I can only assume this comes down to level design and enemy choices. There are a few different enemies that get introduced throughout the game and while they are artistically interesting they become very boring to fight. You’re either fighting the same enemies with a fresh coat of paint and tougher armour, or different enemies that have a simple pattern to beat.
It’s all very rinse and repeat. There is no strategy required.
By contrast, this is where Gears of War stood out. There was even more repetition in that game, if you think about it; just a few weapons and fighting mostly the same enemies; and yet every fight was exciting and felt fresh. It’s because the level design was great. Every space where you fought was open to the use of strategy, plus the spaces between fights were tight and regular. Whereas Dark Sector has a lot more running around with nothing to do, or very small fights.
There isn’t much to look at either. Don’t get me wrong, Dark Sector is a good-looking game. It’s got most of the next-gen bling you expect in a modern game these days. Grenade explosions in particular look great (by the way, if your aim is good you can shoot grenades in mid-air – very cool). The problem is most of the environments are the same and while there is a variety of locations, they just don’t feel all that different to each other.
Most of the character design is good, although the main character isn't rendered very well, and is lacking detail. Also, his face looks strangely chubby for such a skinny guy. It looks like the developers couldn’t decide if they wanted an anime or realistic looking hero and settled on something odd in the middle.
Sound is good, but except for the glaive and shotgun, all the other weapons sound weak. They also feel weak when using them, making them kind of pointless. Cutting people up, however, sounds great! The squishing sounds they make as you cut through them or the screams of pain – delightful.
The voice acting is also pretty top-notch – which again makes me sad the story they were participating in couldn’t have been better.
If we chose not to worry about the story and just looked at the multiplayer, well, that wouldn’t help. There are two modes, infected and epidemic. The former takes one fully upgraded/infected Hayden player up against the other players who are regular soldiers with normal guns. They have to use teamwork to kill Hayden and whoever gets the kill becomes Hayden for the next round. This is fun for whoever is Hayden, for everyone else, not so much.
Epidemic, however, is a bit better. It pits even teams of soldiers against each other. The catch is both teams also have a Hayden with them and the idea is to kill the other team's Hayden. Regular soldiers will respawn until one Hayden is dead and the team scores a point. This is a lot more fun and has more strategic depth to it but it’s still not going to keep you coming back for long. The common problem with both multiplayer modes is that it’s always more fun for the player who gets to be Hayden. While playing as the other soldiers feels a bit like a game of Gears of War, it isn’t, and you can tell as soon as you start shooting.
Dark Sector just has so much unfulfilled potential. The ideas are there, they just aren’t executed well.
The first few hours are a lot of fun, the problem is that the game soon loses its momentum. By the time I finished, I had this sad, overwhelming feeling of disappointment and in the end I just couldn't shake it. This was clearly made to be a "superhero's origin" story, and for this reason I hope they make a sequel and do better.
At the moment, however, being the beginning of a potential franchise it is definitely taking its baby steps while going through a few teething pains. So, here’s hoping it uses that glaive to sharpen its teeth more for next time.
