Section 8 Prejudice is a sci-fi based first person shooter developed by TimeGate Studios. The game that I played at PAX East was a 4-player co-op mode entitled Swarm. A tower defense type of game style where you must defend a control point from waves of enemies. Considering this was the first time of me even really checking out Section 8, I didn’t know what to expect.
As soon as I picked up the controller there was a screen called TACNET, basically a load out screen and a small mini-map on the right with a small cross-hair. After clicking on the map the screen changes over to a set of doors that open up to a world and your character is shot out of a drop ship. Unknowingly I was shot to the battlefield away from the main base. Instinctively searching for a sprint button while already pushing forward I noticed that the character seems to automatically kick things into overdrive in a third-person full on sprint. I immediately thought that this game is going to be fun to play. While in third person I noticed a jet pack built into the suit of the character, now I knew this was going to be a fun game.
Game play felt similar to Tribes, and if you never played the PC FPS, then you can compare it to a beefier Halo. Bullets seem to do actual damage, rather than slowly chip away at your enemy’s shields, (although they still have active shields in this game) then health after you reload, a full clip can chew away at two or even three enemies at full health and armor.
If you’re wondering how the tower defense comes into play in the game then I can only explain it in terms of orbital drops. After players frag enough enemies and earn enough money to purchase items, from a buy screen, activated in the hud. After selecting your item, say a turret, a outline of the turret takes the place of your cross-hairs. Placing the outlined turret in whichever position you want initiates the orbital drop of your turret to that exact location.
The level design seems vast but yet small enough so you don’t feel too overwhelmed, and even though there is the full sprint that players can go into there are different types of vehicles players can call in to aid them in battle. The battle mech that I called in was a juggernaut, slow to move but packed a punch… Literally! Getting close enough to punch enemies the mech can perform finishing moves when the enemy’s health is low enough. So far the best one I’ve seen is a mech using a player as a bat and the player’s attack bike as the ball, I’ll leave the rest up to your imagination.
What else might this game have to make it worth your wild? How about the price for the game? Only $15 for a full game with a single player campaign, a 32-player (40 on PC) multiplayer mode, and 4-player co-op. The game will be available for Xbox 360, PC, Playstation 3 this summer, oh and did I mention that TimeGate Studios already has DLC planned for the game?
[nggallery id=181]
