Dark Sector preview tomorrow, PS3 lead development platform

[VG Aficionado]

IGN's E3 2007 PS3 Countdown -- Day 1, Dark Sector (http://blogs.ign.com/Makaze-IGN/2007/06/24/58315/)
It's that time of year again! As returning IGN readers know, every annum in the two weeks before the Electronic Entertainment Expo, we kick off a countdown where we have a different exclusive top story every day to usher in the big show. To help kick the process off, I'm going to let you in on what tomorrow's game is...

http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799000/dark-sector-20070624031309067-000.jpg

We finally went hands-on with the game and will provide our impressions in addition to a video interview, new screenshots, and direct-feed video of how it's looking. Also, since I run the PlayStation channels I'll throw this extra bone to my readers -- PS3 is lead SKU, so take from that what you will.

I've included a lower-res image of one of the new screenshots above. We'll have the HD version and plenty more where that came from tomorrow.It makes sense since Dark Sector was first announced for PS3 two years ago. The best news is that IGN will have a lot more news on upcoming games before E3 starts, for all platforms I guess.

[dnpmakkah]

I really want to see more from this game. I think the graphics look very Gears of Warish (which is a plus) but so far the gameplay looks very slow...and I mean very. One to two enemies on screen and not much else. I know it's probably the developers just wanting to keep things hidden for now but I hope to see more of this game at E3.

[LiquidEagle]

I really want to see more from this game. I think the graphics look very Gears of Warish (which is a plus) but so far the gameplay looks very slow...and I mean very. One to two enemies on screen and not much else. I know it's probably the developers just wanting to keep things hidden for now but I hope to see more of this game at E3.

Yeah, I hope things really heat up and there are more enemies on screen than just a couple.

[rob the slob]

Theyve been showing the 360 version. Maybe they switched over to PS3.

[Nameless]

I believe this game is running of the UE3 engine so I doubt we will see any real differences between the PS3 version and other platforms.
If the PS3 is the lead sku it's good to hear the PS3 version will not be short changed...

[LaLiLuLeLo]

No it's not using the UE3 engine. It's an engine they developed themselves because they've been working on it before UE3 was even out.
GOSH Nameless get your facts straight! ;)

[yoshaw]

I don't feel the same charm off of this game ever since it made a U-turn from its inception. I mean, why oh why would they show an awesome rhino like face mask(odd enough, it resembled a penis too). But later change it to some urban setting with protagonist holding Xena's weapon.

I haven't been able to find myself intrigued by the WWII'ish enemies mixed with mutants in a Russian setting. C'mon, even the cliche's are crying in this one. I realize space marines isn't a new idea either but atleast the trailer and the setting, somehow felt better than the norm. In short, it clicked back then, now it doesn't.

My two cents, no one has to agree.

[Z]

you know what does struck me as good? the game never really changed much in quality (if at all) since it was first unveiled. the first showing wouldn't look that good today, but it only shows that they were using what they had from the start and not pre-renders.

I don't feel the same charm off of this game ever since it made a U-turn from its inception. I mean, why oh why would they show an awesome rhino like face mask(odd enough, it resembled a penis too). But later change it to some urban setting with protagonist holding Xena's weapon.

I haven't been able to find myself intrigued by the WWII'ish enemies mixed with mutants in a Russian setting. C'mon, even the cliche's are crying in this one. I realize space marines isn't a new idea either but atleast the trailer and the setting, somehow felt better than the norm. In short, it clicked back then, now it doesn't.

My two cents, no one has to agree.

you saved me the posting effort. I would be more excited if the switch was the other way around.

[warmachine]

Afair the developers bought UE3...

[VG Aficionado]

Video interview (http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/674/674095/vid_2031332.html)

5 new screenshots here (http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/674/674095/imgs_1.html)

Pre-E3 2007: Dark Sector Hands-on (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/799/799000p1.html)
It's Resident Evil 4 meets Gears of War... seriously.
by Jeremy Dunham

June 25, 2007 - They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that's truly the case, then the team at Canadian developer, Digital Extremes, really, really likes Gears of War. Dark Sector plays and feels almost exactly like it -- right down to its cinematic storytelling, control scheme and visual style. In fact, Dark Sector is so reminiscent of Gears that there's even a context-sensitive action button that powers its cover system. There's a sprinting option that comes complete with a handheld "shaky-cam" point of view as well.

"We wanted people to be able to jump right in and start playing," said Dark Sector product manager, John Austin. "[Epic] established a certain standard for third-person controls in their game; so while it's not an exact replica of Gears, it's familiar enough that people should be able to 'get in and go' with no problem."


http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799000/dark-sector-20070624031313926-000.jpg
If Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War got married and had a kid, it would be Dark Sector.


Austin isn't kidding. Sitting down with the controller and playing Dark Sector is a cinch for post-Emergence Day veterans. We needed roughly a minute of acclimation to get used to Sector's faster and looser aiming, but after that it was like picking up an old friend in a new suit.

Mechanical similarities to Gears aside, Dark Sector borrows heavily from Resident Evil 4 and 3D Zelda games. The "over-the-shoulder" POV is straight out of Leon's dark adventure from 2005 (as is the aiming system) and the pacing and progressive puzzles were influenced by games like Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time. The idea here is to constantly provide players with ways in which to learn a new ability or game concept. "When you have nothing more to learn, then it probably won't be as fun," said Austin when referring to the team's overall design motto.


http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799000/dark-sector-20070624031737220-000.jpg
- Hayden Tenno, Badass (http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799000/dark-sector-20070624031737220-000.jpg)


During our play-through we saw an example of Zelda-like puzzles firsthand. One section challenged us to navigate through a dilapidated building whose massive door was held shut by a biological goop. Slicing or shooting the overgrown booger was completely ineffective, so we had to find a way to burn through the disgusting grossness instead. To do so, a hidden gas main had to be uncovered from the inside of statue, so that when we smashed a hanging light with our badass glaive, its electric properties would taint the weapon and ignite the flammable vapor. From there, it was just a matter of tossing our boomerang into the blaze so that we could set fire to the slime lock and move on.

Speaking of the Glaive, it's by far the most important weapon in the game and is the thing that separates Dark Sector from the titles that inspired it. Grown out of the lead character's metallic right hand, the Glaive helps players solve puzzles and destroy enemies faster than anything else in their arsenal. Not only can it be powered up with the elemental properties listed above, but it can slice enemies to ribbons as well. It even has a built-in light source to help users find their way through some of the darker areas.


http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799000/dark-sector-20070624031312551-000.jpg
The glaive isn't your only means of putting the hurt on, there are shotguns too!


With a weapon that powerful, Digital Extremes' biggest priority is to keep the game balanced. So while the rebounding blade can take out just about everything in one shot, its range is limited. You're not going to be able to accurately take guys out from several hundred yards away, and it could prove difficult to eliminate a group of enemies who are right up on your grill when completely surrounded. This is where Dark Sector's other destructive items come into play. Shotguns, machineguns, pistols, and our favorite, the sniper rifle, can all be found our purchased to supplement the glaive.

Apparently, each of Dark Sector's weapons can be upgraded too. Although that function wasn't available in the E3 demo we sampled, Austin did say that users will eventually be able to advance their gun of choice and make it more powerful. But even more intriguing is the fact that players will also be able to evolve their main character, Hayden Tenno, through the additions of new super powers and abilities. Sadly, the extent of these meta-skills is still being kept under wraps.

Another big secret is what Dark Sector's storyline is truly about. While we do know that Tenno is an amoral black-ops agent sent to the fictional Eastern European town of Lasria to investigate the propagation of a deadly virus, we don't know much else. The only other bit that Digital Extremes has revealed is that when Hayden arrives in Lasria, he's attacked by an unknown assailant and is inflicted with the super germ he was there to investigate. He wakes up to discover that he's been fitted with a cybernetic arm and glaive and the story takes off from there. What has infected Hayden and why hasn't he turned into a zombie like the rest of the town's afflicted? Who is responsible for this outbreak and what can be done to stop it? Where does Tenno's new arm come from? Apparently, we won't find the answers to most of these questions and more until the very end of the game.


http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799000/dark-sector-20070624031310942-000.jpg
The glaive is powerful on its own, but can be made even stronger via the elements.


However, we can tell you this -- if the enemy AI continues down its current path then getting to the end of Dark Sector will be easier said than done. Even in its current pre-alpha form, the game offers some surprisingly tough baddies to go head-to-head against. When combating a squad of soldiers, for example, one group may try to draw your fire while the others attempt to flank Hayden from the other direction. What's more, is that enemy snipers hang out in windows and try to pick you off and zombified townsfolk will swarm you in packs so that what they lack in speed is made up for in force. Plus, since the virus going around town affects everyone differently, you'll see multiple kinds of infected -- from the kind that blow up when ignited with fire to giant, super tough boss monstrosities than can kill your guy with little effort.

As difficult as the bad guys may be, though, we would like to see the areas a bit more populated. In the two to three levels shown in the demo, several of them were barren with occasional "enemy flag points" scattered in-between. If Digital Extremes truly wants to capture the feeling of a real "living" city, then it will need to add a little more activity to its streets. It may also be a good idea to offer a few more hints as to where players are supposed to go next -- as is the case with several games of this size, figuring out your next goal isn't always that clear.


http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/799/799000/dark-sector-20070624031309067-000.jpg
Though the PS3 is Sector's lead platform, all versions should be nigh-identical.


The good news, of course, is that Dark Sector won't be hitting store shelves until January 2008 at the earliest, so there's still plenty pf time to tweak and add things as necessary. Oh, and another element that we can't forget is that the game will also include a multiplayer component that is said to be "extremely innovative" in its field (more on that post-E3 apparently). When combining those elements with the fact that it feels so much like Gears of War, has already-impressive visuals and boasts a "No HUD" interface, D3 could have quite the surprise hit on its hands.

[Nameless]

No it's not using the UE3 engine. It's an engine they developed themselves because they've been working on it before UE3 was even out.
GOSH Nameless get your facts straight! ;)

My bad...

The game visually reminds me of the UE3 engine and I thought someone stated the game was running on UE3. I remember the original trailer back in the day, but once that was scratched the game took on a completely different style and approach. Honestly it did not sound out of the question for the game to be using the UE3 engine.

[Red_Eyes]

A Gears of War clone. Which is a good thing.

[section]

from PSU.com (http://www.psu.com/node/11787):

Coming straight out of Santa Monica from D3Publisher's pre-E3 event, PSU had the pleasurable chance to sit down and get hands on time with one of the best looking 3rd person shooters of this generation, Dark Sector.

Perhaps to start, a little background information can be given about the title. Dark Sector was one of the first next gen titles announced for PlayStation 3 way back in E3 2004. Then in 2006, the game was shown having a completely revamped graphical style going from spaceship sci-fi to a gritty post Chernobyl Eastern USSR.

Gamers will play as the CIA Agent named Hayden Tenno who is sent to an Eastern Europe city named Lasria to extract information. While there, Hayden is attacked by an unknown enemy and awakens to find part of his body altered by an infection, granting him inhuman abilities.

The hands on demo that Digital Extremes and D3Publisher had set up was playing on a Vizio 1080p HDTV and running on a debug Xbox 360 unit (apparently it is hard to come by PS3 test units despite PS3 being the game's lead platform).

The demo begins with Hayden in an war-torn alley where the environment is dark and debris and dust float free in the wind. Once you make your way down the alley you come to a graffiti logo above a sewer locating the spot to purchase weapons and ammo for your arsenal. Most likely this represents some kind of underground resistance that Hayden can buy goods from. The weapons available to purchase included a pistol, Colt 45, Sniper Rifle, and a couple of sub-machine guns, but once you start killing, forget guns...you have a freaking glaive!

The glaive is one of the coolest, most original and most entertaining weapons since Gears of War's chainsaw bayonet. The glaive is used for everything including:

- Shattering lights, lamps, light posts, and so on to create shadow coverage

- Glaive can be thrown into circuit boxes and fires to give it a new touch (electricity, fire)

- Stealth kills - Can be thrown at enemies to dismember legs, arms, heads, and torsos


From talking to one of the developers, Digital Extremes has had a blast coming up with ways that players could dismember and kill enemies. A few examples of some of the stealth kills included: throat cutting, gut spilling, and neck breaking.

Also mentioned was the fact that they are looking at supporting PlayStation Home with some cool items or possibly even having Hayden's metal arm as an unlockable for your Home character.

The demo was fairly easy and could be played through in about 20 minutes. During the course of the demo Hayden encounters gas mask wearing soldiers, virus infected humans and a metallic monster about the size of a small building.

The graphics and audio blew past games out of the water, as they were absolutely fantastic. The only issues that Dark Sector currently has is the AI and camera.

It seemed as though there were parts in the demo where the AI of the soldiers was impressive. They would take cover, flank, and use vantage points. However, in other parts of the demo they would take cover or see Hayden and shout to their squad units, yet allow the player to walk untouched around them making for easy, yet still enjoyable kills. It seemed as though the AI was a little inconsistent.

The other critique that could be made is one aspect of the control, although it's nothing major. When you jump down from high areas, Hayden uses his glaive to scrape down the side of the wall. However when executed, the camera angle would move to an angle where you couldn't properly see the nifty animation. This should be a simple fix, but it was a mentionable flaw.

In the end Dark Sector takes everything great about past shooters (Gears of War cover/sprint/climb controls, Resident Evil 4 shoulder camera and gore) and mixes it with its own creative style and storyline. Dark Sector is definitely a title worth keeping an eye on and probably a title that all shooter fans should buy.

Look for Dark Sector on store shelves sometime in early 2008, and be sure to check back in with PSU as we'll keep you updated on the future of this promising title.

Glaive keeps reminding me of the chain weapon used in Painkiller, you threw it, it smashed stuff on its way and it came back. Though this glaive is even cooler as a concept.

[wanderlust]

Theyve been showing the 360 version. Maybe they switched over to PS3.
huh? the first gameplay trailer was of the ps3 version.

[KRA]

other videos from ign (http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/674/674095/vids_1.html)

here is one too. (http://media.ps3.ign.com/media/674/674095/vids_2.html)

[NeoPlayStation]

Amazing screens from recent build:

[NeoPlayStation]

More:

[yoshaw]

Amazing screens from recent build:

The 1st two pics are eye-watering UE3 look alikes. Impressive graphics. I wish capcom's frameengine was on par with this quality. So RE5 could look soooo detailed. Niiiice regardless!! :thumbl: