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At this year's E3, Section 8, the upcoming first-person shooter by TimeGate Studios was one of the best looking and creative multiplayer experiences on the exhibit floor. Built as an answer to all those "other" multiplayer games, Section 8 is named after a group of elite kamikaze-ish fighters who go by an old military term that means, "someone discharged for having a few screws loose". It was obvious at the show that the development team at TimeGate is passionate about multiplayer games. The lead producer, Robert Siwiak, was eager to discuss why their title is different than all the other futuristic war games on the market.
GA: There are a lot of games out there using the cyber-soldier/futuristic civil war idea – how does Section 8 differ from them conceptually?
Robert Siwiak: Section 8 differs from other first-person shooters in a variety of ways. We have completely removed the predictability of other first-person shooters with burn-in spawning from over 15,000 feet above the battlefield. Players will no longer be subject to spawn-camping or being forced to stare at their corpse for 30 seconds after being killed by their opponent.
Section 8 also features fully customizable player load-outs. Unlike most other games, Section 8 does not railroad the player into playing as a preset class. Instead, players will be able to equip their powered armor suit the way they see fit, including passive modules, gear, and weapons. There are countless options for customization and really gives the player the freedom to be the player they want to be. All of this customization can be saved and loaded on the fly or changed in between burn-ins.
In addition to burning-in and load-out customization, Section 8 also allows players to dynamically manipulate the flow of combat with on-demand vehicle and asset requisitions, and participate in a variety of exciting Dynamic Combat Missions (DCMs).
GA: Do you see Section 8 as more of a single-player or multiplayer game?
Robert: Section 8 has a definite multiplayer focus, though this does not mean we have forgotten single-player by any means. Section 8 will feature a variety of exciting single-player gameplay modes including a Story mode, where the player can learn more information about the background of the conflict between the 8th Armored Infantry and the Arm of Orion.
GA: How did conceiving the single-player campaign differ from creating the multiplayer elements?
Robert: We really wanted to tell a story in our Single-player mode that details Alex Corde's journey with the 8th Armored Infantry against the Arm of Orion. We also wanted to teach the player some of the major features of Section 8 and how to use them in a fun and exciting way, which our Single-player Story mode definitely provides.
In our Multiplayer mode, a greater emphasis is placed on burning-in, load-out customization, and DCMs. All of these happen real-time, whereas the Single-player Story mode tends to have more scripted events that aid in the pacing of the story.
GA: What were your inspirations for developing Section 8?
Robert: Section 8 has a variety of inspirations and is heavily influenced by science fiction movies from the 80s that have a real sense of believability to them. Movies such as Alien, Blade Runner, and the original Terminator influenced the game quite a bit with their gritty sci-fi that has a sense of realism to it to which the audience can relate.
GA: If you had to pick one, what would be your biggest gameplay peeve about these games?
Robert: Probably one of the biggest pet peeves we have with most first-person shooters is what happens after the player dies. In most games, the player is forced to watch their corpse for 30 seconds; it is like the game is punishing the player for dying and not allowing them to have fun for a half of a minute. Then, the player is forced to respawn in a random location on the map and is often killed again by a spawn camper, repeating the process. Section 8 eliminates this problem that first-person shooters suffer from with burn-in spawning. After the player dies in Section 8, they are returned to their dropship and can literally drop back into the action to anywhere on the battlefield from over 15,000 feet with knuckle-whitening intensity.
GA: Which multiplayer shooters did you have in mind (for good or ill) when designing Section 8?
Robert: We essentially took everything that we enjoyed about the first-person shooter genre from games like Call of Duty, PlanetSide, Halo, and especially, Tribes and the Battlefield series and we attempted to solve the aspects we do not enjoy about them. We also drew upon our real-time strategy experience from our past critically-acclaimed and award-winning Kohan titles and integrated some our philosophy from those ground-breaking games into Section 8. The end result is something we believe is a truly innovative and outstanding shooter experience.
GA: How do you imagine the game's lack of "classes" will affect the way teams play?
Robert: Section 8 does not have a "lack of classes," but gives players the freedom to create their very own class. However, if the player does not wish to customize their load-out and create a unique class, they can select to play as a variety of pre-existing classes.
A well-balanced and coordinated team will perform best in Section 8. We have made this easy by allowing the player to see the load-outs of all his squadmates and adapting their own load-out to what is needed. Load-outs can also be changed on the fly through supply depots which can be purchased or captured as part of a base.
GA: What kind of team support will Section 8 offer?
Robert: Section 8 will offer a variety of team support options, most notably a squad system. We will have more details on this soon.
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