The Search For Borderlands Substitutes: Section 8 Review

As we anxiously await the release of the ultimate time killer (aka Borderlands), I've been hunting for some other sci-fi games to hold us over. Could Section 8 from TimeGate Studios offer a solution?

The Story

In the vision of the future presented by Section 8, the rebel group ARM of Orion are attacking the outer colonies of humanity’s interplanetary empire. Earth’s response is “Let’s waste these bitches” and so an armada is sent out to deal with this problem. At the forefront are the men of the 8th, colorfully referred to as Section 8.

Why the nickname ? Well it turns out to be part of Section 8 you have to hate the idea of coming home alive. The purpose of this group is to literally be shot out of a spaceship in nothing but their armor, slam into the ground at blazing speeds, and then kill everything around them. The title stems from a type of military discharge caused by being mentally unfit for service. Wanting to skydive out of a spaceship right into battle just might should probably qualify you for description of “mentally unfit.”

Single Player

Despite having the potential to craft this premise into a truly epic sci-fi/war story, TimeGate made the choice to focus on multiplayer rather than a campaign story mode. This is readily apparent from a single-player campaign not even being mentioned on the back of the box and the fact that the multiplayer option is the first listed on the main menu.

The single-player campaign that is present, entitled “Corde’s Story,” is more like multiplayer matches against bots with a few cool cut scenes dividing them up. Most players will find this portion of the game to be more of a beefed up tutorial than anything else. I did wish there was a little more here since there are a few genuinely exhilarating portions, specifically a fairly tense “defend the downed dropship” scene early in the game.

Multiplayer

Section 8’s multiplayer, the main attraction, is focused around Conquest, a mode that anyone who has logged time in a Battlefield game will instantly recognize. The idea is for two teams, Section 8 and the ARM of Orion, to attempt to earn a specific amount of Victory Points before the other. This is done by slaughtering the other team, capturing control points, or accomplishing something known as Dynamic Combat Missions, which are random team objectives that pop up throughout a match.

These missions range from assassinating a computer controlled enemy leader to escorting/destroying a supply convoy that is attempting to cross the map. The DCMs add a welcome sense of unpredictability to the proceedings as you attempt to accomplish them and not get your head blown off in the process.

Spawning

Prior to running and gunning on the ground, you’ll be presented with what is possibly the coolest feature of the entire game: burn in. Now I don’t think this has ever been as heavily implemented in a game like this before but I wish it had been. Each time you spawn, rather than simply appearing at predetermined locations around the map, you actually play through the act of being shot out of your orbiting drop ship and hurtling through the atmosphere. As you drop you see the entire map spread out before you along with symbols marking your team, enemy control points, objectives, and so on.

Once you hit a certain altitude you are given the option to break and manually steer the rest of your descent. The tradeoff here is that this makes you an easier target for enemies and turrets on the ground but allows you to guide yourself to a new landing spot and hit the ground running (and if you’re lucky you can land right on top of some poor unsuspecting bastard).

If you take the nutjob route and refuse to brake then you slam into the ground at high speed, making you a harder target but forcing you to recover for a second or two and question how the hell you’re still alive. While I could understand how some people may eventually grow tired of having to do this following each death, you still have to admit that it is a very unique take on the age-old multiplayer event of spawning.

Controls

In your attempt to crush the opposing team you’ll find that the power armor both sides wear has some ups and downs in terms of control. While the majority of the controls are your standard shooter fare there are some odd problems that hinder the experience. Specifically the sensitivity and speed of the controls appears to be a bit low. This causes the normal movement of your character to seem very tired and plodding. The excuse could be that TimeGate wanted it to really feel like the characters had some weight, due to the wicked looking armor strapped to their backs, but it still feels odd and unresponsive nonetheless.

Armor, Weapons and Special Abilities

The armor almost makes up for these movement shortcomings, however, with the genuinely useful features of an overdrive system and jump-pack. The jump-pack fills the role of a very limited jetpack, allowing the player to reach certain heights for a small period of time and rain hell down on the heads of others.

The overdrive--which is pictured above--is a unique take on sprinting and very useful. After holding down the sprint button for a few seconds a bar will fill and the camera will switch to third-person. Your character will then launch into a Usain Bolt-style sprint that lets you cover ground extremely fast for a limited time. This increases your mobility and allows for you and your squad to respond much faster.

In terms of your implements of ass-kickery the arsenal is certainly not terrible but nothing too special. You’ll have your assault rifle, heavy machine gun, shotgun, missile launcher, sniper rifle, pistol, knife, and grenades. They all sound great and feel good to shoot but you’ll soon realize how weak these weapons can be.

A prime example is the sniper rifle, which does NOT have a one shot headshot kill. This underpowered feel did at first disappoint but I soon began to enjoy it since it really made me work for my kills. Also, it gave me a fighting chance when confronted with the annoying bastard who camps on the edge of the map picking me off every five seconds and seems to follow me into every multiplayer game I’ve ever played (I’m just sour because I’m horrible).

This aspect of the weapons also makes you realize that you actually need to think about what you’re doing in this game. This includes what exactly is going into your loadout, which can be completely customized before every spawn. This is in addition to a huge variety of special perks that you can provide your character, which could be extra armor or even added stealth to stay off enemy radar.

Teamwork

This carries over into communicating and actually working with your team. In my first couple games I attempted to go lone wolf and this just ended up with me looking like a clown. Once I actually started talking and working with the rest of my team, however, it all started to fall in place.

Teaming up on lone enemy soldiers, assaulting waypoints together, or commandeering vehicles to tackle any DCMs that appeared, ended up being completely addictive. Achieving goals such as these also tied into a fairly deep reward system that the game utilizes, giving you experience points to rank up (similar to the recent Call of Duty systems) in exchange for your performance on the battlefield. The game forces you to learn to work together and in turn makes it all the more rewarding.

It is this learning, however, that will turn many players off. It will take a good hour or so of some serious online time to really get a feel for and understanding of all the game’s systems. The balance of the weapons and the bevy of objectives that confront you are combined with an extremely crowded and complicated HUD. Players must also come to understand the strengths and weaknesses of vehicles, in addition to handling their extremely awkward controls.

There is also a complete marketplace system that players must learn to use mid-battle, allowing them to spend cash they earn from kills in order to call down turrets, ammo dumps, and other necessary pieces of equipment. While you will eventually learn what everything means (hint: actually read the instruction manual on this one!), it is all a bit intimidating nonetheless.

Graphics

As for the graphics and visual variety, Section 8 is not an ugly piece of work but it is certainly not on the same level as many of the triple-A titles of this generation. The power armor of the characters is nice and the fact that you can see the entire map rushing up at you in real time during burn in is really quite amazing.

The general design of characters, equipment, vehicles, and surroundings, however, refuses to stick in your mind after turning off the game. Players will find various bland textures and some unexciting visual effects, but this is offset by the wide open and varied terrain and structures that are encountered in each map. In other words, while parts of the visual presentation are nice, as a whole it merely gets the job done.

For The Lazy Readers Who Only Want A One-Paragraph Summary

So is Section 8 for you? It is definitely a good title with lots of satisfying qualities but there are also various problems and design choices that could turn off many people. In the end, each person must look to their personal preferences in order to decide if these are deal-breakers or not.

As we all eagerly await Borderlands, just know that if you are looking for some quality sci-fi team-based multiplayer to fill the time, and are willing to put some work in, then Section 8 is definitely worth a look. PREPARE TO DROP!

7.5 guns out of 10