Alone in the Dark
We finally get a chance to see how the PS3 version of Dark Sector is shaping up with a playthrough of the first three levels.
Published: December 4, 2007
Dark Sector holds the distinction of being the first next-gen game revealed during the PS2 era, even if it was in the form of a simple tech demo (which you can see by scrolling up and hitting the Movies link; it's the first teaser at the bottom there). But what started as a sort of Metal Gear in space sci-fi tease has gone through something of a metamorphosis once developer Digital Extremes went to work on the project in earnest.
Though they're quick to point out that some of the sci-fi elements are still in the game -- particularly during the later chapters -- the developers have transplanted those bits into the current day. Well, once the game proper starts, it's in modern times, but the game's intro, like the first level of the game, is told in black and white. The initial flashback of Russians discovering a mysteriously surfaced submarine sets the stage for the arrival of one Hayden Tenno, a CIA cleaner sent in to off a former fellow agent in the fictional Eastern European country of Lasria.
Tenno isn't what most would call a nice guy, gifted with a wayward moral compass and a general lack of conscience that makes him so perfect for our government's necessary wet work. Tenno's job is to slip in, end someone and slip out, no questions asked, and he's rather good at his job. The reason why he has to off one of his own co-workers is because of the Technocyte Virus, which turns the infected into rage-filled monsters at the outset and over time completely transforms them into metal-skinned beasts.
It's a perfect military tool, which explains why Mezner, a none-too-pleasant man assisted by an infected second in command, has taken over a Lasrian town focused on pumping Inferon Gas, one of the few things that can actually stop (or at least slow) the infected. It's a strategic move that backfires to an extent when the Inferon containment facility under the town Tenno just happens to be infiltrating fails, unleashing... well, Digital Extremes isn't quite ready to talk about that yet.
When Tenno and Mezner finally meet in Lasria, it apparently isn't the first time, as the teaser you can watch right now (again, just scroll up, click Movies and click on the third teaser) makes plain. If not for the fact that Hayden actually managed to complete his mission, icing his infected CIA pal in a black-and-white shaded intro level, Mezner's next move would have been Tenno's last. He instructs his metal-skinned underling to kill Tenno, which he acknowledges by plunging an infected spear into the cleaner's shoulder. As the virus spreads, the game world slowly filling with color with each slowing pump of Tenno's heartbeat, the agent manages to activate an explosive and escape... right into the waiting jaws of death.
The whole death/rebirth metaphor is something that's been used to great effect in storytelling for ages, and here it's the catalyst for Tenno's transformation. Though he is physically altered by the virus, his right arm and shoulder first covered in a viral soup that slowly sloughs off to reveal metal underneath, there's a dual transformation taking place, one that eventually will leave the man physically changed as well as helping him to become a proper hero even as he comes under fire from Lasrian forces, the infected and his former employer (remember, they have a rather one-track way of handling infected agents).
The virus certainly isn't without some plusses, though. The first is the growth of Tenno's glaive, a Guyver-like blade that returns after being thrown like whirling, bladed boomerang. It's great for cutting the heads and limbs off of enemies (something the game has you do early on as it slowly walks you through Tenno's growing list of abilities), but when combined with the ability to dual wield a pistol, rile, shotgun and so on, it becomes an indispensable tool -- especially because it can absorb elements like fire, ice and electricity to both hurt enemies and bypass puzzles.
Though they're quick to point out that some of the sci-fi elements are still in the game -- particularly during the later chapters -- the developers have transplanted those bits into the current day. Well, once the game proper starts, it's in modern times, but the game's intro, like the first level of the game, is told in black and white. The initial flashback of Russians discovering a mysteriously surfaced submarine sets the stage for the arrival of one Hayden Tenno, a CIA cleaner sent in to off a former fellow agent in the fictional Eastern European country of Lasria.
Tenno isn't what most would call a nice guy, gifted with a wayward moral compass and a general lack of conscience that makes him so perfect for our government's necessary wet work. Tenno's job is to slip in, end someone and slip out, no questions asked, and he's rather good at his job. The reason why he has to off one of his own co-workers is because of the Technocyte Virus, which turns the infected into rage-filled monsters at the outset and over time completely transforms them into metal-skinned beasts.
It's a perfect military tool, which explains why Mezner, a none-too-pleasant man assisted by an infected second in command, has taken over a Lasrian town focused on pumping Inferon Gas, one of the few things that can actually stop (or at least slow) the infected. It's a strategic move that backfires to an extent when the Inferon containment facility under the town Tenno just happens to be infiltrating fails, unleashing... well, Digital Extremes isn't quite ready to talk about that yet.
When Tenno and Mezner finally meet in Lasria, it apparently isn't the first time, as the teaser you can watch right now (again, just scroll up, click Movies and click on the third teaser) makes plain. If not for the fact that Hayden actually managed to complete his mission, icing his infected CIA pal in a black-and-white shaded intro level, Mezner's next move would have been Tenno's last. He instructs his metal-skinned underling to kill Tenno, which he acknowledges by plunging an infected spear into the cleaner's shoulder. As the virus spreads, the game world slowly filling with color with each slowing pump of Tenno's heartbeat, the agent manages to activate an explosive and escape... right into the waiting jaws of death.
The whole death/rebirth metaphor is something that's been used to great effect in storytelling for ages, and here it's the catalyst for Tenno's transformation. Though he is physically altered by the virus, his right arm and shoulder first covered in a viral soup that slowly sloughs off to reveal metal underneath, there's a dual transformation taking place, one that eventually will leave the man physically changed as well as helping him to become a proper hero even as he comes under fire from Lasrian forces, the infected and his former employer (remember, they have a rather one-track way of handling infected agents).
The virus certainly isn't without some plusses, though. The first is the growth of Tenno's glaive, a Guyver-like blade that returns after being thrown like whirling, bladed boomerang. It's great for cutting the heads and limbs off of enemies (something the game has you do early on as it slowly walks you through Tenno's growing list of abilities), but when combined with the ability to dual wield a pistol, rile, shotgun and so on, it becomes an indispensable tool -- especially because it can absorb elements like fire, ice and electricity to both hurt enemies and bypass puzzles.