“It’s about more than headshots”

Digital Extremes producer Dave Kudirka talks about its gruesome new action title, Dark Sector.

How would you describe Dark Sector to someone who had never seen it?

Dark Sector is a bloody, unapologetic third person shooter in which the anti-hero, Hayden Tenno, is infected by a biological weapon. The contamination gives him powers, such as the ability to vanish from sight, deflect enemy projectiles and throw a triple-bladed weapon called a Glaive.

You describe Hayden Tenno as an anti-hero, can you expand on that?

Hayden is not the kind of protagonist you are used to. His actions are not driven by the pursuit of justice, he kills without empathy and his story is of the physical and emotional changes brought on by his disease.

What powers will Hayden be able to use?

The Glaive is the centrepiece of the game and has some amazing powers of its own. It can be used as a melee weapon or thrown. It can absorb fire, ice and electricity, and Hayden can attach an explosive charge and detonate it remotely. He has some impressive powers of his own, such as an energy shield and a temporary cloak.

Where does the inspiration for the Glaive come from?

It was inspired by a glitch in an early version of the game, in which a magnetic grappling hook tended to stick to enemies, continuously spawning blood particles. As we designed the Glaive, Hayden's personality and powers changed to reflect his personal connection with such a brutal weapon. There are huge expectations of gore when you have a bladed boomerang flying around, so we've programmed a fair amount of arterial blood spray.

What kind of enemies does Hayden face?

There's a fantastic range of enemies, including assault teams, infected civilians, walking tanks and armoured super-soldiers, as well as some weird and wonderful bosses. There's a lot of variety, and to keep things interesting enemies have unique weaknesses that the player will need to figure out, such as stunning them with electricity or using fire to burn armour. It's not just about going for headshots every time.

What can you achieve on the current generation of consoles that you couldn't in the past?

We can have dynamic lighting and shadows, and realistic physics. My personal favourite is freezing an enemy mid-stride, then watching his icy corpse wobble under its own gravity before toppling to the floor and shattering into pieces that can be shot or kicked around.

What can you tell us about the multiplayer mode?

We have two multiplayer modes, both of which play on the added strength Hayden's disease gives him. In Infection mode, players take turns controlling a fully evolved Hayden against a team of Hazmat soldiers. Epidemic mode is a team-based battle in which each squad is lead by a player-controlled Hayden. The first team to kill the opposing leader wins.

Without spoiling the story, is there anything in Dark Sector we haven't seen yet that we may want to look out for?

With upgradeable guns, grenades, the Glaive and the unpredictability of rag doll physics, we're seeing unique and spectacular combat events that we never anticipated in the design phase. But everything is framed by a tight story with some unusual characters, which we hope will flesh out the full experience.