Dark Sector

 

Dark Sector begins with Hayden Tenno infiltrating a gulag compound in Lasria. His mission is to find a captured informant Viktor Sudek, prevent the spread of a virus know Technocyte virus and eliminate Robert Mezner. First he finds Viktor but instead of rescuing him, Hayden executes Viktor due to him being a loose end and to prevent a potential virus leak. Hayden makes short work of enemy resistance to find Robert Mezner, the man responsible for ravaging Lasria with the Technocyte virus. Hayden proceeds with planting C4 charges throughout the building, before encountering a humanoid metal figure called Nemesis. Hayden is knocked unconscious after firing a rocket at Nemesis. Waking up hours later, Hayden finds himself face-to-face with Mezner. As Hayden attempts to reach for his gun, Nemesis appears and stabs his right shoulder, transferring the Technocyte virus into Hayden. Hayden detonates the C4 charges set earlier and manages to escape.

His right arm now mutated by Technocyte, Hayden arrives at a radio station to contact the A.D., his superior, for further instructions. The A.D. tells Hayden to meet up with their sleeper agent, Yargo Mensik, to obtain boosters for the infection. Shortly after, Hayden is ambushed by soldiers, just as his infected arm produces the Glaive, which he uses to eliminate the hostiles. Hayden moves along the coast, slowly gaining new abilities with the Glaive as the infection progresses; while encountering both haz-mat soldiers and infected civilians. He also hears Mezner taunting him telepathically, saying that "this change is inevitable." (Click her to watch the full game-play)

Eventually, Hayden finds Yargo, who gives Hayden his updated orders and a booster for the infection. Hayden refuses the medicine, and learns that Mezner wants to recapture the infected with an old transmitter, which emits a signal that attracts Technocyte-infected creatures to its location, within an old church. Hayden also learns that Nadia, a woman Hayden is acquainted with, is also working for Mezner. Hayden moves on towards the church to destroy the transmitter. He makes it into the church catacombs and finds the transmitter. Nadia, who has a deep-rooted hatred for Hayden after his last meeting with her, confronts him. She leaves him to fight his way through a swarm of infected and escape before the C4 he set goes off.

After making contact with the A.D. again, Hayden learns that Mezner is using a freighter to export the Technocyte virus from Lasria. After getting on the boat and fighting through the crew, he makes it to the cargo hold, accidentally releasing a highly evolved Technocyte monster, which sinks the ship. After Hayden escapes, he learns that Mezner's men have found and captured Yargo. Hayden rushes back to Yargo's post, where he finds a security feed of Nadia torturing Yargo, demanding that he let her into "the Vault", saying that whatever is in there can control the Technocyte virus. Disobeying the A.D.'s orders to stand down and await his arrival, Hayden sets out to rescue Yargo. (Click her to watch the full game-play)

Fighting through a train station, Hayden finds Yargo, who has lost an eye during interrogation. After a brief moment of Technocyte-induced pain, Hayden attempts to use the booster, but Yargo starts to warn him about it, just before Nemesis appears. While Yargo escapes, Hayden attempts to take Nemesis head-on, but Mezner arrives and offers Hayden a chance to kill him; however, Mezner has grown powerful enough to mentally control Technocyte creatures, and begins to overpower Hayden. With no other choice, Hayden injects himself with the booster, breaking Mezner's control over him while simultaneously preventing further mutations. Before Hayden passes out, Mezner tells him that he had the same "booster", which was really meant to prepare the two for the Technocyte virus.

Hayden wakes up later in the Vozro Research Facility, where the Technocyte virus was researched during the Cold War. Yargo, who brought him there, tells him that he laced Hayden's booster with "enferon", a chemical lethal to Technocyte creatures. He claims that he was worried that Hayden would "turn out like Mezner", as they both had the same strain of the virus; however, Hayden has retained his humanity, while Mezner did not. (Click her to watch the full game-play)

Yargo also tells Hayden that he can get a suit similar to Nemesis' in the facility's subbasement, which can give him a fighting chance against Nemesis. Hayden sends Yargo through the ventilation system, then makes his way down towards the labs where the suit is kept. After killing hordes of Technocyte creatures and bypassing automated security systems, Hayden discovers the suit; but before he puts it on, Nadia arrives. Hayden pleads with her to leave before things get worse than they already are. She says she's already in too deep, and that she will take Yargo to open the Vault, before leaving.

Hayden dons the suit and finally finds and kills Nemesis, learning that it was actually Nadia all along. She apologizes for infecting Hayden and tells him Mezner is planning to transmit the Technocyte virus across Earth. Nadia then tells him that she knows he'll "do the right thing this time", gives him the key to the Vault, then dies. (Click her to watch the full game-play)

Hayden works his way to the entrance of the Vault to rendezvous with the A.D., who says he has made a deal with Mezner and gives Hayden a booster "for the road". Outraged from being used and betrayed, Hayden stabs him in the neck with the booster, telling him that he now feels "better than ever", and kills all of the A.D.'s men before heading for the Vault. Finding Yargo, Hayden gives him the key, telling him to seal the Vault and dispose of the key. Inside the Vault, a stunned Hayden discovers the first known source of the Technocyte virus: an American submarine that surfaced off the coast of Lasria (seen in the prologue of the game). Hayden discovers Mezner with the Technocyte transmitter, a Hydra-like monstrosity. After fighting and defeating Mezner, the monster and several infected, Yargo arrives to tell Hayden that the transmission is still going out. Hayden tries to fry the circuitry with his Glaive; but Mezner, not yet dead, stuns his right arm, telling him: "You are one of us now." With his right hand immobilized, Hayden catches the now-electrified Glaive with his left hand, and impales Mezner's skull with it. With the transmission finally halted, the game ends with Hayden leaving the Vault, catching the Glaive as he steps outside. Yargo, who apparently survives, narrates: "That was how it started, the irony of this disease. That in all the others, it made evil; but for him [Hayden], it had saved his soul." (Click her to watch the full game-play)

Game Name: Dark Sector

Release Year: 2008

Developers: Noviy Disk, Digital Extremes

Publishers: D3 Publisher, Aspyr Media, Zoo Corporation, ND Games

Game Modes: Multiplayer, Single player

Genre: Shooter

Themes: Action, Horror, Science fiction

Player Perspectives: Third person

Game engine: Evolution, PhysX

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista 32bit
Processor: Pentium® 4 2.4 GHz or similar Athlon® 64™
Memory: XP 1 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 6.5 GB Available
Video Card: DirectX 9.0 compatible, with shaders 3.0 support (nVidia GeForce 6600 or ATI X1300 or higher)
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
DirectX® Version: 9.0c
Controller support: XInput-controllers (Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller or Logitech Chillstream)