Somebody's got a crush! After spending 20 minutes with
Dark Sector at a recent press event, one thing has been made incredibly clear: Dark Sector wants to be
Gears of War. From the color palette to the controls, the camera perspective, and the level design, there are obvious similarities between the two titles. Even the art style is similar -- though, admittedly, the main character here is much more of an emo comic book hero than a bulked-up super warrior.
In the level we tried, gameplay centered around two aspects: killing enemies, both with guns and your boomerang-style weapon "The Glaive," and then using The Glaive to solve puzzles. Combat works much like that in Gears -- hold the left trigger to zoom-in over your shoulder, aim with the right analog stick, etc. The actual feel isn't as meaty as in Gears, and it seems like the game would benefit from a strong melee attack (apart from the already-in-place one-button context sensitive finishers), but it's easy enough to drop in and start playing.
The puzzles are what seem to distinguish Dark Sector. Because The Glaive picks up different properties depending where you throw it, you can light it on fire, give it an electric charge, etc. and then use those powers to pass obstacles such as a door that just happens to be covered in tree branches and needs a little warmth. None of the puzzles we came across proved to be very challenging to decipher, but they did a good job of breaking up the action, and with any luck, will continue to serve that purpose on a larger scale in the full game. Developer Digital Extremes promises there's much more to come before the game's release next year, with everything from new Glaive powers to an "innovative" multiplayer mode on the way. The game definitely shows a lot of promise in its current form, but we're hoping our next look at the game shows off more of how it stands out from the rest of the crowd than another segment that highlights the Gears similarities.