Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Hands-On April 02, 2007 Jakub Wojnarowicz

Introduction

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Enemy Territory: Quake Wars has been on our radar for some time. From the first E3 video to this latest trip to Activision, we have eagerly kept up with development. Set in the Quake II universe, during the Strogg invasion of Earth, Quake Wars is set on 12 maps divided into 4 campaigns of 3 maps each. Like the original Enemy Territory, Quake Wars is completely multiplayer.

There are always two teams per map, and each team has 5 character classes. Though the Strogg and Global Defense Forces have different names and weapons (ie, Field Ops/Oppressor), they generally serve the same function. Constuctors and Engineers concern themselves with building turrets, repairing vehicles, and planting defensive mines. Aggressors and Soldiers are the basic combat units, with a variety of weapons – from assault rifles and machine guns to anti-vehicle weapons. Field Ops and Oppressors call in artillery units and then use them to initiate artillery strikes, while Technicians and Medics do the obvious job of healing their own. Finally, Infiltrators and Covert Ops are primarily focused on sniping and sneaking into the enemy's base. Covert Ops rely on stealth, Infiltrators disguise themselves as the enemy.

What sets Enemy Territory: Quake Wars apart from most of its competition is its objective-based gameplay. Players are not tasked with a simple capture the flag job. Rather, they face multiple tasks on a single map, though they are all sequential. The familiar Valley map, for example, first has the GDF build a bridge, then drive a Mobile Command Center through a tunnel to the forward Strogg base, followed by hacking a Strogg facility, and launching a missile at the Strogg compound. Finally, the GDF must rush inside and place explosive charges. All this while the Strogg engage in a vigorous defense and have the benefit of time on their side.

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Vehicles!

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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.

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Final Words

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The idea of terrain control has been implemented in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Field Ops and Engineers, and their Strogg equivalents, can only deploy their structures on ground that has been captured by their side. With each objective gained or lost, control of a certain part of a map is handed over to the attacking team. There the two deployable classes can place their structures at will.

It should be noted that only one deployable is available per person. While the deployable classes do have a choice of three each, only one can be placed at any single time. An engineer must then decide whether anti-infantry, anti-vehicle, or anti-artillery turrets are going to be most valuable. Similarly, Field Ops and Oppressors need to choose the kind of artillery best suited to the task. These are divided into fast-reloading standard artillery, slightly slower rocket/plasma barrages, and finally the big, one-shot Hammer missile/Dark Matter cannon.

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