Vehicles!

Quake Wars brings something new to the Enemy Territory franchise – vehicles. Where the differences between Strogg and GDF classes are for the most part relatively modest, the vehicles are considerably different. The GDF scout buggy, the Husky, is a fairly standard quad you might ride around some hills on a weekend. Its Strogg counterpart, on the other hand, is the Icarus – a flying/hover pack that works somewhat like how flying did in Tribes. You can reach somewhere over 100 feet in altitude before the Icarus runs out of energy and you come down against. Unlike the Husky, the Icarus is armed and drops Stroyent Bombs which are about as powerful as grenades but somewhat difficult to aim.

On the heavier end of the vehicle scale are the GDF Titan tank and Strogg Goliath walker. The tank works like you'd expect a tank to, except that the primary crew position has only the main gun to fire. If you want to use the machine gun, you need to jump to the top MG. The Goliath, on the other hand, is much like a MechWarrior Mech. The top rotates separately from the legs, and it has a much higher vantage point from which to fire. On the other hand, its anti-infantry options are limited. It must drop down and deploy into a turret-like stationary platform to be effective. Even then, it has difficulty at close range against GDF infantry forces. The Goliath is better in a toe-to-toe fight against the Titan, but the Titan's speed, low silhouette, and maneuverability give it the ability to hide behind hills and buildings, which the Goliath usually cannot do.

In the air, the GDF find their Anansi Attack Helicopter matched up against the Strogg Hornet. The Anansi was difficult to fly in our experience but much faster and in a way more maneuverable. It is definitely a vehicle that benefits from having two crew, since the pilot can then focus on handling the beast in the air while the gunner can aim the weapons in a broader arc than is allowed to the pilot alone. The Hornet was easier to fly but didn't offer the speed or maneuverability of the Anansi. On the other hand, it was much simpler hovering above a Titan or Badger and blasting it into oblivion, than it was attacking ground vehicles with the Anansi.

The Strogg have another tank with the Desecrator HoverTank. It can only fire its cannon in hover mode, and that only directly ahead – there's no turret – but it can deploy as an anti-infantry turret on the ground. The GDF don't have a direct counterpart, but they do have the Trojan APC, which is amphibious and obviously carries infantry. It also has a missile launcher for air defense. Finally, the last ground units we saw were the Badger Truck, which is not unlike a Hummer, and the Strogg Hog Scout. Both are excellent light vehicles with manned machine gun positions.