Section 8 Review (PC)

Grab you’re sick bag as we dive straight into battle

Diving into battle from 15,000 feet is much more entertaining than watching a countdown until you respawn into the battlefield. The fact that you can interact with the dive for more precision or landing on an enemy is even better. TimeGate Studios multi-player driven shooter Section 8, allows 32 players to play simultaneously online in immense scaled maps consisting of terrain and structures.

The objective of any multi-player match in conquest mode is to collate a series of points by hacking into a computer at the tap of a button. Computers can be found in any four posts in a map. If your team hacks and captures more than one post, your team accumulates points.

By hacking and acquiring all the posts, you win the match and you’ll be rewarded with a grin on your face as you search for your position on the leader boards. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well that’s because it is, so don’t expect a team death match or any other multi-player mode in fact, as these are the main game mechanics.

Section 8Apart from hacking into computers there are other decisions to be made too, such as whether or not you choose to guard your post. At times there will be on the fly commands that the enemy has planted a bomb in your fortress leaving it up to you or one of your comrades to disarm it. Without teamwork your posts will crumble like a cookie, and therefore a stronger union and communication between players is the key.

The load outs are pretty much basic consisting of a sniper rifle, assault rifles, pistol etc., but your best bet though is to custom your own one as you’re not going to like the presets. On the upside they can be changed at any time you wish during a match and best of all every one of the weapons are available from the start.

Given the freedom to respawn back into a map has never been more fun.

TimeGate Studios has also accommodated for the offline user with full offline bot support. I must admit, although they’re not life like, they do provide a challenge. If you feel you don’t have a soul sucking 32 player bandwidth you can always mix it up and throw in a few bots.

For players who might find the controls daunting there is a 30 second lock on feature. Believe me when I say you need this, you’ll find that it proves to be very useful to bypass enemies bullet sponging armoury. The only weapons to successfully kill enemies are the games assault rifles after about two clips of 100 bullets. Often enough enemies soak up so many bullets that you run out of arsenal, waiting to be killed so you can respawn.

Another feature is the sprint meter called overdrive, which basically allows you to cover more distance for a short amount of time, switching the view port to third person. With out the sprint meter your character runs very slow which is annoying, forcing you to wait until the meter recharges.

It’s almost as if they’ve done it on purpose so players make use of the feature but unfortunately it doesn’t really balance out. The jump gauge is an additional feature that works in the same way as overdrive. The difference being instead of sprinting you can jump higher.

Section 8Section 8 is definitely a game not driven by narrative but offers a short campaign, which should only be played to get used to the maps and controls. There is no other reason to play the campaign, think of it as a minute tutorial.

Seeing as this game was made in the Unreal engine I’m really disappointed with its presentation. The graphics are so dated and the textures look deprived. I can think of five other games made in the unreal engine that look stunning compared to this. This is a real poor execution on the developers’ side.

On the whole Section 8 is an enjoyable shooter with a vast range of maps and a fair amount of weapons. Given the freedom to respawn back into a map has never been more fun.

It’s all about teamwork, going in as a one man army isn’t an option since enemies love to soak up bullets. You’ll more than likely to just die without the help of a team member, cursing at the game and forget all about it.

There are just so many other shooters releasing soon and I can’t see Section 8 being your top priority. Unfortunately it will just be buried behind the likes of other mainstream shooters.

The Good: � Creative way of respawning into battle is very fun; � Online can be entertaining to pass time; � Windows live connection is quite stable with more than 20 players online. 32 players in a match is quite rare but has never lagged while participating in one. ;
The Bad: � Doesn’t hold you’re attention span for very long; � Bullet sponging enemies; � Outdated Graphics;


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Bronze Y AwardBronze Y Award
3.5 3.5 / 5

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