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Section8

Intro
Section 8 used to be console game, but it became uncomfortable rubbing it’s armor-clad shoulders up against the Halos and the Gears of Wars crowding the party. Halo was probably a little bit upset too, because Section 8 was wearing pretty much the same exact dress. In response, Section 8 left the boxed retail world, and decided to see how it would fare at the downloadable game party. It didn’t change clothes before heading to the new party, though.


Game
Section 8 wants to be Halo very badly. The music, the landscape of the levels, and especially the character design, are all reminiscent of the Bungie franchise. It does a few things to set itself apart, but ultimately the game just feels like an incredibly bland shooter that doesn’t mind wearing its references on its sleeve.

The overall Section 8: Prejudice package is pretty forgettable, but it does impress in a few ways. In the landscape of downloadable Xbox LIVE Aracde titles, Section 8 looks pretty darn sharp. It doesn’t look quite as good as a comparable retail release (like Halo: Reach for example), but it’s not bad. It is certainly among the better looking of the 3D downloadable Arcade games. Falling to the world from a dropship, as is required at every respawn, looks really cool, and it make dying somewhat worthwhile. You may have died, but hey -- at least you get to go skydiving again.

There are three modes available to play in Section 8: Prejudice. There is the campaign mode, the conquest mode and swarm. The latter two are online modes, and the former is a few moderately fun goals broken up with laughable voice acting, and a story that the ‘skip this cutscene’ option was invented for. The campaign is incredibly short being comprised of only a few levels, but feels appropriate given the price of the game, and the complete lack of player interest in the story that will undoubtedly arise. You spend much time with the single player, but the the game still feels like a worthwhile package.

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The conquest mode pits two teams against one another as they try to take over control points and increase their score. There are many objectives that different players can all take on simultaneously, which means starting off is going to be confusing, and with not many people talking online, there is a pretty high hurdle to jump over in order to really get into it. If you can pull in a few friends with headsets though, there is a good time to be had here.

The swarm mode ends up being more interesting simply by the virtue of being more straightforward. It’s you, and a group versus waves of AI enemies. Keep your base enemy free for as long as you can, and keep going until you’re dead, or overwhelmed. It’s a familiar formula, that has been done before, but it’s fun and ends up being the mode worth the most revisiting.

In both the single player and multiplayer, there are opportunities to change your class with different weapons and secondary tools. They all feel pretty much the same though, which is okay, because Section 8: Prejudice makes no attempt to sell itself as class based shooter like Team Fortress. It’s just nice to have the option to choose from a couple different options.

Weapons have different attributes that can be changed out depending on the situation, and much like the diet version of the classes available to choose from, the different attributes don’t make a particularly huge difference in the abilities of your weapon. They are fun to play around with though, and you unlock more options as you play the game.

There are few little tweaks that can make the game interesting, though and sets itself apart to a small degree from other first person shooters. From the very beginning you are equipped with a jetpack, and it allows you to explore the terrain to a surprising degree. I always seemed to be able to get higher than I thought I would. You also have the ability to lock onto enemies for a brief period of time, something first person shooter don’t typically do. The sprint ability also keeps moving around the larger environments from becoming boring.

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Lowdown
Despite the few abilities mentioned above, the whole experience still ultimately just blends in with all the other space marine shooters you have played before. It’s not a poorly built game, it’s a just a poorly conceived one. It lacks passion, and unfortunately it has all been done before on more impressive scale. If you simply can’t get enough first person Halo inspired shooters though, you will find some redeemable elements in Section 8: Prejudice.


roundup
+
  • fun party game for hardcore gamers
  • easy to jump in and play
  • ability to have 2 or 3 local players join an Xbox Live online match
  • total lack of a singleplayer campaign
  • little originality to keep gamers interested
  • lack of balance between vehicle types
  • too little content to warrant continual play
Quote: "If you simply can’t get enough first person Halo inspired shooters though, you will find some redeemable elements in Section 8: Prejudice."
Reviewed by Kyle Hilliard | 05.05.11

Similar Games: Unreal Tournament 3 (8.6) | Halo: Reach (9.8)

boxart

Section 8
Prejudice

Publisher
Xbox Live

Developer
TimeGate Studios

Genre
Action

US Release
April '11

ESRB
"T"

Platform
Xbox Live Arcade

Details
Multiplayer 2-32
Co-Op 1-4
Leaderboards
D/L Content
System Link
1200 MS Points


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