Boasting an impressive 32 player experience, Section 8 would appear to be a shining light in the crowded multiplayer environments of tween squealing Halo or cheater saturated Call of Duty. However true to form, it leaves the single player campaign with something to be desired. It’s hard times when a videogamer can’t play with himself. The “Section 8″ Armored Infantry are given such a name as referenced by the US military discharge regulation for being mentally unfit for service. The plot in a nutshell: In the intergalactic future, generic population “A” colonized the galaxy under one uniform government. Like cancer, disgruntled “B” team forms military insurrection to overthrow rule, going completely unnoticed until the tipping point is reached “team crazy 8″ is called in to fight. Enter player character: Alex Corde.

Launched from interstellar orbit, Section 8 infantry use “air brakes” to land on the planetary surface. Once on the ground, battling your way to key objectives (control points in multiplayer), players can customize load-outs (both weapons and armor) through supply depots ordered in via space. At predefined points in single player mode you drop turrets and vehicles. This carries over in multiplayer where teams mark LZs for ammo resupply, vehicle drops, or strategically placed anti-infantry guns to prevent the enemy from landing directly in their base. Multiplayer also had side missions (DCMs: Dynamic Combat Missions) such as kill/protect the VIP and destroy/secure the convoy.

To navigate the expansive maps in Section 8 players use “overdrive” which charges as you run, then transforms you into “The Flash”. Originally I had overdrive set to automatic, but ran into instances where I didn’t want the full overdrive effect. While cool, there is a 3 second delay to stop overdrive, preventing you from doing anything else. I’d be charging into battle, then overdrive would kick in and I’d run past everyone. There is a manual control setting for overdrive which I prefer, but the interact button “A” is the same. In multiplayer you can pickup objects such as intel, to run them back to base. Hitting “A” drops the intel and not forces me into overdrive. Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.

For being in the future the weapons are pretty standard and don’t feel as though I’m doing anything different between weapons. Each soldier has various meters indicating shield and health. I wasn’t looking at my enemy so much as focusing on their shields. Green to red equals dead. In load-out you have various options to increase evasion, accuracy, weapon strength and so on. These are particularly useful in multiplayer, but seem to have no real effect in single player.

You might be thinking you’re about to read a hate-review, quite the contrary. I’m torn. On one hand I have an incredibly impressive multiplayer game, yes there are some wrinkles, but this game takes me back to playing Tribes and a lot of thought was applied to create the Section 8 atmosphere. The community behind the multiplayer is fun and largely adult. There are bragging rights to be one.

And on the other hand? The single player campaign serves as a patronizing long tutorial session. I could apply tactics and strategy during the fight, but I’m better off going head first into danger, killing an enemy, dying shortly after, respawning, then rinse and repeat. I found myself pretending to utilize Rainbow Six era squad movements only to see my teammates right on the frontlines hardly taking damage.

My first time penetrating orbit was a little awkward. I saw the indicators telling me to slowdown, but everything was moving blindingly fast and I crashed landed into a battlefield with a busted shield. Needless to say I had to wait for a moment before I picked up the pace, gun tow, ready to start firing my ammo.

What really pisses me off about bots in any game are when I set the difficulty to max and the AI can’t seem to shoot for shit and take virtually no damage as if they’ve equipped the Armor of God; yet the moment my noggin is in range: DEAD. A good example of great AI: Left 4 Dead.

The vehicle controls gave me a bout of nausea and on numerous occasions I could scale a wall and only to get stuck. Also, in the future, Alex Corde is the only person who seems to know how to drive a tank.

So what now of the multiplayer? Here is where Section 8 really shines. Teamplay is key; strategy and tactics allow for big plays and the community is indispensable. Had Section 8 be marketed like the Halo Mythic Map Pack, I may have not been so hard on the single player experience. Customizing load-out for various points of insertion gives you the choice of stealthy sniper, tank, medic, or some balance in between. Through your headset your living, breathing team gives commands, areas of responsibility and sensor arrays spot approaching ordinance. Depending on how serious you are as a tactical gamer; you can have some real fun. Soldiers use jet pack bursts to hurl them into the sky which is very disorienting, but if you get the hang of flying you can do some great damage.

Herein lies the disconnect. I cannot recommend Section 8 to anyone without a Gold membership or one who doesn’t play well with others. The single player is downright frustrating. The multiplayer component is where the most time will be spend. It’s even the first option on the menu screen, beckoning you to select it. Section 8 makes for a great rental or bargain buy, but I cannot impress enough, if I haven’t already, this is a multiplayer game. If you get it, drop me a line in orbit: Turk3ybas3d