Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (PC DVD)

Amazon.co.uk Review

The release of Battlefield 1942 for the PC in 2002 was a milestone for online gaming, creating a highly popular middle ground between traditional first person shooters and massively multiplayer online games. Like Battlefield this new game is essentially online-only, featuring huge battles between opposing forces of humans and aliens, with each side possessing a completely different set of vehicles and weapons.

Although it’s set in the Quake universe the connections to the other games are not important. As you might imagine the overarching plotline is not the going to be winning any literary awards either, but actually the game is much better at telling a story than many of its contemporaries. Instead of just capturing flags or anonymous control points all of the game’s levels have a very complex series of interconnected objectives. For example, you might be assaulting a based requiring you to first bridge a gorge, then knock out anti-aircraft batteries, before taking down the base’s shield generators. Character classes are just as involved, with engineers, field ops and the rest all having a very different range of weapons and equipment. As complex as all that sound though you can still choose to ignore it all entirely and just play as a soldier and run around shooting bad guys.

Although developed by British team Splash Damage this includes the latest in graphical technobabble from original Quake creators iD Software, in the form of MegaTextures. The idea is that texture patterns are never repeated and there’s no fogging or pop-up at all. Whatever the technology used though the game is hugely impressive to look at and after the mild disappointment of Battlefield 2142 looks certain to become the next big thing in online PC gaming.
HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description

Serving as the prequel to id Software's legendary QUAKE II, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is the ultimate online team and objective-based multiplayer experience. Set within the epic QUAKE universe in the year 2065, the game pits the Allied troops of the Global Defense Force (GDF) against a new Axis of Evil the barbaric and technologically advanced Strogg - during their initial invasion of Earth.

Gamers choose to play as Human or Strogg in one of five unique character classes. Employing an arsenal of weapons, vehicles and deployable armaments, players engage in an action-packed test of skill and coordinated teamwork through a series of combat objectives. Persistent character growth and achievements reward players for teamwork, while clearly defined mission and class objectives guide new players to meaningful contributions on the battlefield.

In development at Splash Damage, co-creators of the award winning Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, and in conjunction with id Software, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars employs id Software's new MegaTexture graphics technology, delivering large outdoor battlefields of unrivalled detail. These life-like recreations of real-world environments are designed specifically for objective-based team combat and include realistic terrain, lighting, special effects and atmospheric conditions.

KEY FEATURES:
Team-Based, Strategic Missions
Gameplay in Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is all about conquering and securing enemy territory, and pushing forward or holding your team's front line. Players must work together using their vehicles, deployables, and character class abilities to complete objectives, defend valuable installations, or execute massive assaults. The gameplay is designed to allow players of every skill level to jump into a match and make a sizeable contribution to the overall mission. Every player's choice of character class, along with their actions play a critical role throughout as they gain rank, upgrade skills and provide specialist abilities necessary for victory.

Unique Teams and Character Classes
With asymmetric gameplay, the characters of both the GDF and the Strogg look, move, and behave uniquely. Bases, characters, vehicles and weapons demonstrate the different technologies and behaviour of each side and require distinctive approaches to combat from each player. For example, a GDF Medic can heal and quickly revive injured or fallen soldiers on the field, while the Strogg Technician may use a GDF corpse as a host body for a waiting Strogg reinforcement. Similarly, the GDF Field Ops will deploy and call-in a laser-guided strategic strike missile, while the Strogg Opressor peppers a GDF convoy with his Plasma Mortar. Players can choose one of five character classes unique to each force, including the GDF's Soldier, Field Ops, Engineer, Covert Ops and Medic, or the Strogg's Aggressor, Opressor, Constructor, Infiltrator, and Technician.

Weapons, Vehicles, Deployables
The weapons, vehicles and deployables in Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars are much more than standard issue equipment. Each selection truly affects gameplay and is integral to a team's success or failure. Set in the relative near future, the Human arsenal is based on ultramodern updates to today's conventional Earth arsenal, while the Strogg utilize a more advanced technology suitable for conquering vastly different alien worlds. The GDF use weapons, and vehicles such as machine guns, rocket launchers, armoured personnel carriers, and hover-copters, among others. Conversely, the Strogg's technology is built on the manipulation of energy and gravity and includes assets like the Hyper Blaster, Lightening Gun, a giant mech-walker, a hover tank, vertical take-off and landing Hornet, and more. Players will also utilize unique strategic assets like radar, auto targeting anti-personnel or vehicle turrets, artillery or strategic strike missiles all of which are realistically deployed onto the battlefield when and where you choose.

Ground-Breaking Technology
Using id Software's new MegaTexture rendering technology, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars renders large, highly detailed and un-tiled outdoor environments all the way to the horizon. Outdoor dynamic lighting allows for every battle to be fought during day or night, with accurate simulation of shadows, atmosphere, vegetation, and weather. Advanced real-time physics, and all new network code support large-scale military combat for up to 24 players through real-world locations, including deserts, glaciers, mountains, and countryside.