One of the surprising things about Section 8 is the bot AI. It's perfectly capable of managing the game's "systems". It uses inventory items, it deals with deployables, it captures control points, it repairs friendlies, and so forth. It can't hold a candle to human players, of course, but it's on par with the Quake Wars AI for letting you actually play the game even if you're not online, or for filling out a server with minimal population, or for setting up co-operative games against bots.

And that's where the VIPs and commandos come in. They're like the superhero versions of the bots, come down from the sky to bring you lots of points. They just need a little help from you along the way.

Read about VIP and commando missions after the jump.

VIPs and commandos are each a deadly combination of two things: a metric ton of hit points and a singular purpose. The VIP will land in the middle of nowhere and make his way to a friendly base, spraying bad guys with a heavy machine gun as he goes. Assuming the other team doesn't kill him, your side gets a mess of points when he arrives. The commando, on the other hand, spawns in a friendly base and makes his way to an enemy base, using a rocket launcher to fight along the way. When he gets to the enemy base, he'll cover you while someone on your team hacks the control point. Assuming the control point is hacked within the time limit, and you keep the commando alive, your team gets the point reward for a successful mission.

In both cases, a secondary reward for the mission is that the VIP or commando sticks around, defending the control point. Aggressively, I might add. If an enemy unit is spotted in the vicinity, the VIP or commando will definitely try to chase him down. They're like free-range deployables.

What I love about these missions is that they encourage a moving battle across the map centered around a bad-ass AI unit. One team shows up to try to take out the VIP or commando, and the other team tries to defend him. The defenders cluster around the moving bot, trying to respond to fire. The attackers maybe rush in close, or hang back from cover, or maybe even snipe from even farther out. Maybe some defenders hang back to pick off the attackers. All the while, the bot forges ahead, pushing towards his target amid the swirl of activity. In fact, this is a great opportunity for snipers, who are often closed out of a lot of the command point battles because there's so much cover around them.

(I learned today that as soon as a character's shields are depleted, he flashes blue. This effect, visible from a good distance, is the equivalent of a big neon sign for snipers that reads, "HEY, SHOOT THIS GUY, WHO'S PRETTY MUCH GUARANTEED TO BE A ONE-HIT KILL!")

As far as initiating VIP or commando missions, this is done by accumulating assault or siege points, respectively. Assault points to bring out the VIP are mainly earned by getting kills with the assault rifle or a grenade, and by assists with any weapon. Siege points to bring out the commando are mainly earned by capturing CPs, destroying base structures, and by getting kills with the shotgun, rocket launcher, or mortar.

And speaking of the mortar, it's one of my favorite weapons, even though it's technically a secondary item any one can pack. Hold down the "F" key and it traces the arc of your mortar round, complete with a crosshair at the point of impact. When you let up on the key, a shell flies along the trajectory, and then splits up into multiple explosives over the target. It's ideal against turrets, but it's really wicked once you learn to lead a moving target. Nothing like a little explosive rain to put a damper on someone's day.

Tomorrow: the missions get a teensy bit more complicated
(Click here for the previous Section 8 game diary.)