Preview: Section 8 Solves Three of Your Favorite FPS’s Problems
by Jonathan Zungre on April 24, 2009 at 5:48 pm
They’re not calling themselves a “Halo Killer” but it seems that many of the main features in Section 8 were created in response to what annoyed them, and probably annoy you, about established FPS franchises like Halo and Battlefield.
Let’s go through 3 problems even the best first person shooters have and the ways Section 8 provides a solution.
Problem 1: Spawning Then Immediately Dying
If you spawn near a camping sniper, or in the trajectory of a rocket, or just die within seconds of spawning, it sucks. You probably feel a little cheated by the game, which, I’m pretty sure, is never one of the developer’s goals.
Solution: Let the Player Choose his Spawn Point and Make the Act of Spawning Awesome.
Section 8’s eliminates the annoyance of cheap deaths via their most impressive feature: “Burning in.” Every time you die, you’re taken to an orbital drop ship. You choose the point on the map you want to “burn in” to and the ship torpedoes you screaming through the atmosphere headfirst, in first person view, until you slam into the ground with thunderous force.
There’s a strategy to where you choose to burn in, as well. You can burn in right on the inside of an opponents base, but if your teammates haven’t disabled their anti-air guns, you may not make it to the ground in one piece. Or you could just try to aim your burn in to land on some poor sucker’s head and score the game’s only one hit kill.
No one wants to ride passenger in a real life Warthog either…
Problem 2: Feeling Lame Riding in the Passenger Side of a Vehicle
OK, how many times have you been playing Halo 3 and got stuck shooting the machine gun of the Scorpion or the Wraith while your buddy gets to drive and shoot the cannon? It sucks. It sucks so much that many players will just go on foot rather than rolling like that.
Solution: Vehicles Where Everyone Gets to Do Something Cool:
In Section 8, when you drive a tank everyone gets to do something awesome. So if you’re not driving and shooting the cannon, you’re launching a cluster bomb reminiscent of Gear’s of War 2’s mortar, or you’re shooting the huge caliber bullets of the anti-air gun. Whoever gets in has a job and has fun. There are no back of the Mongoose experiences here.
Problem 3: Trekking across a Huge Map to Get to the Battle
When you’re dealing with the absolutely huge maps of Battlefield or similar franchises, you are often left with a tedious trek across a huge landscape unless you find a vehicle. Even in games without huge maps, the relatively slow pace of your characters movement can be a chore.
Solution: Make Each Player as Fast as a Speeding Vehicle.
Section 8 lets you become the vehicle. If you’ve got a long expanse to traverse, you have the ability to trigger your Overdrive, which shifts the camera to a third person perspective and lets you sprint at ridiculous speeds. This coupled with the built in jet pack for jumping lets you bound across large portions the game map like the Incredible Hulk.
If you want to be able to sprint for longer, put more points into your Overdrive before you spawn and you’ll never again have to experience Master Chief’s slow trot.
Section 8 seems to be made by developers that feel your pain as a FPS fan and want to give you a game that takes the weaknesses of current FPSs and turns them into strengths. They’re a long way off from release but these features look promising.
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33 Comments » |
on April 25, 2009 3:42 am
What about storyline? To be a true Halo-killer, it has to have some kinda story. Maybe not as good, but still has to have one.
on April 25, 2009 6:44 am
The solution to problem 3 won't be very balanced. What's the point of getting a vehicle when any player can run just as fast?
on April 25, 2009 10:10 am
@Middz: Cluster bombs? Or the giant cannon part!?
on April 25, 2009 12:15 pm
Best storyline for FPS ever:
"I'm in an endless war. I don't know how I became a soldier, I only know that I fight. I die. I am reborn."
If you need more than that, read a book.
on April 25, 2009 12:16 pm
Big fucking guns, dude.
on April 25, 2009 3:30 pm
Now who is going to want to develop this? That and I am assuming if someone is planning on developing this then they will make a page at http://www.moddb.com/ so I can see this game come to life : )
on April 25, 2009 8:53 am
Shouldn’t this really be called ‘Section 8 Solves Three of Your Favorite FPS’s Problems When Played In Multiplayer Mode?’
on April 25, 2009 4:05 pm
At Midds and Pedobear: I dont think its supposed to work n every scenario, just when you have a long way to go. Reread the talking point
on April 25, 2009 4:23 pm
… and bigger guns.
on April 25, 2009 6:49 pm
Section 8 is a game in development.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_8_(video_gam...
http://www.joinsection8.com/
on April 25, 2009 9:15 pm
Saw a vid for this about a month ago. This game has the potential to be great!
on April 25, 2009 10:04 pm
Whoa, this game has lots of potential to be the new "Halo" (not necessarily a Halo-killer because I personally think that Halo will never completely die in the near future).
I love their solutions to these irritating problems as well.
on April 26, 2009 5:56 am
Halo having a good story? Well I never.
My good sir you have been misinformed, or are blissfully unaware of what you're doing.
on April 26, 2009 10:34 am
Sector 8 still hasn't fixed one problem with FPS games: absolutely awfully written posts that explain things with the same depth as a clogged toilet full of shit.
Please put more points into writing next time.
on April 26, 2009 11:39 am
I agree with all but solution #3…. Tribes tried jet packs… They sucked… The franchise failed… NO JET PACKS in fps plz….
on April 26, 2009 11:42 am
The only reason halo did so well becuase it was simple. Controls were simple and you could modify them if you wished. As for these ideas, burning in one looks pretty cool and Ive had enough cheap kills to know what a bad spawn is. (first halo game cuased the bad spawn to try stop the long walk problem). The other two things are cool add ons but i dont actually think they are solving problems. (halo is a good casual game in my view)
on April 26, 2009 11:47 am
Dude, you need to get an editor, or ask somebody who knows spelling and grammar to read your work. "You're" and "your" are different words, and "get's" isn't one at all.
on April 26, 2009 1:39 pm
I once saw some one say "Wait, Halo has a story?"
on April 27, 2009 3:00 am
I felt this was a fun, succinct post highlighting some of the features of a good looking game. I don't understand why you had such a violent reaction to it. I don't think you would have read a wordier more robust preview of section 8 based on how brief and reactionary your own comment was. are you just mad because i criticized halo?
on April 27, 2009 8:26 pm
UT3 has something like this, it just happens to have a fatal flaw when you get to close to the fighting
on April 28, 2009 3:59 am
… and bigger f-ing guns!
on April 28, 2009 3:41 pm
yeah but unless your a complete idiot you can easily see what hes saying…
this is the internet!!!
nbdy gvs 2 shts bout grmr any mor!
on May 1, 2009 8:21 am
amen to that.
on May 25, 2009 7:29 pm
Tribes Vengeance has none of these problems, and that is why it's the shit. People are missing out.
on May 26, 2009 12:15 am
Unreal 3 solved all these problems already.
on May 26, 2009 2:23 am
ahaha nice job dude The game's been in development for quite some time (like axelmonster said… I'm so unoriginal…)
on May 26, 2009 4:10 am
I want guns too…
on May 26, 2009 6:45 am
Umm… not to rain on your parade but Crysis also solves all those problems.
1. You can choose where you spawn.
2. The passenger can shoot the guns in a vehicle.
3. You can run super fast.
So nothing special here. Sorrry.
on May 26, 2009 6:58 pm
Worst ideas I have ever heard…
1. Spawn killing can easily be fixed by the makers of the game by fixing the level where you can only spawn in your base away from any enemy. The spawn zones also must be in a safe area where no one can snipe into. Halo 3, for the most part, qualifies with both of those and spawn kills are pretty rare (compared to other games, e.g. COD4).
2. The reason some vehicles in Halo 3 have side seats without any cool features is to make them less powerful. If you make a 4-person vehicle where everyone has machine guns, it'll shred through any opposing infantry becoming an instant powerhouse and changing the gameplay to being unbalanced. Halo also tries to focus fights down to 1on1, 2on1, or 2on2 situations that don't involve outside influences like vehicles.
3. Huge maps are purposefully made to be just that… HUGE. Battlefield 2 is trying to replicate a real-life battlefield. A real person could not just run all the way across in a matter of seconds. That's the point of the map…
on May 30, 2009 3:23 pm
This reminds me of a good number of the features found in Planetside.
on May 31, 2009 11:52 am
1. COD4 has the best spawn placement, based on the amount of enemies around and where they are in relation to each spawn point, and it places you into the least dangerous spot. This is by far the best spawn point method, as it doesn't allow for areas of safety, and ensures that the game consistantly feels tense and dangerous. The idea of having a room where you are untouchable seriously damages the feeling of danger. Even TF2's rooms were attackable.
2. The reason some vehicles in H3 don't have side weapons is because they didn't have any in the first games. Vehicles are designed as a meeting point, which force players to work together, both to use and defeat enemies using.
3. Huge maps are far less fun than maps where you're able to reach anyone around you quickly. A real person can't run that far that fast, but real people can't stand being shot up to their heads in the ground, either. It doesn't claim anywhere to be completely realistic.
on June 2, 2009 9:02 am
My thoughts exactly.
on August 30, 2009 9:52 pm
section 8 suckx i bought it early and I am pissed it cost 60+ bucks for a giant escort mission its like the early call of duty you fight the entire war your self your frindes are invincable and you are made of glass. Random sponing enimies went out in the nintys but setion 8 desided to bring them back. Its a bad game with little or no polish being sold as a an a+ title don’t fall for it it will end up bargain basement and for good reason it sucks