Interview: Dark Sector Infects PS3 & 360

**Anilrgowda** · 04-Jun-2007, 10:40 PM

Resident Evil and Zelda are the two main influences for an intriguing new action game coming out later this year on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Dark Sector promises to combine innovative weapons and crafty play techniques with a compelling puzzle-solving element, and a 'superhero origin' story that could turn Dark Sector into a big series. We recently got an advanced look at the promising game, and had the opportunity to get some details directly from the game's producer at D3 Publisher, Josh Austin. The developer is Digital Extremes, who worked on Unreal for several years with Epic Games - creators of Gears of War. After a while, they split apart and both wanted to do singleplayer games. But Dark Sector doesn't license the popular Unreal Engine from Epic, instead opting to use its own 'Sector Engine', built specially from the ground-up by Digital Extremes, after something of a fall-out with Epic.

The story behind the Dark Sector's development is perhaps as interesting as that found in the game itself. Dark Sector was the first title to be announced for any next-gen system, way back in April 2004, so we asked Josh why it was announced so early - sometimes a strategy employed for less impressive titles that want to cash in on some early buzz and attention. "Originally when they started this title, there was no Unreal Engine 3, and it was heavily sci-fi. When they were pitching it around [to potential publishers for the game], nobody was buying it, because at the time this sci-fi theme in the game was just not working very well for them." He said that a stronger emphasis was put on the ever-popular superhero theme, and it seemed to pick up momentum again. "Then D3 Publisher picked it up two years ago, and really got it going," Josh told AOL Games.

"Steve Sinclair is the main visionary behind this game," Josh smiled. "He is the guy who pretty much made the code and everything. He worked on all the Unreal Games, he's one of the guys who got it running on Xbox a long time ago! And he's been working with Digital Extremes and created this Sector Engine."

Players start the game as Hayden Tenno, a morally confused CIA Agent on a mission in a fictional eastern bloc nation. "He's kind of like a Jack Bauer, if you watch 24, one of those guys that runs off on his own," Josh explained, "it's all stuff we're revealing in the story, and there's a lot of cool back story too - he's in contact with the agency until he gets infected, and the whole city starts changing around him... he's left on his own and this all affects how he grows as a character." Hayden awakens to discover his right arm has mutated into this metallic growth - and the first thing that extends from it is your first weapon in the game - one that puts Wolverine's firmly in the shade! The glaive is a sharp-edged, three-bladed projectile that behaves like a boomerang, not dissimilar to the Windmill Shuriken used by Ryu Hayabusa in the Xbox classic Ninja Gaiden. The early parts of Dark Sector that we've seen are useful for the player to familiarise themselves with this early, but deadly weapon.

The glaive is also enhanced when combined with elements like fire and electricity, and a range of others yet to be revealed. The really cool thing about the game is the way these combinations allow you to solve some surprisingly imaginative puzzles to pace out the combat, and we can certainly imagine how rewarding it might feel to the player when some are accomplished.

Josh demonstrated this on level four: the 'monster virus' that's spreading rapidly in the game manifests itself as 'technosyde webbing' - a thick, membrane-like substance that Hayden can't break through because it's made from the same viral material as his mutated arm. But players will learn that it can be broken down with fire, and in this level, we also notice a leaking gas pipe in another area. The challenge is for the player to figure out a the puzzle: striking a nearby [COLOR=#084076 ! important][COLOR=#084076 ! important]fuse [COLOR=#084076 ! important]box[/color][/color][/color] to gives the glaive a strong electric charge, then combining the charged glaive with the leaking pipe ignites the gas, so that the glaive is combined with fire, and then, retuning to the technosyde membrane, it can be burnt down and we can progress through the level. The membrane lets out an eerie, beast-like shriek as it's burned. This place makes us shudder! "You'll be revisiting areas, and some of the puzzles will help you later, so anything you do will be affected when you come back to it," said Josh. Another nice touch is that the glaive is luminous, so it's like a long distance, projectile flashlight - at one stage in the demo we enter a dark, claustrophobic cave where we have no idea what may be lurking beyond, and a fling of the glowing boomerang-like glaive is not just visually brilliant to look at, but also shows whether there's anyone - or anything - we might want to watch out for.

Players can also 'combine' attacks together, for example by throwing the glaive down one side of a room to take out enemies, while shooting guys on the other side of the room as the glaive returns - it's a charming effect. "We have other powers that we're not talking about yet," promised Josh. "But we're not overwhelming the player with a ton of options - we're giving them enough so that they learn something new each level, as the game progresses. It's like Zelda where you get this mysterious item on one level, and then learn why it's useful on the next."

"The glaive is definitely one of those weapons we want players to run in and explore everything in the whole world - what happens if I throw it here or there... there are scenarios where you can actually target, say, a light source and then an enemy, in that order, by throwing it in a certain way. Some of the things we're playing around with are going to be a lot of fun. You can pull cover away with it, rip stuff down - there are going to be a lot of interactive elements."

From the first-hand Xbox 360 version we witnessed, there's no doubt that Dark Sector boats some of the best graphics we've seen on any console to date. Rain, lightning and some really nice effects made this dark, night-time level something very atmospheric and special, and the screenshots haven't done justice to the way this title looks in motion. When you throw your weapon through smoke, the smoke distorts convincingly according to the direction you've thrown it in. The mutated enemies are excellently detailed and there are some nicely animated death scenes whenever you take them out.

"We are using [tactical] cover in this game," says Josh. "But it's not all about cover - it's more for setting things up, looking around the environment and surveying the area, it gives you a chance to figure out what your next move is and regenerate some health." And there's no on-screen display with health status or the like - "all that stuff is on the character," Josh explains. "So if I fire the gun, there's a yellow blinking light on the side of your actual gun indicating that you're low on ammo, and it turns red if you're out of ammo. We're using indicators like these to keep the player immersed as much as possible." Similarly, he showed us, when players are taking a beating in the game, the screen will seem redder and you'll hear the character's heart pounding, while different 'pain' animations will indicate different injuries. So the player's connection with the main character seems pretty essential - but what about interaction with other, non-playable characters in the game? We asked Josh about this to get a sense of whether the world will feel as real as in, for example, Half-Life 2 or even GTA IV. "He's evolving into a hero," explains Josh. "We've got a great character arc for him, and a some of that comes about when we you run into civilians that are going to get shot by soldiers; some of the soldiers will use civilians as bait to lure monsters out, so you're going to have an opportunity to save civilians, and they might lead you out into a black market area or give you something to pass on to get another weapon or whatever -there's going to be a lot of interaction."

Dark Sector will be released in October, and promises at least fifteen hours of gameplay plus a really cool multiplayer mode, according to Josh. And since it's a 'superhero origin' story, gamers can definitely expect a lot more Dark Sector after this first game, if it lives up to the high expectations we now have for it.

04-Jun-2007, 10:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
Anilrgowda Administrator Posts: 18,720 Join Date: Jan 2006 Rep Power: 10 IM:	Interview: Dark Sector Infects PS3 & 360 Resident Evil and Zelda are the two main influences for an intriguing new action game coming out later this year on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. *Dark Sector* promises to combine innovative weapons and crafty play techniques with a compelling puzzle-solving element, and a 'superhero origin' story that could turn Dark Sector into a big series. We recently got an advanced look at the promising game, and had the opportunity to get some details directly from the game's producer at D3 Publisher, Josh Austin. The developer is Digital Extremes, who worked on Unreal for several years with Epic Games - creators of Gears of War. After a while, they split apart and both wanted to do singleplayer games. But Dark Sector doesn't license the popular Unreal Engine from Epic, instead opting to use its own 'Sector Engine', built specially from the ground-up by Digital Extremes, after something of a fall-out with Epic. The story behind the Dark Sector's development is perhaps as interesting as that found in the game itself. Dark Sector was the first title to be announced for any next-gen system, way back in April 2004, so we asked Josh why it was announced so early - sometimes a strategy employed for less impressive titles that want to cash in on some early buzz and attention. "Originally when they started this title, there was no Unreal Engine 3, and it was heavily sci-fi. When they were pitching it around [to potential publishers for the game], nobody was buying it, because at the time this sci-fi theme in the game was just not working very well for them." He said that a stronger emphasis was put on the ever-popular superhero theme, and it seemed to pick up momentum again. "Then D3 Publisher picked it up two years ago, and really got it going," Josh told AOL Games. "Steve Sinclair is the main visionary behind this game," Josh smiled. "He is the guy who pretty much made the code and everything. He worked on all the Unreal Games, he's one of the guys who got it running on Xbox a long time ago! And he's been working with Digital Extremes and created this Sector Engine." Players start the game as Hayden Tenno, a morally confused CIA Agent on a mission in a fictional eastern bloc nation. "He's kind of like a Jack Bauer, if you watch 24, one of those guys that runs off on his own," Josh explained, "it's all stuff we're revealing in the story, and there's a lot of cool back story too - he's in contact with the agency until he gets infected, and the whole city starts changing around him... he's left on his own and this all affects how he grows as a character." Hayden awakens to discover his right arm has mutated into this metallic growth - and the first thing that extends from it is your first weapon in the game - one that puts Wolverine's firmly in the shade! The glaive is a sharp-edged, three-bladed projectile that behaves like a boomerang, not dissimilar to the Windmill Shuriken used by Ryu Hayabusa in the Xbox classic Ninja Gaiden. The early parts of Dark Sector that we've seen are useful for the player to familiarise themselves with this early, but deadly weapon. The glaive is also enhanced when combined with elements like fire and electricity, and a range of others yet to be revealed. The really cool thing about the game is the way these combinations allow you to solve some surprisingly imaginative puzzles to pace out the combat, and we can certainly imagine how rewarding it might feel to the player when some are accomplished. Josh demonstrated this on level four: the 'monster virus' that's spreading rapidly in the game manifests itself as 'technosyde webbing' - a thick, membrane-like substance that Hayden can't break through because it's made from the same viral material as his mutated arm. But players will learn that it can be broken down with fire, and in this level, we also notice a leaking gas pipe in another area. The challenge is for the player to figure out a the puzzle: striking a nearby [COLOR=#084076 ! important][COLOR=#084076 ! important]fuse [COLOR=#084076 ! important]box[/color][/color][/color] to gives the glaive a strong electric charge, then combining the charged glaive with the leaking pipe ignites the gas, so that the glaive is combined with fire, and then, retuning to the technosyde membrane, it can be burnt down and we can progress through the level. The membrane lets out an eerie, beast-like shriek as it's burned. This place makes us shudder! "You'll be revisiting areas, and some of the puzzles will help you later, so anything you do will be affected when you come back to it," said Josh. Another nice touch is that the glaive is luminous, so it's like a long distance, projectile flashlight - at one stage in the demo we enter a dark, claustrophobic cave where we have no idea what may be lurking beyond, and a fling of the glowing boomerang-like glaive is not just visually brilliant to look at, but also shows whether there's anyone - or anything - we might want to watch out for. Players can also 'combine' attacks together, for example by throwing the glaive down one side of a room to take out enemies, while shooting guys on the other side of the room as the glaive returns - it's a charming effect. "We have other powers that we're not talking about yet," promised Josh. "But we're not overwhelming the player with a ton of options - we're giving them enough so that they learn something new each level, as the game progresses. It's like Zelda where you get this mysterious item on one level, and then learn why it's useful on the next." "The glaive is definitely one of those weapons we want players to run in and explore everything in the whole world - what happens if I throw it here or there... there are scenarios where you can actually target, say, a light source and then an enemy, in that order, by throwing it in a certain way. Some of the things we're playing around with are going to be a lot of fun. You can pull cover away with it, rip stuff down - there are going to be a lot of interactive elements." From the first-hand Xbox 360 version we witnessed, there's no doubt that Dark Sector boats some of the best graphics we've seen on any console to date. Rain, lightning and some really nice effects made this dark, night-time level something very atmospheric and special, and the screenshots haven't done justice to the way this title looks in motion. When you throw your weapon through smoke, the smoke distorts convincingly according to the direction you've thrown it in. The mutated enemies are excellently detailed and there are some nicely animated death scenes whenever you take them out. "We are using [tactical] cover in this game," says Josh. "But it's not all about cover - it's more for setting things up, looking around the environment and surveying the area, it gives you a chance to figure out what your next move is and regenerate some health." And there's no on-screen display with health status or the like - "all that stuff is on the character," Josh explains. "So if I fire the gun, there's a yellow blinking light on the side of your actual gun indicating that you're low on ammo, and it turns red if you're out of ammo. We're using indicators like these to keep the player immersed as much as possible." Similarly, he showed us, when players are taking a beating in the game, the screen will seem redder and you'll hear the character's heart pounding, while different 'pain' animations will indicate different injuries. So the player's connection with the main character seems pretty essential - but what about interaction with other, non-playable characters in the game? We asked Josh about this to get a sense of whether the world will feel as real as in, for example, Half-Life 2 or even GTA IV. "He's evolving into a hero," explains Josh. "We've got a great character arc for him, and a some of that comes about when we you run into civilians that are going to get shot by soldiers; some of the soldiers will use civilians as bait to lure monsters out, so you're going to have an opportunity to save civilians, and they might lead you out into a black market area or give you something to pass on to get another weapon or whatever -there's going to be a lot of interaction." Dark Sector will be released in October, and promises at least fifteen hours of gameplay plus a really cool multiplayer mode, according to Josh. And since it's a 'superhero origin' story, gamers can definitely expect a lot more Dark Sector after this first game, if it lives up to the high expectations we now have for it.

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