kind of flaws that many first and third person games have had early in this 360/PS3 generation.
The games story lacks character development which means you're not going to care too much about the lead character "whats his face". The combat is fun and has a bit of depth but after a few chapters, many aspects of the combat will certainly start to feel old.
But overall, I found the combat quite a bit of fun. With its signature weapon, the glaive, you can dish out quite a bit of mayhem and both the glaive and weapons in the game are upgrated. The glaive upgrades when you throw it inot fire or electricity and the weapons are upgraded at an underground weapon shop where you keep expecting to here "whatcha buyin". These glaive upgrades are used quite as light puzzles but I found it more fun just using them to up the gore when using the glaive.
Yes, the game designers seemed to have played quit a bit of Resident Evil 4 and Gears of war and took many of the elements from those games. And while it is not as polished as either, it certainly stacks up against Gears in the combat department. My guess is, if you liked the single player campaign of Gears of War, you may just find this game a lot of fun. Because cover-based gameplay (Gears, Uncharted, Kill Switch) has still not worn its welcome as far as I am concerned. And Dark Sector's coer system and weapons work well. Enemy AI is certainly a bit lacking but like its other flaws, there is nothing game breaking here.
While I probably would not have recommended it at its original price, today this game can be had for super cheap. If you like 3rd person action with some RE4/Gears/Krull mixed in, I really think this game is worth a try. That being said, there is no online worth talking about so if you favor multi-player action, look elsewhere.