Dark Sector

Gameplay of Dark Sector revolves around the use of the Glaive, a tri-blade throwing weapon similar to a boomerang which returns to Hayden after each throw. The Glaive can be used for long-distance combat, solving environmental puzzles, and picking up in-game items. When in close proximity to an enemy, context-sensitive actions may appear, allowing the player to execute enemies with “finishers”. Enemies hold onto Hayden while attacking, and the player must rapidly press a randomly prompted button to break free. Environmental puzzles in the game usually focus upon capturing various elements (fire, electricity, or ice) with the Glaive.

For example, a web blocking Hayden’s path can be bypassed by capturing fire with the Glaive, and then launching it at the web to burn it down. The Glaive can also be dual-wielded with a gun, which allows the player to perform weapon combos which are more effective against shielded enemies. As the game progresses, Hayden and the Glaive are given several new abilities; it can be guided through the air, being able to kill multiple enemies; a charged-up throw for deadlier attacks; and the ability to make Hayden invisible for a short time and provide a temporary shield.

The camera is positioned over the shoulder for third-person shooting, and the player can take cover by standing next to an object such as a pillar or wall. While in cover, Hayden can move temporarily out of cover to fire and throw the Glaive, but there is no blind firing from behind cover. There is a sprint function, which works similar to Gears of War’s Roadie Run, and melee attacks that allow Hayden to punch or slice nearby enemies. The game has no HUD (except for the ammo counter); Hayden’s health is shown by the screen flashing red when he takes damage, as well as an indicator showing the attacker’s position.

If Hayden takes too much damage, the flash speed will increase, and a heartbeat will be heard, indicating Hayden is “bleeding out”. Money, ammo, weapon upgrades, and grenades can be found in set locations. Downed enemies drop their guns, though after his infection, Hayden can only carry these weapons for a few seconds before they self-destruct. Permanent weapons can be purchased and upgraded in black markets, one small weapon for his off-hand use with the Glaive (replacing the pistol) and one large weapon such as a shotgun or rifle.

Dark Sector is set in Lasria, a fictional satellite country bordering the Soviet Union, where the military fights against the Technocyte victims, who have largely undergone extreme mutations and have gained abilities. The player character is Hayden Tenno (voiced by Michael Rosenbaum). An ambivalent CIA agent, he has congenital analgesia, which renders him unable to feel pain. He is supported by Yargo Mensik (voiced by Jürgen Prochnow), an ex-GRU Colonel, scientist, and sleeper agent who knows the origin of the Technocyte virus.

The main antagonist, Robert Mezner (voiced by Dwight Schultz), is an ex-CIA agent who seeks to build a utopia by spreading the Technocyte virus across the planet. Supporting Mezner is Nadia (voiced by Julianne Buescher), a mysterious woman whom Hayden knows; and “Nemesis”, a metallic, humanoid figure who fights with a long Technocyte blade. Other characters include “the A.D.”, Hayden’s superior in the CIA; the Blackmarket Dealer, an arms dealer who supplies Hayden with weapons and equipment for his missions; and Viktor Sudek, a captured informant.

Near the end of the Cold War, the USSR discovers a sunken submarine off the coast of Lasria; something attacks the salvage crew through a gaping hole in the hull. In the following years, a mysterious infection called “the Technocyte” breaks out in Lasria, causing widespread mutation and destruction before the Lasrians bring it under control. In the present, Hayden infiltrates a Lasrian gulag compound Robert Mezner is using to hold those infected with the Technocyte virus. His mission is to find Viktor Sudek, prevent the virus’s spread, and eliminate Mezner.

Finding Viktor, now a loose end and potentially infected, Hayden executes him. Fighting through enemies and planting C4 charges, Hayden encounters an armored humanoid called “Nemesis”; immune to gunfire, it telekinetically deflects an RPG back at Hayden, knocking him off the roof and he passes out. Waking up, Hayden finds himself face-to-face with Mezner, who chastises Hayden for his blind obedience and divulges info about his psychological profile.

Nemesis then stabs Hayden’s right shoulder, infecting him on Mezner’s order, who states that Hayden deserves to suffer the disease’s effects.By detonating the explosives, Hayden manages to escape. His right arm now mutated by Technocyte, Hayden contacts the A.D. who orders him to meet up with Yargo Mensik and obtain boosters to halt the infection. Shortly after, when ambushed by soldiers, his infected arm produces the Glaive; he slowly gains new abilities as the infection progresses while encountering both haz-mat soldiers and infected civilians.

He also hears Mezner taunting him telepathically, saying that this change is inevitable. Eventually, Hayden finds Yargo but refuses the medicine, and learns that Mezner wants to recapture the infected with an old transmitter, which emits a signal that attracts the infected to its location, within an old church. Killing a giant ape-like Technocyte monster, Hayden finds the transmitter in the church’s catacombs and plants C4 but is held at gunpoint by Nadia, who has a deep-rooted hatred for him and leaves him to the infected.