Dark Sector - first look

After a couple years of almost nothing following its announcement in 2004, a few bits and pieces of Dark Sector have been bubbling up in the last couple of months. This time, we've got more than just a few screenshots or a teaser trailer to show you, as we've finally seen a finished demo of the sharp-looking sci-fi/horror shooter in action.

Following the adventures of a CIA "cleaner" named Hayden, Dark Sector looks suspiciously similar to Resident Evil 4. The action unfolds from a third-person, over-the-shoulder perspective, with players strategically using cover and targeting enemies with conspicuous laser sights. This is much more than just a survival-horror ripoff, however; the developers are calling it a "superhero origin story," and it looks to have plenty of bizarre touches that are all its own.

Dark Sector is set in the crumbling former Soviet republic of Lasria, where Hayden has been sent to tie up some loose ends. The thing is, Lasria's got more secrets than Hayden realizes, and their biggest one busts loose just as he arrives on the scene.

We're not clear on the details yet, but the long and short of it is that Hayden gets infected and mutated by the lingering remnants of Soviet bio-experiments that have been hanging around Lasria since the '50s. It's a remarkably useful mutation, though, as it gives him a metal arm that enables him to carry and control a "glaive," a Frisbee-sized throwing star that flies like a boomerang and does terrible things to his enemies. The glaive becomes even more terrible when Hayden uses it as an "energy trap" - toss it at a fire or source of electricity, and it'll become infused with that energy, enabling Hayden to burn stuff or electrocute bad guys.