Customer Reviews

Section 8

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I need not be verbose to present the merits of this game. Section 8 is a quasi-hybrid of Battlefield, Tribes, Halo, and Planetside. It borrows from many of these open-environment team-based shooters but still manages to feel distinct. Fans of this particular sub-genre of FPS titles will be pleased.

Rather than provide additional opinion, let me tell users what to expect:
-Short (4-5 hours on hard difficulty) single player campaign that prepares users for online play
-New, randomly-assigned dynamic combat missions, which encourage players to complete specific goals within a game in order to earn additional victory points (camping the capture points is not sufficient in this game)
-Customizable load-outs, including passive perks, weapons, and abilities
-Two vehicles (tank, which seats a driver and 3 gunners; walker, which seats 1 and is suited for CQC and anti-infantry)
-Deployable turrets and senor arrays

Gamers in search of a team-based shooter that is not hyper-realistic (not for ArmA fans!) may be pleased by the experience provided by Section 8.

I tend to really go off of what Amazon reviewers post about a product to make my purchase so I felt compelled to add my own.

I really want to like this game. It is a good looking syfy shooter with cool mechanics e.g. hyper running, jet pack but the core of it i.e. combat is just plain vanilla. Team play is critical for the missions but too many players are lone wolfs. I would disagree that the pre-release and final product are different. I think they are exactly the same. From what I remember from pre-release most of the items were not available for purchase with the money one earns but that is pretty much the only difference. If you played the pre-release judge your purchase on that. When it is all said and done, I like the game. Although I won't be playing it much. I generally do not buy new games at full price unless they are great, so I do regret this purchase. Customization is limited. Too few levels. Combat does not feel like it takes too much skill. Although perhaps a sequel will be what I am looking for and my money will be well spent on future games this company makes. A+ for a syfy shooter and effort but only a C+ for the game itself. Buy this if you have the extra cash or wait for the price to go down to about $30 IMHO.

As a long time PlanetSide fan I've been interested in games such as this for quite some time. I enjoyed BF2142 for years but the extremely buggy client and even more bugged "expansion" pack eventually drove me from the game.

As for general gameplay the first thing one notices in Section 8 is that players take a lot of damage which I found to be somewhat refreshing after getting the hang of. I guess those giant armored suits actually stop bullets and things. There are other interesting combat gameplay devices like the jetpack, which everyone automatically has, and a type of "super sprint" which automatically engages after a duration of normal sprinting.

The most enjoyable aspect of the game was the deployables. Deployables are purchased with cash which is accrued during the round for accomplishing things and objectives. This adds a highly interesting and unique RTS element to the game and the deployables range from sensor arrays to AA guns (which can shoot you down if you "drop" into the battlefield in their area of coverage) to supply depots and defensive turrets but it doesn't end there.

As a longtime Mechwarrior/BattleTech fan one of the most enjoyable aspects of Section 8 are the two vehicles that players can purchase for themselves. The first is simply a four seater tank but the other is a Heavy Gear-esque type of mecha which is pretty badass and just too much fun. It's slow and has no long range anti-vehicle capabilities but in a defensive posture the thing is an absolute monster.

During the battle "Dynamic Content Missions" begin to appear. Section 8 doesn't have multiple game types but what it does have is a plethora of different and unique objectives which spawn on the fly in the middle of matches; very cool.

The last great feature of Section 8 is the gear and skill customization. While class-like templates exist they have no artificial constraints on the players themselves; I want to be clear when I say that any player can mix and match any and all weapons and skills in any they choose starting from the moment you set foot in multiplayer: THERE ARE NO GEAR OR EQUIPMENT UNLOCKS.

I do have three quick criticisms, though. The single player campaign is absurdly short and relatively uninspired, Games for Windows Live sucks and is super annoying, and most importantly the multiplayer player population is extremely low which I must admit nearly cripples the enjoyability of this game. There's only one populated server at prime time. Luckily, servers are populated by bots to fill vacant slots and the bots' AI is quite good. Some of the best I've ever seen, actually.

The bottom line is that this game is under a dollar and the gameplay itself is highly enjoyable. If you liked PlanetSide, BF2142, Tribes, or maybe even Halo you should absolutely enjoy Section 8.

When I first loaded up the campaign and started playing, my impression of the game wasn't too great. The controls felt odd, as did the game mechanics. As I played some more, I got the hang of the whole sprint/jetpacking gameplay an really started to enjoy it.

Although the singleplayer campaign is fairly straight foward, it serves as a good introduction to playing online, and isn't boring to play through.

The graphics aren't groundbreaking, but they don't exactly hurt your eyes either. Some people have called the art style bland, although I personally liked it. The suits look pretty and weapons look pretty cool to me.

[...]

I agree with the other positive reviews of this title.
Not super original...some nice touches thrown in to make its own.
Average graphics...once in a great while the physics go a litlle wonky.
Vehicle controls have a higher than normal learning curve.

The thing that is best about this game is that it runs flawlessy.
Ive been playing pretty consistently and have experienced none of the typical FPS online problems...IE.lag or host advantage, etc...
This game is all about online play...anyone who got it for the single player is missing the point.

price was fair. i can see why i didnt sell so well. but was still not too bad a game. my buddy and i have fun with it all the same

played it for a good 2-3 hours, currently played SP campaign, so far it reminds me of Halo, but in a different fashion. I do love how the way of spawning is dropping out of a ship. Gameplay is a little too slow for me. lack of the gun selection.

For six bucks, you really can't say too many horrid things about the game, but I will try. The game itself plays much like Warhawk or Battlefront. It is truly multi-player based and all about capturing areas and holding territory. The single player is very weak, if you are not a multi-player guy (which I am not) you should steer clear of this one.

The big issue I had with this game was the install. Run through the install, install directX, install PhysX, then Windows LIVE (even if you have the updated versions of all of them). Start up the game and crash "Windows LIVE Failed to Initialize" or something similar. Took me two days to get this working. I had to delete Windows LIVE, hunt down a hidden folder with my profile stuff and delete that too, then re-install. This worked, but it destroyed all of my settings for every other Windows LIVE game I had.

I guess this game will work fine, if it is your only game. If you have anything else installed, the conflicts are irritating. In the end, I was happy that I didn't lose too much on this game, just more time than it is worth. I just can't believe that they never noticed this bugged issue when testing. Did no one attempt to install the game?

The action is intense without leaving you behind. Turbo running speed, jet packs, multiple weapon loadouts, and air-dropped deployables might not be firsts for sci-fi shooter fans, but they've never been done so well..... well, maybe the airdropped deployables are a first.

This game has enough to be familiar with for fans of multiplayer shooters (and that's what you are, right? otherwise, why are you reading this?) that the learning curve is quite small, but there is enough depth in this game to make it feel like you're not just playing halo again. your armor can be customized as well as your weapon loadout. also, spawning into the map is done by being shot out of a military vessel in orbit like a missile. sentry guns, repair stations, and drivable vehicles may be called down in similar fashion.

now, i mostly played this game with my brother and we had a blast (no pun intended). i didnt enjoy this game nearly as much when i tried to play "alone" (single player or online multi with no team speak). that being said, if you intend to play this game in your alone time, maybe something with a more gripping single player experience would be a better time killer (halflife 2 again?), but if you have some pals and teamspeak then this game is for you.

Section 8 is another FPS. But... it is like a new coat of paint on that old vehicle you love so much and don't want to get rid of. It has many elements of Battlefield 2142, Quake:Enemy Territory, Halo, and Star Wars Battlefront. Finally a shielded, armored, hyper-running (like in G.I. Joe), flying soldier (jumppacks) with heavy duty weapons! Same weapons you're used to with some extra flair. No more plain det noobs like SWBF2. Near infinite repair is here unfortunately but when you work as a team like the game intends that one engineer or whatever won't live long.

You can spawn in wherever you like on the map, except where enemy AA guns are. Destroy the AA guns and you're clear. This game does incorporate many subtle elements to separate it from other games. One: Detection. You can avoid being detected on the enemy radar when not seen, scanned by an enemy or sensor array, or when you use a sensor blocker. Though this may be a short time it can give you an advantage and adds to the difference in the game. You won't always have a persistent red dot on your radar and may even land right in front of an enemy you didn't know was there.
Bonus is when you scan or see an enemy your teammates can now also through their tacnet. Recon and not camping does have its advantages.

There is customization of elements which can give your offense and defense a boost. The vehicles are similar to others before but, the tank is sweet. Four weapon spots for 4 users. Missiles, cannon, mortars, and machine guns. Team play is definitely highlighted here. Just tired of that lone player just trying to rack up personal kills and you still lose. Well guess what he goes all alone and is selfish he will lose and so will your team.

Nice elements of sci-fi that are good to see in a game like orbital cannons shooting ships down. Missions are pretty much old stand by but again with added flavor you'll recall why you liked that dish so much before.

Graphics are good if not COD MW good. Story is decent. Remember it is a game and as Corde you may die several times.

To sum up: Fresh sci-fi experience, nice variety of weapons and effects, new equipment, a tank you want to be your ride, and added variety of multiplayer gameplay. Also you can choose difficulty in multiplayer matches which by stats they track won't necessarily slap you into a match with others more experienced with the game and hand you a smackdown. Also, I like having the choice where all players can play against all bots. The Bots are tough too.

If you have an X-box download the demo. PC users: the Open Beta is over. It showed you some but again the extra in the full game is the difference between a 99 cent burger and one of those ten buck *gourmet* burgers.

Check out their site joinsection8.com and variety of gameplay videos on youtube.

Hope you enjoy it as I do.