Section 8
Score: 84% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Southpeak Interactive Developer: Timegate Studios Media: DVD/1 Players: 1; 2 - 32 (Online) Genre: First Person Shooter/ Action/ Online
Graphics & Sound: How important is innovation to you? If your answer is "extremely," Section 8 probably won't interest you for a second. It's a class-based shooter about space marines and futuristic weapons. It's a competent shooter that doesn't do quite enough to separate itself from the pack. That's not to say the game isn't fun, because it is. If it's a satisfying story and great single player campaign you want out of your shooter, this is not the game for you. If your main game is online and you're not afraid of revisiting familiar territory, you'll find an impressive multiplayer offering in Section 8. Section 8 is a decent-looking game, but it's not particularly impressive from either an artistic or technical standpoint. It's got everything that you'll find in your garden-variety futuristic shooter: shiny armor with retractable faceplates and neat shield effects are among those staples. Character models are bland and unimpressive. However, running at around forty miles-per-hour and "burning in" from the sky to slam fist-first into the ground (or an unlucky enemy) looks great and never, ever gets old. Audio-wise, Section 8 is on the forgettable side. You've got your hamfisted vengeful protagonist marine, your monotone talking robot (Alien or 2001, anyone?), and all the clicks and beeps of your high-powered jetpack armor. It works, but it's just not interesting. The music won't get your blood flowing, but you're not going to laugh at it, either.
Gameplay: Section 8 contains a few single-player modes, but neither of them consist of much more than bot matches. Corde's Story chronicles Alex Corde's rise through the ranks of the 8th Armored Infantry during a war where, based on the environments you fight in, the stakes don't appear to be all that high. The story isn't anything to get excited about, although you definitely get to shoot a lot of stuff. Here's the rub, though: both main single player modes (Corde's Story and Instant Action) offer the same kind of action that the multiplayer modes do. Needless to say, the single player is not the meat of the experience. Being a first-person action shooter, Section 8 will have you blasting enemies left and right. However, there's more to war than simply blowing the other guys away, even though there is only one multiplayer mode. You must hack a number of control points and then fortify the positions with emplacements, which can be bought at almost any time, provided you can indicate a clean drop vector. If there's one thing I really appreciate about Section 8, it's the way it implements randomized objectives into matches. If you're doing really well in a match and you've accomplished a number of Feats, you'll begin a DCM (Dynamic Combat Mission). These objectives keep the action fresh and varied, and for me, it's easily the best part of the game. On top of that, the Feat system encourages you to experiment with your kills, and that's always a good thing.
Difficulty: Section 8's difficulty level is yours to play around with, as long as you're offline. The A.I. does a competent job of managing objectives and killing other bots (or you) at the same time. The enemy A.I. feels a bit more aggressive than the friendly A.I. (probably to compensate for you being human) but again, this is a game that finds its main strengths online. If it's been a while since you've played a class or objective-based shooter, Section 8 will let you know just how rusty you really are. I haven't played a game of Battlefield since last year, and hear you me, I got stomped on Hard difficulty. It's important to learn how to manage every captured control point, and learning the ideal locations for emplacements is extremely important. Corde's Story is extremely short. After about an hour and a half of play, I unlocked an Achievement for completing the first half of the campaign. If Section 8 boasted of an epic single player campaign, I'd be less gracious about this. However, this is a game that clearly knows that the single player component is not one of its strengths.
Game Mechanics: When you're on foot, Section 8 is a breeze to control. However, once you start hopping into tanks and heavy armor, the controls become unwieldy to the point where you'll often decide that you trust your own two feet more than several inches of metal. The vehicles are that bad. I might have mentioned that Section 8 isn't a very innovative game. That's not to say it's entirely devoid of ideas. The jetpack armor is a blast to play with once you learn how to control it. Soaring over walls and getting the drop on a group of unsuspecting enemies is ridiculously satisfying, even if the kills themselves lack oomph. One of Section 8's biggest strengths is in its customization options and potential for emergent gameplay. Playing around with the different classes is rewarding when you're able to come away with a balanced class of your own. There are a ton of options to tinker around with, and it requires a bit of thought. It's fun, though. Section 8 lends credence to the idea that not all games have to innovate to be fun. If you're not connected to Xbox Live, I can't recommend it to you; you simply won't get any mileage out of it. However, if you live your life online and don't mind donning the armor of a space marine for the bazillionth time, suit up and prepare to drop.
-FenixDown, GameVortex Communications AKA Jon Carlos
Related Links: Official Website of Section 8
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