In honor of the next free Warframe: 1999 expansion, which is scheduled for release in December 2024, Gamexta can exclusively announce that Dark Sector, the 2008 third-person shooter from Warframe creator Digital Extremes, is currently available for free on Steam for the next 72 hours.
Except for a few countries, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, Steam users can download Dark Sector from its Steam website immediately and avoid paying the $9.99 price tag.
Dark Sector puts you in the role of Hayden Tenno, a clandestine agent who has to infiltrate the made-up Eastern European city of Lasria, which is hiding a highly hazardous Cold War secret. He contracts a Technocyte Virus while on his assignment, which transforms him into a lethal machine with abilities and a lethal glaive that he must utilize to save everything.
We stated in our assessment of Dark Sector that it is entertaining. Any action fan can relate to the experience of hearing guards plead for assistance moments before they are glaived in the face, marching around in this Jackal tank that looks like Metal Gear, shooting bad dudes into the air, and brandishing a pimped-out shotgun. However, Dark Sector’s weak plotline may not be enough to keep the more erratic fan interested until the very end of the game, when the incredibly similar stages and waves of opponents become too repetitive. Although it is not flawless, it is enjoyable.
Regarding Dark Sector’s relationship to Warframe: 1999, the expansion will transport players to the year before the year 2000 and the retro European city of Höllvania, where they will play Arthur Nightingale. Fans of Warframe are accustomed to a space setting, so this is a big departure, but it should be an entertaining one.
Dark Sector was undoubtedly an inspiration for this expansion, according to creative director Rebecca Ford, who spoke to VG247. The team looked to the game for its tone and a European-feeling metropolis.