Section 8: Prejudice beta hits this fall

TimeGate Studios is hoping to bias gamers in favor of its Section 8: Prejudice with an early peek at the first-person shooter sequel's multiplayer component. Today, the developer announced a PC beta program for Section 8: Prejudice.

Prejudice is scheduled for an early 2011 launch on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, with the beta scheduled to run this fall. Prospective PC beta participants can sign up for the program at the game's official Web site.

Those who are accepted will get to test out the game's new features, as well as Games for Windows Live integration intended to streamline the matchmaking process and improve server browsing. No such beta has been announced for the console versions of the game.

The original Section 8 launched just over a year ago on the PC and Xbox 360 and received a PlayStation 3 port in March. The shooter eschewed convention by merging the genre-standard match types like escort missions and capture the flag into a single Conquest mode that could have multiple team-based objectives running at the same time. The game also featured a distinctive alternative to respawning, with players dropping from orbit and guiding themselves to their desired location on the map as they fell.

For more on the first entry in the franchise, check out GameSpot's Section 8 review.