|
From the creators of the most popular Mod for
Battlefield 1942, then amateurs, now turned into a professional
development team, Kaos
 Studios, comes
Frontlines: Fuels Of War.
Set in the near-future providing war-torn cityscapes as it’s
playground, Frontlines: Fuels Of War is THQ’s hope for the
tug-of-war style First-Person Shooter crown.
Akin to the
Battlefield series – and in many
respects, THQ’s first Xbox360 offering;
The Outfit –
Frontlines: Fuels Of War is an objective-based First-Person
Shooter in which moving from and to, and capturing each outpost is
the order of the day.
The Single-Player Campaign consists of only seven
Missions, and as such has often been the biggest criticisms of the
game. Much like
ShadowRun and Warhawk before it, and
Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars since, Frontlines: Fuels Of
War has been built primarily around online Multi-Player, and so
the fact that the Single-Player does actually amount to a worthwhile
effort is more than can be said for many of it’s peers. Each of the Missions
takes around forty-to-ninety minutes on first play-through, and so
the Single-Player Campaign still holds a meaty six or so hours –
more than recent releases such as Army Of Two and
Jumper:
Griffin’s Story. Each of the Missions plays-out as a subtly
disguised training area for the Multi-Player, introducing new
weapons and tech when necessary, as the player advances. The
Single-Player Campaign’s story is comparatively light-weight to many
recent First-Person releases, although contains less holes than
Midway’s
BlackSite, but the competent – if not amazing –
Artificial Intelligence still make for a rewarding experience.
The scenery is full of the usual drab oil refineries and
city streets that modern First-Person Shooters throw-up, but each is
littered with detail. On a par with the likes of
Tom Clancy’s
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, litter blows in the streets
and gunfire can be heard for miles around. The weapon variety is
basic, but justifiably so. What isn’t so justifiable, however, is
the limited ammo supply. A convenience for tactics sake in
Multi-Player, but why in Single-Player it’s not possible to pick-up
dropped enemy weapons will forever remain a mystery. Frontlines:
Fuels Of War consists of the usual array of tanks and 4x4s to
drive, but also features a selection of Drones. Drones are small
remote-controlled vehicles that come equipped with machine guns,
rocket launchers or mines, and can have devastating consequences.
Online, however, is where things really heat-up. With a
fantastic assortment of gameplay scenarios and the ability to tweak
matches to their finest details allows players to be inventive, and
weapon Roll-Outs and Character Classes allow in-team balance to be
rewarding in any circumstances. Allowing up to fifty-players online,
Frontlines: Fuels Of War currently holds the record as the
largest online battlefield available on consoles, and does it with
grace. Games are stable and relatively trouble-free, and finding
players of equal skill level is a breeze. The one issue with online
play comes with that of the Achievements: for a game so concerned
with encouraging online play and a development team whose success
depends on garnering a strong online community, the Achievements
offer little for extended play. Had the studio realised the
potential of the Achievements System I dare say it would be a
different story, but as things stand, it could never be classed as
anything more than a missed opportunity.
Frontlines: Fuels Of War is graphically capable,
but never really sparkles. Like
Halo 3 before it, it soon
becomes clear that the Xbox360’s capabilities have been used
elsewhere, and that Frontlines: Fuels Of War was never going
to be the best looking game on the system. As is often the case, the
soundtrack promotes the same values as the visuals, and has
thankfully chosen to avoid licensed tracks.
Frontlines: Fuels Of War is a package that
delivers on it’s promises. Neatly settling atop its genre, but
without shaking up to much ground. It’s easy to see how
Frontlines: Fuels Of War could be toppled – and probably will be
before the year is out – but as a team with something to prove, Kaos
Studios have made their mark.
|
