Section 8′s out, watch the trailer

Kicks eight shades of armor-plating out of Halo, or so it probably wishes.

By Edwin Evans-Thirlwell, September 2, 2009

You think a white boy invented those moves?

Timegate Studio’s sci-fi FPS Section 8 is out today for PC and Xbox 360, care of up-and-coming Brit publisher Southpeak Games. If you’re new to the game, think of it as the beefier younger brother of Dynamix’s lamentably defunct Tribes series: clad in enormous, upgradeable robotic supersuits, players catapult onto the battlefield from orbiting starships, steering themselves toward their landing zones whilst dodging shots from those on the ground.

Tanks, mechs, bazookas, sniper rifles and all our favourite old mechanics and vehicles get a showing, and there’s a hearty helping of real-time tactics in the form of portable supply depots, turrets and sensor arrays. It doesn’t look too shabby either, though the art design is sunk to its cybernetic kneecaps in generic space marine land.

We’re a little worried about how the orbital deployment trick will factor into multiplayer. If it’s too easy to shoot new players out of the sky, whichever team gets a foothold first will cream the other side. Conversely, we could be looking at the greatest and most frenetic reinvention of the spawn point since developers started rotating those suckers.

But why linger in the interplanetary void of uncertainty? There’s a demo on Xbox Live. Go headbutt some clouds.

Section 8 Launch Trailer