All eyes will be on Paula Radcliffe this year to see whether she can snatch the marathon gold during the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer. Why are we talking about the Olympics, you ask? Because some things are actually worth a four-year wait, it just turns out that Dark Sector isn’t one of them. In fact, strike that, the two are pretty damn similar. In all honesty we’d forgotten about the Olympics, much like how we’d stopped caring about Dark Sector. Four years will do that to you. The difference is that the Olympics are one of those nice surprises, like fi nding a fi ver in your jeans you didn’t know was there. Dark Sector, on the other hand, is more like a polo stuck to the denim you wish you hadn’t discovered.

In the beginning Dark Sector feels like a battle against the game’s mechanics. Hayden Tenno, your character, must have stepped in something rotten because he just can’t seem to stand still, gliding a good few paces even after you’ve let go of the analogue. Just you wait until you try to pick up a weapon with him, you’ll be effi n’ and blindin’ his idiocy to no end. All this aggro comes before you’ve even tried to take cover as well, fi nding yourself gambolling into the wall instead, straight into enemy fi re. That’ll pop your lid for sure.

The main problem though is that Dark Sector doesn’t know whether it’s a shooter or an action game. It sits somewhere uncomfortably in the middle and as such doesn’t excel at anything it tries. The shooting aspects are marred by the fact that enemy weapons explode in your hands (nice one Digital Extremes, that’s great fun that) and a distinct lack of ammo. As for close combat, the collision detection is so awful you’ll try your best to avoid it. All that’s left is a boomerang-type weapon called the Glaive.

You’ll either love or hate this thing. Its accuracy isn’t the best and it’s very temperamental to get a power throw with, achieved by holding the trigger for the right amount of time. With a little practice and experimentation it’s possible to saw people’s arms, legs and heads off using it, which, we have to admit, is pretty sick. Thankfully, running out of ammo isn’t such a big deal once you start enjoying the Glaive either, and we found replenishments weren’t too hard to fi nd considering the game’s shameless crates-on-stairs-inspired linearity, even if breaking open the boxes took ten times as long as it should.

Speaking of the levels, it’s all rather drab and a bit samey. Missions fi nish with a simple message and leave you oddly unsatisfi ed. They’re incredibly unbalanced too, ranging from simple ten-minute affairs to hour-long hauls. The only real standout environment is a creepy church and graveyard that’s swarming with zombies. The best thing about the aesthetics other than that are the lighting effects, which are terrifi c in fairness.

As a result it’s not until a way into the game that Dark Sector starts impressing. As a virus takes over Hayden’s body (we won’t bore you with the crappy story) you’ll start getting some exciting evolutionary abilities. First up is a shield. It doesn’t seem very special at fi rst but it allows you to stop being patient behind cover and go kick some alien arse up close and personal. We mentioned how bad the close combat was, but starting to see new fi nishers on different enemies makes it worth the horror. This happens when the enemy glows red after taking damage and you press Circle by them. It’s extremely satisfying to pull off on a foe that just won’t budge from their safe hiding place. On a similar high, you then get the invisibility ability where catching an enemy off guard immediately lets you do a fi nisher on them. This speeds up the pace of the game considerably, even if it does leave you wondering why it doesn’t always work.

Asking ourselves that very question brought us to realise how unfriendly Dark Sector is to the gamer. It doesn’t explain anything well at all. Most shockingly, so-called puzzles are more a matter of guesswork. You’ll turn a wheel and be fl abbergasted as to what on Earth it did. Too often you can be stuck in an area like this for no reason. Another example is on a ship; against the clock before you drown you must use Sixaxis control to guide the Glaive through tiny gaps, with zombies giving you hell at the same time. How bloody annoying. And don’t get us started on the fi nal boss, which is quite possibly the worst thing ever constructed. It’s a shame the game ends on such a low as previous boss encounters were actually pretty good, most notably the butch and heavily armoured soldiers who you must attack from behind.

All things considered though, Dark Sector struggles to make any sort of impression. It’s rarely scary and the action is a mixed bag of frustration and confusion. It all just feels very amateur and, although some aspects will provide a cheap thrill, the experience as a whole is a letdown.

Javid Sangra