Prejudicial Treatment

You have no excuse to not download Section 8: Prejudice right now; this is budget gaming at its finest. Incidentally, I started writing this post two weeks ago. It's taken me this long to complete it because I've been playing Section 8 with every spare minute.

Apparently, Prejudice is a sequel to a first-person shooter that came out in retail two years ago, which was well-received by critics but never rose above obscurity. TimeGate Studios surprised the gaming world when it announced that not only would there be a sequel, but it would be a donwloadable title priced at  $15 (or 1200 MS points for us Xbox owners.) I'm impressed with the fact that they were able to make a fully operational FPS available for download, complete with a campaign and creative multiplayer that is at least as fun as the retail competition.


The graphics are surprisingly good. While they aren't quite up to bar with your Halos or your Calls of Duty, they aren't as far behind as you would expect for a budget title. Colors are bright and environments are varied, eschewing the dull-brown-and-light-bloom look for a more "classic" feel. (The visuals remind me of Halo: CE, which probably contributes to my fondness.) And there are some great subtle details, like frost forming on your HUD or the barrel of your gun overheating.

Double-dog dare you to stick your tongue to the barrel.

The campaign isn't long, maybe 4-5 hours, but that's about the same length as Black Ops so I can't complain. The story is your standard Space Marines vs. Other Space Marines fare, and the dialogue is just awful. (And I mean, like, Resident Evil awful.) But the campaign still manages to pack in some memorable gameplay moments (like swatting around infantry units in a giant mech suit), and it does a good job of varying the action between wide open set piece battles, tight corridor crawls, and vehicle sequences. But ultimately the campaign is just an extended tutorial for the surprisingly deep and engaging multiplayer experience, which is where you find the real meat of this game.

There are a number of things to recommend Prejudice's multiplayer. Jet packs are standard equipment, a policy which I fully endorse. It also has what just might be the coolest spawning mechanic ever-- after choosing a location via a dynamic overhead map, you are fired out of a dropship like a piece of living ordnance. Awesome!

Guess what? I got a fever. And the only prescription...is more jetpacks.

The main competitive mode is called Conquest, in which you score points via kills, capturing and holding "control points" (aka bases), and "Dynamic Control Missions," which are random objectives that pop up during a match (like escorting an NPC or collecting items spread across the map). It's kind of like multiplayer gumbo: a mix of deathmatch, Halo's Territories mode, and multiple other objectives all going on at once. Control points are defended by automated turrets and anti-air batteries that keep the enemy team from spawning within a certain radius, so base control is key to controlling the map. But as you play, you earn cash which can be used to call in deployables such as turrets and AA batteries (as well as vehicles and mech suits), so you can essentially establish a defensive bulkhead  of your own anywhere on the map. (Or just set up tons of AA batteries and force the enemy team to spawn in one spot.)

There are so many ways to contribute to victory, you can play in whatever style you want, a fact reinforced by the extremely deep create-a-class system. There is only one weapon for each category (pistol, assault rifle, etc.), but you can customize them with a variety of unlockable mods and ammo types to create your own personalized armory. On top of that, you're able to tweak your armor's stats down to minute details like running speed, shield strength, and many other stats too numerous to name here. Want to focus on offense? Put all your points into damage and armor. Want to be the team healer? Buff your repair ray and speed stats so you can get to injured teammates faster. The options for fine-tuning your classes feel endless, and the multiple objectives encourage you to experiment with multiple play styles.

Classy.

For example, I've found myself often falling into a "sapper" role, focusing on demolishing base defenses to pave the way for my team to sweep in and secure control points. I dropped into this role almost by accident.
Alongside turrets, one of the deployables you can call down is a supply depot that automatically heal friendly units. Certain unscrupulous players will employ the tactic of calling in four or five of these depots, then hanging out in the center of their overlapping repair fields, essentially making themselves invincible. That kind of tactic drives me absolutely freaking bonkers, so I started making it my business to ruin their day. I equipped one of my classes with anti-deployable rockets and mortars, rendering their makeshift hideouts about as useful as a pillow fort. From there, I found it was easy enough to lay waste to a control point's anti-air batteries, allowing my team to spawn directly inside the enemy base. What I started doing out of simple spite has become my de facto role on the team.

Other game modes include Assault, which is basically just Territories and offers a faster pace than Conquest, and Swarm, this game's take on Horde/Firefight. It's a little annoying that this game doesn't feature a party system-- Halo has spoiled me with its elegant UI. But they have implemented clans, something that Bungie and Microsoft somehow haven't managed to figure out in the last ten years.

Ultimately, you can't really go wrong with this game. For the budget price, it includes a stupidly awesome amount of content and multiplayer as fun and addictive as Halo and CoD. Even if you only get a couple months enjoyment out of Prejudice, it's still well worth the price.