Enemy Territory: Quake Wars: Quake on the Battlefield
Company: Activision
Although there are a number of shooters on the PS3 that claim to offer "team-based" gameplay, only a handful actually deliver on the team-based gameplay part. While these modes typically place players on different teams, the objective is usually the same as single-player games - kill the other guy. Even Capture the Flag and Control Point variants typically devolve into little more than killing sprees, which is where Enemy Territory: Quake Wars differs from the rest. Quake Wars is an objective-based shooter, which makes it different from a majority of the other games currently available on the PS3. Rather than running around and simply shooting the other team before time runs out, Quake Wars gives each team a tangible goal to accomplish in order to proceed. Success or failure is completely gauged on your team's ability to complete objectives rather than kill counts, something that is highlighted by the after-action reports that pop up after each campaign. Rather than show every player's kill count, reports are broken into categories where players are rewarded for merits such as "Most Aggressive", "Best Vehicles" or even less flattering distinctions like "Least Accurate".
Building on the Quake mythology, Quake Wars takes place during the opening battles between the Humans and Strogg. Each team of players plays as either the Humans or the Strogg and take turns completing missions based on the map. Some maps place the Strogg in the role of aggressor putting the human team on the defensive, while others flip the roles. Each objective also makes use of the game's class system. Both sides play host to a handful of professions, ranging from Soldiers to Engineers. Each class has a specialized role that relates directly to in-game objectives. For example, Engineers can repair objects like satellite stations, build bridges or even repair vehicles. Soldiers, on the other hand, are the only type that can plant explosives, while Special Ops troops can hack into computers. The idea is for players to pick a role they are most comfortable with, mainly based on their weapons load-out and on-field skills, and take part in the effort. While the main goals usually call for a specific class, everyone needs to play an active role on the battlefield if the team is going to be successful. Some professions can order up radar and gun emplacements to defend an area, while others can lay mines or even call in air strikes.
As an added incentive for sticking with a certain class (rather than always jumping to the class required for the current main objective), players can earn experience-based "perks", granting them new skills as well as powerful new weapons. In addition to on-foot action, Quake Wars also features a fairly robust vehicle-based component. As with the different class-types, each vehicle's on-field role is clearly defined, so there isn't a mad dash for vehicles as soon as the game starts. Instead, the only time players ran for a vehicle was when they needed to get from a spawn point to the battle site quickly. At the same time, some objectives require that your team jump into vehicles and convoy towards an objective, which is a really cool thing and adds to the team-based gameplay.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars ships with both single and multiplayer gameplay options, though the multiplayer is where its heart is. While the A.I.-controlled bots that make up your teammates and opponents in the single-player side are actually pretty smart, the experience isn't as satisfying as when playing with live players. On that same token, Quake Wars might run into the same issue Warhawk encountered (or really any other PS3 online game), which is the lack of players with microphones. The objective-based structure makes communication with other players important, and while the game is fully playable without the ability, it limits the types of strategies teams can employ. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars' success will ultimately hinge on whether or not its multiplayer component will catch on with typically "Me"-focused console players. However, based on early multiplayer sessions, there is definitely a solid groundwork for a fun multiplayer experience.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
Related Links: Enemy Territory: Quake Wars -- Official Site Activision -- Official Site Game Vortex's Preview of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for the 360
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