Section 8 Review

thanks for the review, I was looking at this recently and hoping it would be good. There just are so few amazing games that I play recently, it seems to be:
- TF2 (lots - pretty much play this instead of CSS now)
- CoD4 (a little bit)
- L4D
- HoN

I can't be bothered to install BF2 even though it's fun. So I want something new, but everything new sucks (Arma 2 demo sucked ass, I paid full price for Arma being an Operation Flashpoint addict and was bitterly, bitterly disappointed - waiting for OFP2 now).

Isn't this basically UT3+mods but emptier?
UT3 is much more entertaining, if even simpler >.>

They're not trying to cash in on 'District 9' at all are they? How original...lmao

Originally Posted by SchizoFrog
They're not trying to cash in on 'District 9' at all are they? How original...lmao

Well, considering the term “Section 8“ has existed for decades, and factoring in game development time, then no. It is not cashing in on District 9 at all.

Played the beta of this at i37 on XBOX and PC. I will agree it looks kinda crappy on the XBOX, but the PC version is a big jump in aesthetics. As for the actual game I agree with your review in that it was fun enough but not as good as other options out there (as mentioned UT3 + mods).

One thing I would say is that large servers made the game much more entertaining. Probably enough to bring its score to at least a 6. Maybe 7 if you included the PC graphics.

Originally Posted by pimonserry
Isn't this basically UT3+mods but emptier?

Pretty much.

Been playing the beta for a while. Have to say that the game totally sucks. As said above it's basically UT2004+mods. Doesn't even look anywhere near as good as UT3 does. A lot less fun to play also.

Damn it. This looks to have had some promise but they mucked up. Ah well. Shattered Horizon on the... horizon.

Originally Posted by Rocket_Knight64
Damn it. This looks to have had some promise but they mucked up. Ah well. Shattered Horizon on the... horizon.

It needs squad tactics for sure. Real shame, could have turned out to be a really good game. The weapon balancing is completely retarded as well, an assault rifle will tear out your shields and armor, but a direct hit from a missle launcher barely scratches you.

I have to say I really enjoyed the beta, admittedly it took a while to understand how different weapons seemed to be either way overpowered or weak and useless (hint; modules and range make a huge difference). I think Section 8's biggest sin is being too different from everything else.

Why didn't you review the PC version? Seriously, what's with the console reviews on a PC enthusiast site anyway.

Originally Posted by smilinrat
Why didn't you review the PC version? Seriously, what's with the console reviews on a PC enthusiast site anyway.

Because from playing it I got the impression it was a console-focused title and that it wasn't really worth going the extra mile for to do a PC review, especially considering we couldn't even get PC code to install right.

We're still a PC focused site though, which is why we've waited until this week to even look at Batman: AA - we wanted to review the PC version and spend time on PhysX and 3DVision, rather than reviewing the console pap.

Batmaaaaaaaaaan! I knew you guys would be doing the PC version, thanks Bit-tech :)

This game looks very like Tribal Wars Vengeance. Like how old is that now...

Originally Posted by CardJoe
We're still a PC focused site though, which is why we've waited until this week to even look at Batman: AA - we wanted to review the PC version and spend time on PhysX and 3DVision, rather than reviewing the console pap.

Yayyyy... review comes out tomorrow?

Originally Posted by DarkLord7854
Yayyyy... review comes out tomorrow?

Day after. Postal strikes and a few other problems have delayed it a tad.

Greetings!

Originally Posted by CardJoe
Because from playing it I got the impression it was a console-focused title and that it wasn't really worth going the extra mile for to do a PC review, especially considering we couldn't even get PC code to install right.

Its not a console-focused title, its a PC-focused title, CardJoe:

It’s worth stressing that I haven’t seen 360 code and can make no judgment there, but impressions have not been favourable. I tried playing it on the 360 pad and, well, yes. Mouse and keyboard will be the default choice. It seems like the release of a demo on the console might actually have seriously damaged the chance of the game on there. As a relatively complex multiplayer FPS it does seem to me like it carries some serious PC heritage, however, and you won’t win any prizes for guessing what version I would recommend. One other thing that I didn’t mention in the review was how impressed I was with the way the game scaled. I played a bunch of five-on-five games pre-release and the smaller maps still delivered tight games with so few people, which is pretty impressive.

Originally Posted by CardJoe
We're still a PC focused site though, which is why we've waited until this week to even look at Batman: AA - we wanted to review the PC version and spend time on PhysX and 3DVision, rather than reviewing the console pap.

So, what is the criteria to review a game in the PC or the console?
If bit-tech wants to be a PC focused site, the version that should be reviewed should always be the PC version.

A few things - firstly, the bit you point to is only an opinion of another reviewer, not confirmation from anyone else. While I'm not going to question anything either, because I hugely respect the entire team at RPS, it is worth pointing out that Jim Rossignol gave one of the highest scores the game has had and has had several (probably untrue) accusations thrown around at him because of that and the fact that the developers advertise on his site. I'm not alleging anything by mentioning it - just illustrating that with this particular game his viewpoint isn't exactly the average one. He just really likes the game.

To me, I think it's a console focused title and that's based on a number of things. For starters, the engine has been obviously built around the Xbox 360 hardware and been optimised for that. I also saw the game with the developers at GamesCom 2009 and they were showing it on console and talking about how much time they spent getting the console version right, with no mention or inclusion of a PC version. The console version also has extra features above the console version, such as X-server support, which distinguish it from the crowd.

At the end of the day though, as I said, I reckoned it was a console focused title and made the decision to review it there.

There are no criteria for a console or PC review - we always try to do PC coverage wherever possible, going out of the way and often suffering lower traffic to do things properly and in the detail they deserve. While other sites do rush jobs to get things out as soon as possible and reap the maximum possible traffic, we will often delay things in order to do them justice.

In an ideal world we would always cover the PC version - or ALL platforms. But this isn't an ideal world and we have deadlines, other projects, and personal lives to contend with as well. I looked at Section 8 and, having seen it on both PC and console, decided that it was

a) Not a very good game
b) Console-focused and hastily developed.

I then made the call that, rather than spending an extra two or three days to do an even later and longer PC review for a title that isn't very good or very hyped, it would be better to focus on what I considered to be the primary platform and to give a review that was more honest, more open and more fair. If I'd have chosen otherwise then it would have a domino effect, meaning our Batman review would go up even later and the coming previews and features I'm also working on would also suffer.

Big games and good games are always covered on PC, or PC and console wherever possible - but it's worth bearing in mind that on a team of nine or ten people across two publications, there's only one person dedicated to gaming. Concessions sometimes get made and the balance I try to strike between PC and console coverage, AAA game and indie coverage, reviews and features and devotion to different genres isn't always going to be everyone's liking - but it will always be the best I can do and what we feel is most honest, fair and useful to our readers.

It's also important to realise that just because we're PC focused doesn't mean we're not focused to the exclusion of everything else. I prefer to think of our readers as tech enthusiasts rather than exclusively PC gamers, though there is an obvious preference for PC - and a tech enthusiast should have an interest in all platforms and uses of technology, which is why we also review netbooks and run news on smartphones instead of exclusively reviewing GPUs and SSDs.

Greetings!

Long post, CardJoe.

Been reading alot on Section 8 since it was leaked on the torrent sites, most of the positive comments are on the PC version, pretty much everyone that tried the X360 demo classify the game as crap.
After reading both reviews that feeling was reinforced.
I will not try the game though, there is no PC demo and it requires GFWL.

As for BAA, I played the PC demo and considered it a consoled game.
It has the gameplay mechanics of a console game; the game seemed very well characterized and loyal to the comic; the cape is too long/annoying; decent graphics.

So, from my point of view, the platforms chosen to review those two games are switched.

I've got the beta, and I found it very brown and empty, the weapons weren't very meaty, and it was generally a bit disappointing.

I did only play two different maps but it just really didn't innovate in any way.

It felt like a bad knock-off of the better bits of Tribes, but then again that game hasn't been good since the first one lol ;)