Comments on: “Burning”: Hands-On With Section 8

By: Straightening Machine

Straightening Machine — Tue, 04 May 2010 07:15:54 +0000

Cold Pilger Mill is so useful.
Cold Pilger Mill

By: Slink

Slink — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:40:45 +0000

This game is addicting. The atmosphere is awesome, and when you get into a good squad-on-squad firefight the game will put you on the edge of your seat.

However, it feels more like a mod than a true game. Maybe blame the Unreal engine not allowing AA, but the graphics seem clonky. The main menu seems like something you’d see out of a Half-life mod, and the maps aren’t too well inspired (at least the few I’ve seen in the beta). I also feel like the HUD is too big – all of the info on there is useful, but it seems like it was designed for console players who are sitting 5-10 feet away from their big TVs, not PC players who are sitting 1-2 feet away from their small monitors. This could easily be fixed with a UI scaler in the options or even an INI file.

However, the shortcomings are more than made up for when you get into combat. RPS put it perfectly – it’s a game you plan to just hop in for 5 minutes and then two hours later you realize you’re still playing.

But, unfortunately, we all know that even the best multiplayer-based game isn’t worth the DVD that it’s printed on if it doesn’t have enough players. Look at Quake Wars – a decent game, but the flaws in it and poor marketing (is it Quake? Is it Battlefield?) made a lot of people look past it, and now it’s hard to find a populated server.

I definitely plan on picking Section 8 up and loving every minute from it. However, it feels more like a budget game than a AAA title, but if it’s appropriately priced it could be huge. Unfortunately though, I feel like the power-armor suits will be deserted and empty about the time when Modern Warfare 2 rolls around.

By: Evernight

Evernight — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:05:49 +0000

I’ve played the open beta for a few hours and I must say that it is better in MOST regards than the other games of this nature that I have played (BF2142, Tribes, etc.) but I still feel like it isn’t as “competitively-sound” as TF2 and others like that. Something about it just feels “loose” in the gameplay. The lock-on feature is totally foolish… tough to know who has it and who is still on CD so how do I approach this guy who may or may not be able to roast me. Next is the wonky stealth play – knowing when you are and are not stealthed and what is the causing it is hard to manage. Am I invisible to radar here…. no?… why? who has something out… where is it? I could see clan play being fun, but in the end its not as rewarding “tactically” as TF2 and what have you.

It’s fun… but there are better, less frustrating FPS games like it out there.

By: Malicidal

Malicidal — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:29:02 +0000

Thank you, thank you for giving S8 a good review out of the gate. I was worried the early previews would be like the opinions of some of the shallower players- those who don’t take the time to learn the delightful and deadly nuances of combat in this gem of a game. Now you need to do a feature on how to deal with Lock On- because it is mind-numbingly easy to do so, but no one seems to be listening to the closer beta testers.

By: Scandalon

Scandalon — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:23:56 +0000

johnny – no, (un)fortunately the fields are contained as a “non-operational zone” or somesuch – and they only give you like 5 seconds to get back in before an insta-kill. (The visual effect is nifty though.) On at least one map, a couple bases are close to the border, so it’s possible to drop in, take a couple steps and get the warning. I wouldn’t mind it if the playing field was a just a bit bigger, and it didn’t seem so arbitrary. Make the limits a natural feature of the map, not a magic line you can’t cross.

By: Zel

Zel — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:32:46 +0000

This looks a lot like Global Agenda. Different visually of course but seems like similar gameplay.

By: CakeAddict

CakeAddict — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:47:50 +0000

@ Friendlyunit

That’s exactly the reason why I didn’t play battlefield without a buddy or two.
It’s frustratingly annoying when that happens, and it happens a lot.

The game looks interesting but I’m going to take a wait and see approach, games like this always look great but when they get released nobody plays it.

By: johnny_cuts

johnny_cuts — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:33:33 +0000

Do you mention how large the maps are? I’m wondering whether, like Planetside, you’ll end end up wandering off to explore or and completely missing the battle because the playing field is so massive.

By: DK

DK — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:37:31 +0000

“So can you drive the Tank and Mech you can call for?”
Yes. Although the Tank would be an incredible waste if you called it just for yourself.
It has room for 4 people, each person controlling one weapon system, from airburst mortars to minimissiles. A fully manned tank is a beast, a 1-person “I am awesome” wannabe tanker is rocketfood.

By: FRIENDLYUNIT

FRIENDLYUNIT — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:36:30 +0000

Lost me at wonky netcode.
You know how when you play Battlefield, or whatever and realise (after incredible frustration) the guys that have been killing you are hacking? Netcode that doesn’t work well feels kinda the same “WTF?! I just emptied my clip into that guy and he spins around and kills me in a second.”

Also, they will be unable to properly balance classes/kit/suits/whatever though player beta testing, for that same reason.

By: Grey_Ghost

Grey_Ghost — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:25:02 +0000

So can you drive the Tank and Mech you can call for?

By: DarkNoghri

DarkNoghri — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:59:16 +0000

I’ve been in this beta for a few weeks now, and have yet to actually play it. Hmmmm.