First person shooters have been stuck in a rut since... well, Wolfenstein 3D?. Could have been earlier but that's the first time I remember my body being represented by a gun. Someday, first person will represent two hands, elbows, breasts for those of us who have them, the tips of noses...not just a gun barrel. (No... not an issue with me at all!) That's just the back left wheel of this wagon stuck in a rut; the left right wheel has been stuck in the "spawn, wait 15-seconds and respawn" rut since time immemorial, too. I could mention the "capture the flag, no wait! Go back band re-capture the flag" rut, too but I don't want to flog this horse to death. Timegate is perfectly willing to do it for me. Or rather, they're willing to beat some life into it.

The story is clichй but clichй can be oh so good when done well. Humanity has spread throughout the Galaxy. Never neglect your frontier galaxies. Has no one ever read pulp sci-fi? Firefly, Babylon 5 anyone? Did no one actually read Bladerunner? The government of Section 8 apparently lost touch with the media of the 20th and 21st Centuries because they've allowed a military faction known as the Arm of Orion to represent the restless colonists. Time to squash them, like bugs, Mr. Rico!

Oh yes, that's right, powered armor. (I have a thing for powered armor that probably shouldn't be mentioned on this site.)

You'll be playing as a member of the 8th Armored Infantry - all volunteers - and affectionately called Section 8 after the old military term used for "discharged by necessity of being mentally unfit for duty." You're the ones they send in when the situation is desperate: the suicide missions. I told you clichй can be good.

Earth be damned these may be planets that can support life but they look cool! The artists at Timegate ensure that you will never forget you are playing a science fiction title. From your armor, to your weapons to the startling variability of the amazing environments everything feels foreign. It's that level of disconnect that is somehow familiar - humans created this, not aliens - but quite obviously does not fit any paradigm of this reality. And it is gorgeous.

I know, I said at the beginning that there was going to be some beating of a horse. Ok...

There is a single player game. Beyond the fact that the storyline is integral to understanding how the gameplay works, I can tell you nothing about the actual story. Timegate were showing us the mechanics and not letting us in on the story.

First and foremost, you burn-in/drop-in, FALL to the planet from orbiting drop ships. You do not spawn; not initially or ever. From space, you choose the load out most advantageous to your goal for that drop, look 15,000 feet below, choose a spot and begin your descent. It is awe-inspiring. You can adjust your drop as you burn-in - you're heading in head first so you can see the action - then you flip just before landing. BAM! You smash your enemy or a vehicle or damage a complex or simply (simply?) create a crater in the ground.

Like capture-the-flag, your goal is to take certain strongholds. Unlike capture-the-flag, it is not a matter of take/lose/take back and run the circle over and over and over until the timer runs down. Capturing a complex - a position that may be a building, port, etc. - earns your team gains a bonus. This position then defends itself through the use of anti-air defenses. However, the anti-air defenses can be broken through if enough force is used.

A member of the press asked during the presentation, "So... then what's to stop 15 people from dropping from space and doing a burn-in directly on that position to defeat the defenses?"

Creative Lead Phillip Morales, responded with a slight giggle, "We hope they will."

Hopefully, the 15 of you will have called for an aerial bombardment when you make your suicide bombing. If you're going to take a position, do it right! But don't worry if a few of you are taken out, there's no spawn timer. There will be no watching your body for 15 seconds waiting to respawn. Back to the drop ship you return, change to a loadout more appropriate to taking the complex, not pummeling it, and start your burn-in.

Returning in the same load out is always possible but everyone is going to know if you were damaged upon first fall. Assuming your shield dropped and you took hits, your armor will be chipped, dented, perhaps even throwing sparks. More hits and pieces of that precious powered exoskeleton will be flying in bits in pieces as you high-tail it (you hope) behind that outcropping.

I know I've waved the sci-fi flag a few times but the nice balance is that the majority of the technology - that isn't powered armor, burn-in technology and complex defense mechanisms - is of a mechanical nature. No light sabers or blasters. These are visceral, ammunition-based weapons. And the vehicles - though called from the drop ship - still require players to operate them. And every player gets to operate a piece of equipment that causes mayhem.

Multi-player rounds are currently set to last 15-20 minutes, but with a launch date set for late 2009 much can change. By placing it on PC and next-gen consoles, all first-person enthusiasts get the chance to play kamikaze. Timegate's previous titles, Kohan and F.E.A.R. Extraction Point are known for quality and breaking the mold. Section 8 looks to follow in this vein. If nothing else, burn-in is going to change the expectation we all have about death. I surely hope so. And maybe, someday, I'll get to see my breasts in first person... no, wait my elbows.