Dark Sector

Digital Extremes creator of Unreal and the UT series, has a dark secret. It's a third-person stealthaction game set in a bleak cyberpunk future and from the exclusive sneak peeks we've been given it looks frankly magnificent.

Unfortunately Dark Sector, one of only a few games confirmed for the next generation of graphics technology, is still being fought over by the heavyweights of games publishing, and until a victor emerges we can only give you sketchy details. For one, the game is set in space, in the mysterious realms at the edge of the solar system, where you play a high-tech stealth agent with a host of supernatural powers. The tagline for the game is every generation a few are born with the power to control, which is not only a sly hint as to the developer's intentions, but a key to the gameplay itself. Using a combination of cyberimplants and psychic skills, you'll be able to manipulate time, the environment and computer systems in a variety of cool ways, giving you a huge amount of control over a highly reactive world.

Dark Sector not only looks stunning, it also exudes cool from every digitally rendered pore, with an anime-inspired art direction that will leave cyber-geeks in tears. The latest news from DE is that the game has just reached its first playable prototype - a major milestone that could suggest a Christmas 2005 release. And though nothing more will be revealed until early spring, this game is definitely one of the brighter points on the gaming horizon.