The character customization screen.
Section 8: Prejudice’s co-op mode is called Swarm and it plays like a mix of Monday Night Combat’s co-op and Gears of War’s Horde mode. Teams of four players guard an outpost from enemy attack across four different maps. Once you initiate the mission by hacking the console, enemies drop in from the sky swarming your base for 15 minutes. At 5 minute intervals the game will launch an airstrike to give you some respite, but between those it’s all out warfare as each wave of enemies becomes more numerous and more difficult. The same strategy elements of the game’s versus mode is at play here - so players will need to drop in defensive structures to bolster their position.
There are four maps to play in co-op and while they vary greatly in terms of looks, the same basic concept applies to each one. There is some variety at play though in how the main defensive structure is set up, whether its a multi-tiered tower, or a more defensive oriented style base, to a more expansive and wide open area that seems more geared towards vehicle play.
Swarm is difficult, extremely difficult - especially if teams don’t work together. There’s a fine balance of offense and defense that needs to be used to get deep into the matches so communication is key. Little tactics like dropping supply turrets near your gun and missile turrets to keep them healed go a long way - but once the mechs start rolling in you’ll want to have one or two mechs on your side as well. Even the DCMs require coordination like one that involves collecting wreckage in a set time period.
Dropping into battle never gets old.
Beyond these three modes there's a fourth mode called Assault which will unlock for free when both the PC and 360 version hit 10 million collective kills. Even without it, there’s a ton of content here for $15. With all the character and weapon customization comes a deep unlock system similar to what many other shooters are doing. You’ll earn XP across all game modes that unlocks different weapon abilities and your stats will be tracked and viewable online. There's AI bot support in every mode for offline play - and the bots can fill in empty spots as well for all multiplayer modes. The game also features built in support for clans via its website. Its little touches like the ability to tweak friendly fire in co-op to only damage shields that go a long way and let you know Timegate paid a lot of attention to community feedback.
Section 8: Prejudice set out to change what it means to be a $15 downloadable title and they succeeded with flying colors. Each of the game’s three modes (soon to be four) offers a solid amount of content and when combined into a full package Section 8: Prejudice is a real deal. The co-op mode is fun and fairly replayable, but its definitely not the meat of the game. If Section 8: Prejudice is successful, we can only hope more developers follow Timegate’s example for downloadable titles.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: Four player survival mode called Swarm where players defend a terminal from enemies. Players can call in defensive structures and vehicles to aid.Also the multiplayer modes can be played against bots in comp stomp fashion.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.