After not really playing anything while preparing for an exam for the first two weeks of the year, I decided to pop in Dark Sector, a game that I bought months ago, but never got around to playing. Even with the average reviews it received upon release, Dark Sector still interested me because I enjoy shooters that use the cover mechanic & the Glaive looked like a fun weapon to wield. When I read that it was refused classification in Australia because of the violence & brutality contained there-in, I thought it would all add up to an entertaining package.

I was mostly correct in that assumption. Dark Sector is not the best game you will ever play, and it has some real drawbacks, but it fits right into what I call "Fast Food Games". Games that you play & enjoy, but never really think about again. They are competent in what they do and as long as you don't have high expectations, you come away satisfied. I would put games like Army of Two and Lost Planet into that category.

Dark Sector has a generic plot which I really didn't follow. That could be entirely my fault as I was looking up the location of the weapon upgrades anytime there was a break in the action, but the gist of it is some Russian fool developed some infection that mutates humans and turns them into monsters. You play Hayden Tenno, a CIA agent sent to the Soviet Union to off another agent and kill the guy responsible for the virus. In the process of handling his mission,  the bad guys get the drop on Hayden and his right arm gets infected, granting him a bunch of sweet powers and that kick-ass Glaive thing that you throw like a Mach 3 Boomerang. That's plenty of story for me. It hits all the right notes, reason for revenge, plausible explanation for throwing some crazy enemies at you in combat and a progression of abilities which reward you for continuing to play.

The game looks pretty good. The enemy soldiers mostly wear biohazard suits, I guess so when you cut their heads off with the glaive that it isn't too realistic. The mutants look pretty freaky and change up the combat somewhat. They all come apart in a satisfying, bloody mess. Make no mistake, the game is very brutal. One of the best parts of the game is the "finishers" you can perform on stunned enemies. There are a variety of them, but they all result in removing limbs, breaking necks or stabbing things through the head. Very fun to pull off and watch. Unfortunately a good chunk of the game takes place in very dark environments. The glaive can cast a glow which puts a pool of light out in front of you, but it lasts for a limited time (but you seem to be able to turn it back on immediately) and when you trigger a finisher you can't see a thing. So why put so much effort into creating these cool animations if you can't see them?

There are a good variety of weapons: pistols, shotguns, rifles, grenades and you can use the glaive to disarm enemies, pulling their weapon to you. Unfortunately you can only use a picked up weapon for a limited amount of time. For some reason the infection makes you throw it away after a few seconds. I missed the reason in the story if one was given. The only guns you are allowed to keep must be bought from the black market. The real star of the show is the Glaive though. You dual wield it with a pistol so most of the game you'll find yourself throwing the glaive to stun (or kill) and then popping the enemy in the head if he's too far to run a finisher on. A few chapters in you get the "aftertouch" ability which allows you to trigger a sort of bullet time & control the blade in mid-flight. This allows you to guide the glaive right into your enemy and get an up close view of his body splitting in half. It reminded me of the arrow & cannonball sequences in Heavenly Sword. Your blade also gains the ability to absorb electricity, fire & ice which is used to solve environmental puzzles in addition to shuffling off your enemies' mortal coils. I really had fun with the combat. You get enough things to play with that you there is variety to it even if the enemies don't change much.

All in all, I'd say if you enjoy shooters, Dark Sector is worth a play. I wouldn't pay full price for it, but it is a decent rental or worthy of a bargain purchase. It's going for $18 new on Amazon right now.

Next up will be 24: The Game. I re-watched Season 6 last week in anticipation of the premiere of Season 7 this week so I am all hyped up for Jack Bauer. The game can't be too bad, right? Lots of good shows are coming back, 24, Lost & Battlestar Galactica are all back in the next week. 2009 is starting off well.

On a side note, I can't imagine how cold those poor people were on the jet that landed in the Hudson River today. It was 20 degrees farenheit with wind chills in the single digits in the big city today. That water would have shriveled my wedding tackle to the size of a pea. Thankfully everyone made it out safely.