Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

Making the much anticipated move from PC to the consoles, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars’ team-based ethos was supposed to fill the gap left by EA’s Battlefield series. Unfortunately, the result was yet another under-par port that failed to live up to its predecessor.

It’s a shame, because this title has all the elements that should have made it a successful FPS: unique classes, expansive maps, multiple-objective scenarios, Vehicles, even mechs. (Well, one mech.) Yet the entire experience smacks of a half-hearted attempt to appease the console-playing demographic.

Set in the Quake universe, ET:QW acts as a sequel to previous Quake games, and features Mankind’s first encounter with the Strogg. Not that you get any of this from the game itself you understand. The newly-added single-player campaign, whilst a decent size, is completely devoid of context or plot. It’s simply there. The most information you get as to why this game exists is in the opening video, and even that is questionably ambiguous.

Unlike the PC version, the 360-port was made by a different developer, and the PS3 version by yet another. This is where things probably started to go wrong, as you can’t help but feel this is a game that was made with only half the story.

With poorer graphics, bland environments, smaller groups and uninspired objectives, it’s hard to justify getting Quake Wars when so many other solid titles exist in the genre. Add to that a steep learning curve, and a sometimes frustrating online experience, you’ll soon find yourself missing the £43 you spent on the game.

Never-the-less, it does grow on you. Experimenting with the different classes, and discovering their role on the battlefield is a worthwhile experience. Whether you’re calling down an air strike, sneaking behind enemy lines, or simply healing a team-mate – using the each classes strengths to help complete your objectives is oddly satisfying.

The levels themselves are thankfully quite diverse, with varying climates and layouts. Obviously some maps are more interesting then others, but this is generally always the case. Whilst they may not feel like they’re in a particular region, (For instance, the ‘African’ maps don’t always seem very African.) the architecture is sound.

Even though the single player can be enjoyable, it pretty much exists as one big tutorial that sets you up for the main event: Online. Unfortunately, nerve (the 360 developer) has managed to screw this up as well. Loading times and odd hosting rules can make getting a game started up difficult, but once you’re in, the fun begins.

As is always the case, working together with real people beats a bot any day. The cooperative element really shines when you’re online, and even the repetitive objectives can become interesting as you work together to make sure the enemy is beat.

Provided you can look past the games failings, the two modes combined give this game a remarkably long life-span. However, it’s just a matter of time before you’ll be trading it back in because the next Battlefield game has come to claim its throne.

At the end of it all, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is one of those games you want to like, but can’t. You want to say “Hey, it’s not you, it’s me”, but you can’t do that either. Just about the only thing you can do is play, enjoy it as much as you can and give it a pat on the back for trying.

Column #1: Looking Forward

(My first attempt at some sort of games column. To all of my imaginary readers out there, now would be a good time to leave feedback.)

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So the dust from GTA IV’s landing has settled the reviews are out, the game has been played and hookers everywhere have been slain: What now? Well, Microsoft might go from strength to strength, as Gears of War 2 and Fable 2 are just on the horizon. Add to that multi-platform releases such as Star Wars, Soul Calibur IV(They’re getting Vader, apparently) and Fallout 3 and this could be a very interesting year indeed.

At the start of the year the critics were hailing 2008 as the ‘Year of the PS3’, but so far it has been anything but. The demo if their first highly anticipated exclusive, Haze, was met with general negativity and since the games full release the reviews have been a bit…Hazy.

Puns aside, it seems Ubisoft’s FPS has failed to deliver on its promises. It now looks like it’s up to Konami and Metal Gear Solid 4 to pull things back, but with no other note-worthy exclusives on the horizon for summer; will this be Sony’s year? Or will it pass them by on the wayside? The multiplatform releases should keep the die-hard Sony fans happy with some good gaming, but if they hope to attract a wider market, their going to have to do better then this.

With Microsoft and Sony really butting heads at the moment, it’s easy to lose sight of Nintendo in all of the cross fire. Comfortably carving in-roads in the family and casual gamers market with the Wii, many Nintendo games look childish standing next to Gears, but favourites like Super Smash Brothers Brawl will remind everyone that they can still muck it in with the best of them. Although, that’s about all they’ve got going…

To tell you the truth, one of the games I’m most looking forward too this year is Empire: Total War. Simply bearing the name ‘Total war’ brings with it a certain degree of ‘zomgthisisgoingtokickass’-ness but Creative Assembly have promised a bit of a revolution with this title.

Set around 18^th Century, E:TW will feature full-scale navy battles for the first. Also factoring in the new technologies of gunpowder and cannon, this is probably going to be the best one yet. A lot is being kept under wraps for now, but keep an eye out on all your usual sources for info. Unless you don’t like the series, then of course you don’t have to do anything...