Remember your old friend? Single player, offline?

Does anyone remember what the fuck we did before Xbox Live... went live? Does anyone remember that, before Xbox Live and the consistent slew of shallow FPS multi player games, we all played single player games offline - and we were happy. I know i was, because game developers were still very very competitive.. and were still required to make quality games in order to turn a profit. Its like movies in the 80s - Film production companies competed to make the best movie, the biggest stunts, the best locations. Now, games are produced in almost the exact opposite fashion.. This is meant to be a Dark Sector review, so Ill get back on track.

Dark Sector; Review by Kenji Urban. (spoiler free)
Sound 10/10 • Gameplay 7/10
• Graphics 8/10 • Story 5/10

Who are we? Who are we always?? Surprise surprise, it turns out we're a Black/Special/Crack ops agent, sent as always, against his will, into a remote research facility to "investigate" after... genetic... yadda... mutation... yadda yadda.. experiments... yadda yadda.. virus... and yeah, kill them all. So far standard issue action game thats been made twenty thousand fucking times before. Played Cold Fear on xbox1? What about one of the Resident Evil games? If you answered yes to either then you already know exactly how this games character moves/controlled.

Kill people, kill everyone.
The game begins and we're made aware that a deadly virus has been created my a scientist, who is suspected of hiding out on this remote research facility. Find him, kill him. In fact, kill everything, everyone. Sounds standard issue right? Thats cause it is standard issue. Then the game took a detour from the shooting formula and introduced us to a "Glaive". WTFs a Glaive right? Its a circular "predator-esque" throwing blade. Like a boomerang, only sharp as fuck. and with three sides instead of two. and it looks nothing like a boomerang. You do throw it like a boomerang though! I'm thinking during development they realised the word 'boomerang" was no-where near as cool sounding as "glaive". Did i mention that not 5mins into the game the hero (you) is infected with the virus???? Well, that hasn't spoiled anything, its actually the start of the game. Its also how you gain the Glaive and the ability to use it. Throw it. Kill with it. Its all the same thing. On top of the Glaive, you have your ever present side arm (pistol) and an assortment of enemy weapons they drop upon dismemberment.



Wait!! i forgot to to say its head hunting a plenty, as the Glaive can easily take off an enemies head.. actually its encouraged.. You're also given the choice of purchasing new weapons and install upgrades to them. The usual; better aiming, more power.. There is also a cover system, which was a HUGE surprise.. its got issues like every other game on the market with a cover system, but as long as you are not a fucking moron, there probably won't be a problem.



So... guns and a bloody boomerang, the disc of death... the spinning splatter-er. OR.. you could call it a Glaive. I'm going with Spinning Splatter-er.

Who Am i and what am i doing here?
Back to the game. uhhhh, we're looking for someone? The scientist i'm sure, hes the one who just infected us! Look, i am notorious for skipping cinematics and cut scenes - most of the time because the voice overs are hilariously unprofessional. So i usually make up my own story as i go. This time i found myself doing something i hadn't done since Halo1, and thats pay attention and actually 'care' what the cutscene was telling me. To my pleasant surprise it reminded me of something i used to do every weekend!, and that was to absolutely engross myself into a new game and worthy story line, and spend the later half of the night dissolving into a new world. I AM a secret agent. I AM a special ops bad boy, and YES, I've been infected with some fucked up virus, so i'm going to slice, dice and practically obliterate anything that gets in my way of finding the cure and saving my own life.



Now, having said all that - this plot in this game is practically non-existent. That didn't deter me from playing the game, rather, it wet my appetite for more single player games, and i can tell you why in a single word; atmosphere. The game had oodles of dark and scary atmosphere, made obvious through the fantastic sound effects of the surrounding environments. Everything from heavy machinery operating, to the footsteps and moans of others, to the ricochet of bullets to the sound the Glaive makes as it travels through the air, fast AND in slow motion (yes, bullet time). Only reason i have stopped playing it at the moment, is because it was too intense! I was in a giant and almost completely dark sewer pipe, surrounded by howling and moaning virus infected muto-zombies.. i had to turn it off, it was getting too scary, and my body was flooded with adrenaline :) Breathing hard and everything.. i was getting jumpy and scared, which is pretty cool when a video game can do that too you.

So what was the last single player game that you played through right till the end? For me it was Just Cause and Hitman Blood Money..


/dark sector review-rant.

p.s. If you want a (more) serious review of Dark Sector, check out GameFAQS, or the Wikipedia page.