Dark Sector (and WWII Aces)

If Dark Sector was an entrant in a beauty pageant, it would surely win the swimsuit competition. Vivid colors, exacting details and eye-popping graphics, it’s got in spades.

But if it was forced to answer the essay portion of the contest, it would fail worse than New Coke. The story is strikingly unoriginal and, worse, the game is technically flawed and at times buggy.

In Sector, a secret operative gets infected by a strange virus during a mission but develops superhuman powers that unleash his inner potential and allow him to chuck around a sharp metal glaive like a Frisbee. We’re pretty sure this story line is printed on page 56 of “The Generic Action Game Handbook” -- minus the “Krull”-like glaive, of course.

And that’s too bad, because wandering around the beautifully detailed levels really gives gamers a sense of exactly how much effort went into successfully making this game look really good. The devil is truly in the details here; from the puddles to the eroding rock walls, Sector’s visuals stun.

It’s a shame more time wasn’t spent on the development of the generic story line, relegating Sector to the “wasted potential” column.

Grade: B (beautiful yet boring).

Details: PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms; $59.99; rated Mature (blood and gore, intense violence, strong language).

You’ll have to be an ace to play it

The World War II aerial combat game WWII Aces flies into some rough skies.

Its three control systems are a lot simpler and easier to learn than a more serious air combat simulator like Ace Combat 6. Because it’s on the Wii, it seems naturally suited for less advanced gamers; by simply tilting the Wii remote up or down, players simulate the plane’s joystick. Anyone could do that, right?

Not so fast.

Aces turns out to be maddeningly difficult to play, even on the easiest setting; only serious students of the rules of dogfighting will find themselves good enough to pass some of the levels. Get shot down by wave after infuriating wave of enemy planes and you’re forced to start the mission over. While the sounds are great, and the graphics decent, there is a limit to how many times one can unsuccessfully play the same dumb mission.

So it’s not easy enough to be an arcade-style game, yet not realistic enough to be a flight simulator. Then what is Aces? Stuck in purgatory.

Grade: D (do look elsewhere for good aerial combat).

Details: Nintendo Wii platform; $39.99; rated Teen (violence).