Let's get this over with from the start: Section 8 is absolutely stunning in both graphics and sound. It requires a fairly decent system to run, but on a mid- to high-range system, it runs very well on just about any setting. The colors are crisp, the interface is excellent, and the sounds are all distinctive and useful, and at the highest setting, it absolutely takes the breath away to see some of the carnage that goes on. The character designs are all great as well, with the heavily armored troopers almost looking inhuman while in their armor.

Section 8 has an entirely throwaway, nonsensical plot, and it is in this area that it is at its weakest. It utilizes the standard hard-boiled space marine cliches that one expects from a game of this kind. Yes, you play a hardcore badass recon trooper, and you are taking down a renegade general who is leading a revolutionary force that wants to take over. It's old news. There's no emotional complexity to the plot at all, and I felt completely detached from the events. No emotional attachment to the characters meant no real caring for the campaign. In effect, it was just one really long training mission.

The campaign itself is very short and just as disposable as the plot. It's fairly easy, and you are gradually introduced to elements of the actual game, such as deployable use and hacking, before you actually start up your multiplayer game. The biggest irritations of the campaign were its complete lack of relevance and the sharp difficulty spike in the 4th mission. Anyone who says they breezed through the 4th mission on hard is either a god of first-person shooters or lying. That said, there are a few achievements for performing well in the campaign, so if that is your bag of tea, the campaign will suit you great. But Section 8 is by no means a single-player game.

Cutting out the campaign, Section 8 suddenly becomes incredibly interesting. The basis of the multiplayer involves choosing drop spots, performing little mini-tasks, and gathering enough victory points before the other team. There is enough depth here, though, that most players will be exceedingly pleased with the multiplayer experience. As such, buy this only if you plan on playing with other people. I can't stress this enough: Section 8 is a multiplayer game, and if you buy it expecting a good single-player or bot experience, you will be sorely disappointed.

Multiplayer in Section 8 starts out in the dropship. Nominally, this is in orbit, but in reality its more like a spectator mode where you can manage a few important facets of the fight and your character. You have your squad, which determines where you drop if you select the Squad Spawn option. This isn't really all that important, as free drop is so flexible that you do not need to fiddle with squads. Next is your loadout screen, which is how you determine your weaponry and general lethality. Finally, there is the map, which shows all the deployables and friendly players as well as detected enemies. If you click on the map, you will drop there, but you should always drop away from AA turrets, as they will rip you to shreds. Much of a fight consists of opening up the map for your team while denying it for the enemy.

Loadouts are boring in that they have the standard two weapon, two item layout that you would expect in a post-Halo world. However, this is livened up by the addition of passive modules, which act as ways to customize your character's effectiveness in battle with certain tasks, objects, or what have you. For example, one module reduces damage taken from AA by 20% for each level you place on yourself. As you can place a maximum of 4 passive modules of one kind on yourself (and 8 total), you can effectively reduce your AA damage by 80%, making drops into hot zones much easier.

While not engaged in a combat mission, chances are you will be engaged in that constant struggle over bases that every army seems to get stuck into. Bases in Section 8 are comprised of (at least) a control point, an AA gun, a supply depot, and a sensor array. All of these are essential to the base, and while some bases have turrets that actually attack ground-based players, they are often so ineffective that they are functionally useless. This struggle over bases form the core of the game, from which everything else springs forth. It is not uncommon to see players sneaking into a base to take the control point from under the defenders, or one player eliminating the AA turret so that all the other players can drop right onto the enemy team's heads.

The most unique element of the game is the Dynamic Combat Missions, or DCMs. These missions are triggered by your team performing enough mini-achievements. For example, if you kill 2 players with an assault rifle, you get the assault killer feat, which adds to your team's pool of feats. Upon reaching a certain amount of feats, the appropriate DCM is triggered. In theory, this means that players could choose what DCMs they want to do by playing differently, but in reality, it ends up a frantic free-for-all, with many DCMs appearing multiple times while others appear never. It would've been nice if players could store individual DCMs after getting so many feats in a round, and then letting them use them if they had an opening. Regardless, each DCM is unique and truly entertaining, with the Outpost being a personal favorite.

Deployables also play a major part in Section 8, and are implemented much like they were in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. The player can drop structures from orbit onto flat land with clear skies above it, where the structure then activates it. Structures can be damaged on the way down by AA guns, but most can survive the fall if only one AA gun is in effect. Any structure you see in a base can be dropped, and there is a hard limit of six deployables per player, with the exception of the AA turret, which is restricted to one and does not count against the global maximum. Vehicles can also be dropped this way, leading to entertaining situations such as dropping a heavy walker onto the roof of a building before dropping down and slaughtering everyone inside.

Section 8 is not without issues. Once again, the story and campaign are entirely useless, and the game probably would have been better if more time was spent on the multiplayer adding new deployables and modes instead of building a campaign. Not only that, but the campaign has a very inconsistent difficulty curve, and your teammates can not be controlled to the slightest degree, which only makes their idiocy more upsetting. There is only one game mode, and while it is insanely fun, some variety would have been nicer. DCMs are mostly uninspired, and in the few cases (such as the VIP and Commando missions), the AI is so criminally stupid that you can pretty much count on failing a certain DCM if it drops. Finally, there is no LAN mode, which seems to have been a no-brainer for such a team-oriented title like this.

Section 8 may have a few nagging problems, but that doesn't stop it from being incredibly fun. It is quite possibly the first time since Team Fortress 2 that I found myself unable to tear myself away from the joys of blasting away fellow soldiers. It has a pure addictiveness and entertainment quality about it that a lot of shooters lack today, and it upholds the ideals and general gameplay style of the revered Tribes series. Without a doubt, Section 8 holds no draw from cingle-player gamers, but it is a game that anybody looking for some excellent multiplayer will appreciate and love.