|
Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is a very different
kettle-of-fish to that which the Quake regular may be
expecting. Rather than pursuing the ongoing war between the human
race and the
 Strogg, as the first Xbox360 release in the franchise –
QUAKE 4 – proceeded to, instead, Enemy Territory: QUAKE
Wars appears rather devoid of story. This, however, is the
premise for the title. Not interested in pushing forward the
impending doom-theme of the series, nor classifying the player as
anything other than a number, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars
does not concentrate on a battle that could change the tide of war,
but in-fact an endless amount of battles, representing the constant
struggle for supremacy in the ongoing war.
Taking it’s cue from titles such as the Battlefield
series and Frontlines: Fuels Of War – and, to a lesser
extent, having been inspired by the likes of
The Outfit –
Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is a First-Person Squad-Based
Strategy game, blurring the lines between First-Person Shooter and
Real-Time Strategy possibly further than any that have gone before.
Prior to engaging in battle, the player selects the army they shall
fight for, and the Class of their character. There are five Classes
under each army – GDF or Strogg – ranging from the Soldier with the
ability to use Heavy Weapons, to the Medic stocked with Health Packs
and the Covert Ops Sniper Rifle expert. Each Class is then
upgradeable when gaining Experience in battle for completing
appropriate tasks, such as repairing structures with an Engineer,
and you can change Class mid-battle, should you find your selection
inappropriate for the task at hand. The player can also command
nearby troops. Basic commands
 such as “follow me” and “I need
Health” seem limited, but the Quick Chat system has been well
implemented, and it’s unlikely your squad will ever fail to
understand your commands.
Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is a conversion of a
PC game – a PC game that was released more than six months ago.
Luckily, while Nerve were converting Splash Damage’s PC hit to the
consoles, they realised that the lack of a Single-Player Campaign
would be incredibly damaging to the title’s console release. The
Campaign Maps are effectively very one-sided variations of the
Multi-Player game – akin to The Outfit’s contrived, yet
enjoyable Single-Player Campaign – which involve the player reaching
a destination and performing a basic task, or defending an area or
object. When attacking, objectives may range in name, but ultimately
require the player to commit one of four actions; plant and defend a
bomb, acquire an item and take it to another destination, hack an
object or destroy something. When defending, the player must prevent
their opponents from completing the above objectives.
In addition to the Campaign Mode, there are two
additional Single-Player gameplay options. The Training Mode is
simply a ten-minute dive into the fundamentals of moving around the
battlefield and completing objectives; as basic as it gets. The
Instant Action Mode, however, is presumably an offering made to
appease those that don’t have XboxLIVE!. Much like
ShadowRun before it, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is
designed as predominantly an online game. However, unlike
ShadowRun, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars features
 an
offline Skirmish-style gameplay mode in which you can play against
Artificial Intelligence. Basically simple rehashes of the Campaign
Levels, it is here that those without XboxLIVE! are meant to
find depth in the title. However, with such a lacking sense of
progression, and no rewards for doing so, it’s unlikely many players
will find anything solely warranting purchase offline, and the lack
of Split-Screen two-player Co-Operatively play is simply a wasted
opportunity.
Thankfully, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars steps
into it’s stride online. Offering play for up to sixteen-players,
Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars plays a fine team-based online game,
when the player manages to find one. While there’s no faulting the
online play, the front-end could certainly have done with tidying-up
and being made more efficient before release.
Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars’ graphical stylings
follow the feel of the game as a whole; dated. While certainly not
being bad, the lack of connection between player and on-screen
avatar results in much of the game feeling loose and far from
rigidly confined to create bottlenecks of activity, much like
Frontlines: Fuels Of War created with ease on it’s handful of
Maps. The Character Models are reliable while being far from
groundbreaking, and the sound quality, too, is passable.
Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is a good game. It
had a target, and hits it square. Little in the way of flair, depth
or attention to the Single-Player element is evident in the title,
and from the first play most gamers will realise that everything
Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars attempts has already been achieved –
and with more style – elsewhere. However, it still plays a fair
game; and a rewarding one online. Players will either be convinced
or left wanting within minutes of play, so it’s somewhat of a shame
to say that most will be in the second camp.
 |
