We’ve watched countless movies where people jump out of planes and free fall back to the ground. I’m sure we’ve all had the idea of how they would land without a parachute, well Section 8: Prejudice is one game that’s taken that idea and put it into a FPS. I mean what better place to put it than in a battlefield on a planet in some galaxy? Section 8: Prejudice is the sequel to the original Section 8 game that was released in 2009. Prejudice comes back this time around packed with a campaign, and multiplayer mode with a few different game types.
In campaign mode of Prejudice you take the role of Alex Corde, a space marine in the 8th armored infantry division. Throughout eight missions that take you through four different terrains that are based off of the multiplayer maps, you fight against the army of the Arm of Orion. If you’ve never played the previous Section 8 game then there really isn’t much to worry about since the game re-introduces you to the game mechanics. Prejudice’s story line wasn’t the greatest but it gives players something to follow, and a chance for players to traverse the multiplayer maps with their hands being held by giving them instructions of what to do.
Gameplay is pretty much one of your standard sci-fi FPS type of play but with a tweak here and there. If you had to compare it to any other game, Prejudice feels like a mix between Tribes and Battle Field. Players have the ability to sprint, but because of the powered armor your character wears, an overdrive sprint allows for boosted sprint to travel across the map at blazing speeds. Along with the overdrive system, players also have jetpacks to assist in getting the upper hand on enemies.
Weapons and explosives in the game are pretty much basic with a few altercations to the ammo. Pistol, shotgun, rifle, machine gun, missile launcher, sniper rifle, and plasma cannon round out the guns. The only difference in each weapon is that each gun has different types of ammunition that have different attributes like napalm, rail, explosive, strong against shields but not armor, or vice versa. Armor also has a different attributes as well. Lending from an RPG type of characteristic, players have ten points to upgrade certain parts of their armor. Everything from a stabilizer for gun recoil, more armor, more shields, higher shield and health regeneration rates, stealth, and an increase in bullet damage. Customizing your armor and weapons for battle is always fun, the only hard part is choosing which one will optimize your class for each time you respawn, and respawning is one of the many fun things in the game to do. There’s nothing like being shot out of a airship’s personnel launcher and soaring to the ground like a bullet.
Multiplayer is pretty much what Prejudice was setting it’s aim for, and they did a very good job in hitting their target. Game modes for multiplayer include Conquest, Swarm, and Assault. Conquest mode consists of two teams fighting for capture points scattered across the level, while holding each capture point DCM’s or dynamic combat missions. DCM’s can consist of assassinating or protecting VIP’s, collecting or defending various players or convoys, activating beacons, and gathering or protecting intel. Swarm is your basic Horde mode, you and three friends or bots go up against waves of enemies to defend your base from being taken over. While defending you’re able to set up mini-gun or missile turrets, supply depots, sensors, and even call in tanks, hover bikes, and mechs to aid you in your battle which you can do in all multiplayer modes. Assault mode is your standard team vs team battle, one team defends certain points from attackers till all points are captured then teams switch from defending to attacking. Whichever team completes the attack in the shortest time wins.
Vehicles in the game have been a great addition, that’s if you can get enough money to call them in. Money is hard to come by in multiplayer mode, and is pretty much almost non existent in campaign. The more missions you complete for DCM’s and the more kills you accrue, the better chances you’ll have of making money, but when you get enough funds for vehicles they’re definitely worth the effort. Hover bikes are fast and deadly, while mechs are slow but powerful for defending bases, and tanks have a lot of mobility and on board weapons your teammates can use on the enemy with you. Of course driving each of the vehicles in the game takes some practice, the take controls exactly how a BF2 tank would. Hover bikes feel agile but fragile at the same time especially if you hit parts of terrain that or full of big boulders. Lastly, mechs are big hulks that move slow but in close range can pounce on top of their prey in an instant, and a machine gun arm to fend off soldiers at a distance.
All in all Section 8: Prejudice was a great game to play. There were very few problems that I ran into while playing campaign mode. Unfortunately there wasn’t much options do deal with audio so I had to deal with either loss of sound or no speech from the computer controlled players. Honestly if it weren’t for subtitles I would have not known what was going on in the campaign. The game plays very well, fire fights always feel solid. One downfall of combat is if you don’t carry a knife there is no way to melee enemies in close range, other than that the game isn’t bad. As you level up and unlock more things for your arsenal, the more options you have to make to customize your load outs, which means making your own feel for each character. Prejudice has a lot in a little package, and for the price of $15 it’s definitely a big steal. If you’re a fan of the sci-fi FPS genre, then this game should be one you shouldn’t miss especially with a $15 price tag and an achievement system that will keep you coming back for more. Section 8: Prejudice is already out for Xbox 360 and PC, and will be released this summer for the Playstation 3.
[starreviewmulti id=2 tpl=20]
Overall = 8.4
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