If you're an old fan of M.A.S.H. like I am, then you probably remember Corporal Klinger often sporting a mustache and a dress in his drive to get a "Section 8" and be sent home out of the Korean War. Section 8 referring to a US military reg that's a ticket home when a soldier is declared mentally unfit for duty. Based on that, this game and I should get along just fine.

Within the single-player campaign, you take on the role of Alex Corde, a member of the Section 8 space Marines that are sent out strike the enemy group ARM of Orion. This particular group of marines are deemed nuts for taking on missions of that sort, and if you're personally acquainted with any real Marines, you'll know that must be pretty insane.

The spawning process in the game, is a new twist on a concept older than video-games themselves, but visually it is very nice. Troops "burn in" from thousands of feet dropped from the belly of a landing craft that looks a little too similar, for my tastes, to the lander from Aliens.

If you're a FilePlanet subscriber, you can get in on the beta yourself, beta keys come out at random intervals and are first-come first-serve.

There's also a partnership tied in with GameStop pre-orders to pick up the Captain's Armor in-game item. Which, though I think pre-order rewards are overused and most often under-developed, looks pretty good.

Reportedly there will be dedicated servers for both the Xbox 360 and PC systems, although the game will not support cross-platform multiplayer. (one of these days, one of these days) Fans of the HALO franchise are going to love this, critics are going to pan it for reconstituting a lot of tried and true sci-fi fps maxims. That is a good strategy, pretty up what works, repackage and market. Multiplayer "ooo, you so pwnt" bragging rights and possible add-ons are going to be what ensures the longevity of any title of this genre and let's hope fans of Section 8 get that.


Available: Fall 2009
Developer: TimeGate Studios, Inc.
Genre: First Person Shooter
Players: 1+
Platform: PC, XBOX 360®
ESRB Rating: T