Preview: 'Section 8: Prejudice'

The digital sector has enjoyed exponential growth during the current hardware generation, but it's unlikely to peak anytime soon. As we discovered when we charted the history of online console gaming, digital distribution has come a long way since Sega gave us a glimpse of its potential with the internet-ready Dreamcast. Online storefronts no longer play host to simplistic casual fare and expansion packs; their wares are expanding in scope and scale and gradually gaining ground on their boxed counterparts. TimeGate's forthcoming sequel Section 8: Prejudice is indicative of this trend. As a fully-fledged first-person shooter and a sequel to a boxed product, the game is poised to step into uncharted territory for a downloadable title. DS scored some hands-on time with the sci-fi shooter to see how it's shaping up.

In all fairness to the original Section 8, it had some strong ideas and a well-rounded multiplayer mode. However, its lukewarm reception was perhaps justified when taking its wafer-than single-player campaign into account. With the FPS market looking overcrowded these days, few dare compete with goliath IPs like Halo, Call Of Duty and Killzone... at least in the retail market. By going down the online route, TimeGate is essentially billing Prejudice as a big fish in a small pond. It's an unusual strategy and certainly an intriguing one, though as the firm's CEO Adel Chaveleh informed us, it was adopted for purely economical reasons.

"The digital decision was really a business reason. I can't say that it helped development in any way, short of some small little technical things like you can assume everyone has a hard drive," he said. "That's about the only real development gain that we got out of going down that route. We wanted to take the product to the market ourselves. We went through the process of becoming a licensed publisher with Microsoft, so we have the right to do that now.

"Looking at the competitive landscape, the retail markets are owned by a few very strong companies, so it's difficult to compete in that arena. Conversely, the digital landscape was changing and evolving with everybody throwing and seeing what sticks. By going digital, we think we're putting the best quality FPS out there, the best value FPS. There's a lot of game there for 1,200 MS Points. So, it was a business decision and it gives us a platform to be able to make a bigger splash."

During a recent preview event, we spent some time with the game's solo campaign and found potential in this work in progress. It's evident that the developers have taken fan feedback on board. While the single-player missions in the original were little more than a glorified tutorial for its multiplayer modes, there's a five-hour story to sink your teeth into here. Taking control of a heavily armoured space marine captain on an Earth-like planet, we played through a tutorial mission that showcased the core mechanics, and got our hands dirty in the opening levels. The training segment was standard FPS stuff - taking out targets, lobbing grenades and mastering scope aiming. We were also given a taste of some of the features that make the game stand out, such as the jetpack and the drop-in mechanic.

The jetpack propels the player into the air for a limited amount of time, enabling them to scale distances or get the drop on a foe. It's not the first FPS to include this method of propulsion, but it puts it to good use, bringing variety to the single-player mode and an additional element of strategy to multiplayer. The drop-in function, which allows you to hurtle towards the level from half a mile above, was one of the most popular inclusions in the first game, so it naturally makes a return in the sequel. Other aspects of the game are not so unique. If the early levels are anything to go by, there will be a lot of taking out enemy artillery using remote charges. We've lost count of the amount of time we've had to do this in contemporary shooters of late. Graphically speaking, the game resembles another Halo clone, but before the skeptics roll their eyes, it's worth noting there are few other downloadable titles capable of reproducing the Bungie series' hallmarks. Even Battlefield 1943 can't match this one for size and scope.

Although the solo campaign has been fleshed out considerably, multiplayer options still serve as the meat of the experience and will no doubt be the game's biggest selling point. There are two modes available - Conquest and Swarm. We tried our hand at Swarm and found the experience reminiscent of Gears Of War 2's Horde. Playing co-operatively with four other people, we fought to protect strategic points from waves of enemy bots. Defending these structures helps you accumulate points, which can be exchanged for helpful bonuses, such as vehicles and gun turrets. Utilising these reinforcements is imperative when matches progress and higher level bots rear their ugly heads. Not only are these higher-ranking enemies more combat-savvy, they also commandeer vehicles themselves. Both the jetpacks and drop-in mechanic are of integral importance too. Post-release, we predict that the players riding highest on the online leaderboards will no doubt be the ones who put these functions to the best strategic use.

Conquest mode has been carried over from the original game, and will be familiar to anyone who has played virtually any other FPS online. It's your basic scenario involving two teams competing against one another to capture various strategic points. The game's unique mechanics play just as important a role in these matches, as drop-in tactics can be used to infiltrate enemy territory, and gun turrets erected to safeguard your structures against this brand of warfare. While there are several fixed classes to play as, the developers have brought flexibility to the table, offering customisable skills to cherry pick. For instance, you could create an amalgamation of sniper and medic. Whether there's enough depth on offer to rival some of the market leaders remains to be seen, but players looking to dive in to swift, engrossing contests will find much to love here.

It's clear that TimeGate is dedicated to the Section 8 franchise, having already pledged to support the console editions of Prejudice with its own dedicated servers (a rarity for non-PC fare), and issue swathes of post-launch content. "We've put together a live team to exclusively focus on post-launch support," Chaveleh explained. "They're working on the first couple of DLC packs as we speak. There are going to be new game modes, new maps that we are releasing post-launch. Some of it will be free, some of it will be paid, but it's not going to be $15 for a map pack as we have no intentions of aggressively pricing things. Initially, the content is pre-planned, but then it's going to be community reactive. There's going to be big support post-launch."

From our hands-on time with the game, it is apparent that Section 8: Prejudice has every chance of becoming a best seller in the download sector. With the likes of Killzone 3 on course to dominate the FPS genre in the retail market this fiscal year, going digital was a shrewd move on TimeGate's part. Boasting a wealth of multiplayer content and a fleshed-out single-player campaign at a budget price, this one is shaping up to be quite the bargain.

Section 8: Prejudice will be available for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 during Q1 2011.