All You Need to Know: Section 8

Posted Sep 16th 2009 3:00PM by James Murff

Games that are coming out soon have a lot of unknowns that the average person might not know. Who is this character inspired by? Is all the talk of volumetric fog or cel-shaded graphics really worthwhile? Do the game mechanics really seem solid, or are they lackluster? In All You Need To Know we provide information to help you fully appreciate what these upcoming games have to offer.

Check out our collection of Section 8 related downloads here on Big Download!

Gallery: Section 8

Summary
Background
Hype

There are plenty of games out there with space marines, or marines in a science-fiction setting. After Aliens, we became enamored with the hard-hitting stereotype of the marine in space, and plenty of games feature them. Doom, Quake 2, Unreal 2, Gears of War, and Halo all feature space marines, and these are only the shooters! Timegate Studios, developers of the incredible Kohan franchise as well as the F.E.A.R. expansion packs, have decided to throw themselves into the veritable melee of space marine games. Is this so wise? Will Section 8 offer anything new?

On to Background Info >>

Tags: all-you-need-to-know, featured, fps, joystiqfeatures, multiplayer, need-to-know, section-8, southpeak-games, timegate-studios

15 Comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

"Undoubtedly, Section 8 will contain Games For Windows Live and thus screw over the social gamer contingent. It sucks to be pessimistic like this, but you can almost count on any game being released on a console as well as PC as having two things: limited to no LAN gameplay, and Games For Windows Live. It's a disturbing trend in recent games that really hurts the LAN-based play that a lot of gamers grew up with. Move away from the online model and back towards the physical one. There's a reason why games like Starcraft and Unreal Tournament are in the annals of LAN history."

WOW. BIAS MUCH you unprofessional hack?

One, to put the onus of lack on LAN play on GFWL is a joke, just like your journalism style. I do not remember Blizzard saying that MS had ANYTHING to do with their decision to pull LAN support from Starcraft 2. Someone here is DESPERATE is find fault with Games For Windows Live. Want to know why LAN support is going bye bye from games these days? Because the publishers decide it, NOT MS. You are one sad excuse for a "professional games journalist", and it is not surprising PC Gamers get a bad rep because after reading this DRIVEL, I can see where they might get the idea in the first place.

Second, the Section 8 guys would tell you straight up that this game uses GFWL because NO OTHER SERVICE MATCHES IT. Same reason why Capcom uses it, why THQ used for it Dawn Of War II, and why Volition uses it for Red Faction Guerrilla. Unreal Tournament TRIED to do something with Steam, and that fell flat, just like your cheap shot at GFWL.

Just because you can not have your precious LAN parties anymore does not give you the right to write such pretenious crap. How about you pull your thumb out of your posterior long enough to actually not be biased? THIS ARTICLE IS GARBAGE.

You do more damage to this game and its community with one stupid article than MS could ever do on their own. Hang your head in shame, you hack, your bias is clearly showing.

This game is really good. The single player is short (and on hard, nearly impossible to finish - chapter four will make you cry like a baby), but the multiplayer is really hectic and a lot of fun. There are some very good players online with this game, and I have put in over 12 hours of online play and I sit as a level 26 soldier. This game deserves better than this BASH JOB you call an article, and if anything, I would be weary of letting you touch anything related to online multiplayer ever again because you seem to a little too attached to LAN.

GFWL - ANOTHER biased writer at Big Download. No surprise here. Look for the twenty six part series on Team Fortress 2's backpack update later on this month.
Posted at 4:01PM on Sep 16th 2009 by SidearmS

Looks like you've got some Microsoft employees trolling your comments system, Big Download.

Pay no attention to them, the article is right. GFWL is a plague to PC gaming in general and I'll be happy the day that it is gone.Posted at 11:08PM on Sep 16th 2009 by meowcakes

commenter #1:
TL;DR... cool story bro!Posted at 5:52PM on Sep 16th 2009 by slv

@SidearmS

Maybe you should relax a little. This article is intended to point out the backstory and inspirations of Section 8 as well as deconstruct and be a little critical of the hype and proposed features. Lamenting over the inclusion of GFWL at the expense of LAN play is one of those criticisms.

LAN play is a highly popular way of playing games. It's why the Wii has completely overtaken all the other home consoles. It has a distinct focus on physical interaction between players, which is something that both the other home consoles and the PC are losing.

This is not a diss at GFWL (although I do think it's not a very good system, and that only Relic implemented it well), but rather how GFWL is killing the LAN community.

I understand you love Microsoft and you love the service, but the fact is that some don't, or some do but wish that it didn't interfere with their playing habits.Posted at 6:00PM on Sep 16th 2009 by James Murff

Screw GFWL; I was wishing for its demise when it first came out as a paid service. Paid service? On the PC? WTF?!?

I use it on fallout (why did they use GFWL in a single player only game?) and a few others (DoWII) but it's only a marginal improvement over the gamespy, which really sucks. And there are an increasing number of console ports that don't seem to care at all about LAN support, which also really sucks. Well, more than really sucks, it's down right stupid.

And Blizzard dropped considerably in my eyes when they dropped LAN for SC2. Pretty much the only reason why I would bother buying that game.Posted at 8:45PM on Sep 16th 2009 by Gripen40k

@meowcakes: Again, for the uninformed, I do not work for MS. I am a big supporter of Games For Windows Live. To call me a troll just shows how little you actually know. If anyone is the troll here, that would be...

@James Murff: Relax a little? How about when you learn to write without using such bullcrap. That paragraph was utter trash and you know it. READ IT AGAIN, and then try and tell me just when MS became responsible for other companies deciding what they do with their own games. And now you are comparing the Wii to PC Gaming? Wii and LAN? Last time I checked Wii friend codes use the internet, and NOT LAN. Oh my, someone here is now really scrapping the bottom of the barrel for his justifications.

No, what happened here is you thought you were being clever, and decided to try and talk trash. You flaw in that idea was that your trash talk has to make SOME KIND OF SENSE.

"Lamenting" is one thing, using the word "screwed" in your first sentence while basically trying to create a false connection between GFWL and the "death of LAN" is another. You do not like GFWL? Fine, but do not publish trash like your "assessment" of GFWL above in a sad attempt to justify something YOU do not like. You have a problem with the lack of LAN? Take it up with the companies themselves - but to lump GFWL in that (especially with Starcraft?!?) is just piss poor biased journalism.

And notice Steam is NOW pushing Unreal Tournament this weekend. Gee, funny how once again Steam takes its' cue from GFWL. Enjoy your three day spike Epic; you guys know that is all you are going to get. Especially in a week in which Batman, RE5, and Red Faction Guerrilla all come out using GFWL. So, if UT was a GFWL title, would you still be complaining about the "death of LAN" James? Your Steam bias is painfully obvious. I am glad you love that service, but like you said, maybe other people DO NOT. Do unto others James...

And last but not least, GFWL does support LAN code, but to say it AGAIN, that decision is up to the developer. So go beat down Blizzard's door with your complaints, it has nothing to do with GFWL.

GFWL - If you are going to ask something of me, how about you man up and try it yourself first?Posted at 9:42PM on Sep 16th 2009 by SidearmS

Oh, and Gripen40k:

Fallout 3 uses GFWL because of the achievements and DLC they (Bethesda) sell. Single player can use it as well. By your logic, Viva Pinata does not make sense either. There is no rule that says GFWL is strictly for multiplayer.

And GFWL is NOW FREE - been so for over a year now. Deal with it. Using that to complain about is like saying you want to go back to Steam client v1.0 because you missed how buggy and shoddy that client originally was.

GFWL - Like it or not, GFWL has done a better job with "Triple A" PC gaming this year than any other "service" the PC has.
Posted at 10:06PM on Sep 16th 2009 by SidearmS

@SidearmS

I'm pretty sure I know what I wrote, considering I wrote it. If you want to get down, I will.

First off, MAKING IN CAPS THINGS YOU FEEL ARE IMPORTANT are the sign of a WEAK WRITER. Use your WORD CHOICE and PACING to show the things that are IMPORTANT TO YOU.

Second, apparently you missed the point regarding the Wii. I'll try and state it in simpler terms, so that it is more easily understood. People play the Wii because most of the games on the system have physical multiplayer. People sitting right there next to you, playing the same game as you, with only one disc. This is split-screen, and it is analogous to LAN gaming on the computer. Simple.

Third, as much as I don't like GFWL, this is just as much a decrying at developers for leaving LAN out of their games and instead thinking that GFWL will fix it. Not only that, but GFWL requires you to bind a key to your account as soon as you boot up the game, and in some cases, even requires you to be online in order to play. T'would be nice if there were some way to avoid this (like, gasp, Steam's Offline mode! Fancy that!)

By comparison, most older games do not require an internet connection at all, and some even have something known as "multiplayer spawn installation", which allows the person to play LAN with others without do a full install of the game or requiring a CD key.

Steam pushed Unreal Tournament 3 pretty hard when it came out, and again when it was released as Unreal Tournament 3 Black (which was the version I inevitably picked up). I fail to see how this impacts our discussion. If you are implying that UT3 did not do well because of Steam, you're reaching. It's more because UT3 has some drastic changes from the previous three games that alienated some players.

It's quite obvious that you love GFWL, and that's commendable. It's okay, even if it lags behind pretty much every other online service like Steam, Impulse, or even GamersGate. But before you start second-guessing the intent of an author, maybe you should stop and calm down.

As should be painfully apparent, these articles are intended as a critical dissection of a game's hype before release, as opposed to a review, which occurs after. If you are upset about the criticisms, note that I am doing the review, and I loved the game.

So to reiterate, relax.Posted at 10:10PM on Sep 16th 2009 by James Murff

@SidearmS

Why do you end your comments in "GFWL - "?

Also, I would argue that both Steam, Impulse, GamersGate, Direct2Drive, and GoG.com have all exceeded GFWL in terms of quality games released through the service/platform. I fail to see how GFWL has done a better job with "quotation marks" this year than any other "quotation marks" the PC has.Posted at 10:10PM on Sep 16th 2009 by James Murff

@SidearmS

Well it looks like you have enough opponents, but I'd just like to go over what you posted in reply to me since I believe you are missing out on what I was saying (just like that Wii comment, big FWOOSH on your part)

"Fallout 3 uses GFWL because of the achievements and DLC they (Bethesda) sell..."
-Great point, too bad achievements mean nothing at all to me or pretty much anyone who plays PC games. By my understanding they earn points or something like that on the 360 so you can 'buy' stuff. This is a pretty loose understanding but still, if true, that would be pretty neat. Of course this doesn't apply for the PC version but yeah, still, neat. Now content delivery, that's a really good use of the system, but pretty much all the other clients do this as well. Which one does it better? Well I don't care 'cause I'm forced to use whatever one comes with the game (which is my main point of angst btw)

"And GFWL is NOW FREE - been so for over a year now. Deal with it..."
- I know this, I think everyone knows this, and having used the system with Fallout I don't know how you think that I think you still have to pay for it. Deal with it? Well... It's free... There isn't really anything to 'deal with'. Also, I hated steam back in the day 'cause it would never work with me. I'm a detractor even today, mostly because I'm still forced to use the stupid thing. In my eyes these things are just another carefully coated layer of DRM.

"GFWL - Like it or not, GFWL has done a better job with "Triple A" PC gaming..."
-Highly objective and biased statement if you ask me. I don't think any of them have done a 'better' job than any of the other ones, and what is your evidence that it has done a better job?

But now @James Murff:
"T'would be nice if there were some way to avoid this (like, gasp, Steam's Offline mode! Fancy that!)"
- You still have to be connected to the internet to install the bloody things, so this point is kinda half-witted. Happened to me with L4D, got it for xmas and didn't have an internet connection, which reallllly pissed me off.Posted at 11:35PM on Sep 16th 2009 by Gripen40k

@Gripen40k

I completely agree, as much as it might appear that I am defending Steam a little too vehemently.

There are ways to get around it (buy the retail product or create a back-up from somebody else's copy) but it is a rather convoluted and a poorly-implemented system. They need to do some drastic changes to make it more accessible, such as removing the necessity to run the games through Steam (one of the worst parts about Steam) and the requirement to be online once before turning on offline mode.

That being said, I still think it's light years ahead of GFWL, which is bare-bones at best.

Honestly, I like the GoG.com system the most, but they have their niche and stick to it. Impulse is catching up to Steam, and D2D has never trucked with that sort of thing anyway.Posted at 2:10AM on Sep 17th 2009 by James Murff

You know, it seems like an article on all of these systems is needed, with a comparison chart and the pros/cons of each. That would be a really good read!

I just checked wikipedia (which sometimes has these things) and it is pretty lacking of any sort of chart or comparison.Posted at 3:18PM on Sep 17th 2009 by Gripen40k

GFWL > Steam> James MurffPosted at 3:18PM on Sep 17th 2009 by Slush

The game is pretty much terrible and while it has some decent elements, it fails to bring it all home in a tidy package.

-poor server support out the box.
-lag galore
-terrible hit scan
-lack of fun or useful weapons
-the worst bases I have seen in a game like this
-terribly useless deployables
-constant server DC's
-too many side missions kicking off at once
-aimbot.. i'm sorry,. lock on. No matter what you do, some idiot will still be able to kill you because your blocker is down and you're in the open. Some lesser player get a free kill.. how quaint. There's a reason why this "feature" isn't in any other FPS similar to S8, it stinks.
-This game isn't a thinking mans FPS, it's dumbed down, no doubt because it's also a console title
-loadouts mean nothing to this game, there is no tactical advantage/disadvantage to gearing up a certain way
-the devs have piss poor support and take way too long to address any issues
-no word on a patch to fix all the games problems
-about 100 people playing during peak times ought to tell you how this game is really doing
-GFWL blows goats

I could go on and onPosted at 3:18PM on Sep 17th 2009 by Sofa Queen vs Zephyrus the idiot

The game is pretty much terrible and while it has some decent elements, it fails to bring it all home in a tidy package.

-poor server support out the box.
-lag galore
-terrible hit scan
-lack of fun or useful weapons
-underpowered weapons
-the worst bases I have seen in a game like this
-terribly useless deployables
-constant server DC's
-too many side missions kicking off at once and ruining points of action
-inconsistent damage models
-aimbot.. i'm sorry,. lock on. No matter what you do, some idiot will still be able to kill you because your blocker is down and you're in the open. Some lesser player get a free kill.. how quaint. There's a reason why this "feature" isn't in any other FPS similar to S8, it stinks.
-This game isn't a thinking mans FPS, it's dumbed down, no doubt because it's also a console title
-terrible tank controls/viewing
-loadouts mean nothing to this game, there is no tactical advantage/disadvantage to gearing up a certain way
-the devs have piss poor support and take way too long to address any issues
-enemy items/enemies appear on your mini map for far too long.. hey thanks for telling me exactly where all the bases defenses are.. hold my hand why don't you.
-no word on a patch to fix all the games problems
-about 100 people playing during peak times ought to tell you how this game is really doing
-GFWL blows goats

I could go on and onPosted at 3:18PM on Sep 17th 2009 by Sofa Queen vs Zephyrus the idiot vs Joe the dunce

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