Review - Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

WNxBrandmon · 09:42 AM

Review
Author: WNxBrandmon

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

Platform: PC
Genre Category: FPS
Date of Release: 28th September 2007
ESRB: T
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Splash Damage
Rating: A
Official Site URL: http://community.enemyterritory.com/

Introduction

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is a Multiplayer-First Person Shooter, developed by Splash Damage with the help of id Software, the father of all that is Quake. Splash Damage in the past worked on the popular Quake 3 Mod called 'Quake 3 Fortress', which, hence the name, is similar to the original Quake Mod, Team Fortress, which focused on teamplay. Splash Damage continued that line of style and developed Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. A standalone Multiplayer FPS, which would take Return to Castle Wolfenstein's multiplayer and make it better in many ways and for the best part, Free! (So if you haven't tried that out yet, do so. It is a great game and the fact that it's free makes it worth trying out!). Wolf:ET got to be very popular with many, and afterwards, Splash Damage worked on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, which by now is released

Of course, being a Multiplayer FPS, the game does not have a Single player campaign but it certainly does not lack bots, so you will still have something to do when your network is dead

Plot/Story

Most FPS Multiplayer games (like say, Battlefield, Counter Strike or War Rock) lack a story but it would be interesting to know that this game actually has one. Of course, not all of the story's facts would be given to you in game but if you search in the internet about it, you would know more (like I did). But I will post the story here, so you don't have to search for it

Set in the year 2065, Quake Wars puts you in the Strogg Invasion of Earth, prequel to Quake 2 (where the Humans retaliate and invade their Home planet, Stroggos). You don't have a campaign to tell the story but the maps you play in are important battles of the war. Where for example, the Humans need to defend a Slipgate (also called a 'Portal') they captured, which would eventually help them in the invasion of Stroggos in Quake 2 as Slipgates help in interstellar travel.

The GDF:

The Global Defense Force (GDF), not to be mistaken to C&C's GDI, are the Global Human force fighting against the Strogg. Before the Invasion, the GDF were a Global Aid Organization which were deployed for humanitarian aid for disaster zones, conflicts, etc. (Picture the UN) When the Invasion started with the failure to call a Country Military Force; a Global Force, the world agreed on this Global Aid Organization to be reformed as a Global Fighting Force. The GDF were formed.

The GDF use conventional weaponry and devices not too different from modern ones.

Strogg:

The Strogg are a Cybernetic alien race lead by 'The Makron' which, in the game, Invades earth for the first time. They are a race based on Warfare knowing no peace at all. They are built by the long wars between themselves in the Strogg home planet. And when they settled and united under one, they went out and started waging war against other planets. And finally, reaching Earth. They are a race with no 'Civilians' and every Strogg born (or Stroggified) needs to go out for war. Their technology is superior to Earth, using Plasma Technology, Spaceships, Rail Guns and all other mumbo jumbo the humans didn't have any idea of. Another reason they are out waging war is because of their need of 'Stroyent' which is the life supply of the Strogg. And guess what they need to make it? You, and every human and living life form!

Gameplay

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars' gameplay takes from other Game formulas, like from Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory or Battlefield and makes it better by adding bits here and there and ultimately makes it a bit different from any other multiplayer game. The formula is simple enough to understand but deep enough to study further. Simply put, you have 2 Teams (Strogg vs. GDF), each able to use one of 5 classes, (see classes section) which are attacking or defending at a certain map. The attacking team needs to complete the series of objectives before the 20 minute time limit runs out. Objectives include Destroying stuff and Hacking stuff. (See the objective types part for further details) But for the attacking team, it's not all about the objective. You have got 5 Different Classes and 1 class is needed to do an objective. But is being that class a must? Nope. There are other jobs to do, like keeping your team alive, killing the other team by sniping or bombarding, doing secondary objectives, etc. So apart from the Primary objective, an attacking team is given plenty to do along the given front line, regardless of what class one may choose. On the other side, the defending team is given a simple objective. Stop the team from doing the objectives but like the attacking team, there are other secondary objectives that can be done.

Another thing is that you may think that because there are vehicles in the game, the game would be vehicle based. Well, wrong. 75% of the time one is walking around. Infantry are useful and fun enough not to be over shadowed by vehicles. And Heavy Vehicles are best used with Infantry supporting you or else a Rocket Soldier can take you down easily. Now, since the game uses an objective based formula, teamplay is important. You can work alone and win the game. You may rambo around kill people for the fun of it but that won't win rounds alone. You will need the people doing the objective and others supporting by killing the enemy. The game's pace and infantry mechanics are similar to Quake 3's. With strafing needed on 1-on-1 fights and bunny hopping to reach a certain place. But well, for pace speed, I would say it’s not as fast and blood pumping as Quake 3 but still faster than other games, like for example, Call of Duty 4.

In short, the gameplay is fast enough to keep you at your toes at all time but not too fast that it would give you no chance to think what to do. It's team based, so a public team doing nothing objective related will be punished hard but when you have a great team, the game is great and rewarding and keeps you playing until you are tired to play further.

Classes:

In each team, there are 5 classes, pretty identical to each other but still different enough to have their own advantages and disadvantages. Although there are differences in both teams, which may get one team to be stronger than the other, the developers actually did a good job to keep the game balanced. The only thing that will make one team stronger than the other is good teamplay.

Soldier/Aggressor

The Heavy Weapons Class. Soldiers and Aggressors are able to take down anything with the right weapons. Be it Vehicles with a Rocket Launcher/Obliterator, Infantry with a GPMG/Hyperblaster or deployables with a HE Charge/Plasma Charge. They are effective in one on one combat because of the fact that they have more HP than other classes, which makes them last longer. These guys are also responsible for Destroy Objective.

These guys are able to use either Shotguns/Nail guns, Assault Rifles/Lacerators, GPMG/Hyperblasters or Rocket Launchers/Obliterators. They are also equipped with a Knife/Spikes, Machine Pistol/Lightning Gun, Frag Grenades/Shrap Grenades and HE Charge/Plasma Charge.

Medic/Technician

These guys are needed to keep their team alive and also do other things. Both sides can do the simple process of Reviving and healing (with the GDF being able to do that instantly) but both sides have their own specialty. Strogg Technicians can create spawn hosts from dead GDF corpses. After being created, they can be used as a spawn point for any Strogg player. On the other hand, the GDF Medic class can destroy these spawn hosts with their Defibrillators instantly and can also deploy an Air Dropped Supply Crate which has an almost unlimited supply of Health and Ammo.
These guys can use either a Shotgun/Nailgun or Assault Rifle/Lacerator. These guys are equipped with a Knife/Spikes, Pistol/Blaster, Frag Grenades/Shrap Grenade, Med Packs/Stroyent Cells, Defibrillators/Stroyent tool and the GDF have the Supply Drop.

Engineer/Constructor

These guys are one of the most useful class objective wise, at doing an objective and stopping one. They can be used to Construct objective (from Bridges to Mining Lasers) and also play a defensive role. They have many gadgets in their arsenal. They can repair, deploy Anti Vehicle, Anti Personnel and an Artillery Interceptor Turret. They can also deploy Mines to specific locations.
They are able to use either a Shotgun/Nailgun or Assault Rifle/Lacerator and experienced Engineers/Constructors can use Grenade Launchers/Plasma Launcher. They are equipped with a Knife/Spikes, Pistol/Blaster, Frag Grenades/Shrap Grenade, Repair Tool/Repair Drone, Deploy Tool and Mines.

Field Ops/Oppressor

Being an Offensive class, the Field Ops/Oppressor can clear out an area of enemies or at least keep them away from that area. They can use Close Air Support/Orbital Bombardment and they can also deploy and fire either Self Loading Howitzers, Guided Rocket/Mortar projectiles or even a Heavy Ballistic Missile. While the GDF Field Ops are able to sue Ammo Packs, the Strogg Oppressors are able to sue ******** Shields to protect a certain spot to help the team.
They can only use an Assault Rifle/Lacerator but experienced Field Ops/Oppressors can also use a Scoped Assault Rifle/ Accurised Lacerator. They are equipped with a Knife/Spikes, Pistol/Blaster, Frag Grenades/Shrap Grenade, Air Strike Marker/Violator Beacon, Artillery Deploy Tool and a Targeting Tool. GDF Field Ops are equipped with Ammo Packs while Strogg Oppressors are Equipped with ******** Shields.

Covert Ops/Infiltrator

This is the most versatile of all. These guys can snipe, they can deploy radar to know where the enemy is, they can hack stuff back to the stone age and have other useful gadgets. The GDF have the Third Eye camera, which is a mini radar that sticks to a surface. It shows any enemies in a radius of about 20 meters, so it’s fairly useful. It is also useful for the fact that you can see yourself from it and detonate the camera anytime you want, doing more damage then a grenade and smoke grenades which fills an area with Smoke. The Strogg on the other hand have a Flyer Drone which is able to fly around for a limited time and detonate at a specific point. They can also use Teleporters which teleport an Infiltrator to a thrown beacon. These guys can also be disguised as the enemy (they need an enemy Corpse for the Disguise) and can backstab enemies.
They can only use a Sniper Rifle/Rail Gun or Scoped Assault Rifle/ Accurised Lacerator. They are equipped with Knife/Spikes, Silenced Pistol/Blaster, EMP Grenades/Scrambler Grenades, Radar Deploy Tool and a Hacking Tool. The Strogg are equipped with a Flyer Drone and Teleporter while the GDF are equipped with a Third Eye Camera and Smoke Grenades. Experienced Covert Ops are equipped with Silenced Machine Pistols.

Objective Types:

Destroy

Done by the Solider class to destroy an objective using a HE charge or Plasma charge. When armed, the bomb will take 30-40 seconds to detonate and during that time it can be defused by an Engineer.

Construction

Done by the Engineer class to build an objective. The objective takes time to repair manually and if left untouched for a certain amount of time, the progress will decay. Some construction objectives (like Bridges) have multiple stages and when one stage is done, that stage can't be decayed or destroyed.
Escort MCP

Done by the GDF to escort a Mobile Command Post through a specified Path to a marked area. The MCP can be driven by anyone but only repaired by a GDF Engineer. Cannot be permanently destroyed (unless driven off route) and when it is disabled, it cannot be damaged further.

Hack

Done by a Covert Ops Class to hack a certain objective. Similar to the Construct objective but multiple stages are not present and if left untouched for a certain amount of time, the progress will be decayed.

Transport

Done by anyone from a specific team to transport an object personally from one point to the other. When the carrier dies, the object is dropped and can either be returned to its original position when picked by the defenders or carried again when picked by the attacking team.

Flyer Drone Attack

Done by a Strogg Infiltrator to destroy an objective using a flyer drone. It would need multiple flyer drone detonations to destroy an objective and the objective is also non decayable. The only defense the other team can do is to destroy the drones before they reach their destination or to kill the enemy Infiltrators.

Ranking:

Ingame: The XP System

Ingame, a player gets XP by doing anything. From doing damage, to healing, to even staying alive. When you reach a certain amount of XP, you get a reward which will improve your abilities. After a campaign (of 3 maps) ends, the XP is reset.
All XP rewards are gained at 12 (Level 1), 24 (level 2), 48 (Level 3) and 96 (Level 4) except for Light Weapons and Battle Sense, which is 8, 16, 32 and 64.
Here are the Awards of each XP class:

Persistent Ranking: The Statistics

Of course, the XP you gain ingame in a ranked server does not go for nothing. It gets added to your persistent account which unlocks new ranks and medals. Each Medal has multiple requirements to that specific medal (and no there aren't any medals for jumping off a cliff) and when you complete one requirement, you gain a Rank. Of course, other information is stored, like K/D Ratio, Accuracy, objectives done etc.

Example

Bots (a.k.a Singleplayer)

The bots in this game are extremely smart. They will flank, they will jump, they will do anything a normal guy does including teabag which is a pretty nice fit for a multiplayer game. The bots are not ones that you would play and play again as this game belongs against a real life player but they are useful practice. And don't think they are pushovers at all. The lower level bots may be easy to beat but the harder ones are near impossible!

Graphics

The graphics of the game are good. Nothing next gen but they look good for an almost 4 year old engine. The textures are clear, models are detailed too and effects, decent (but could have been better. The water looks great too but has a small flaw itself. When an objects is between the camera (you) and the water, it would give a ripple effect which slightly nasty but ignorable. The Devs in the past explained that it is a flaw in the engine itself that could not be fixed and the only way to fix it is to sacrifice the AA which is too much. So nothing can be done about it.

Another great thing about the graphics are the Ground Textures. Using a method called 'Megatexture', the game is able to render a whole 1 mile by 1 mile texture with no repeating textures (very visible in games like Oblivion). But the better fact is that the game doesn't need a monster to run that 1 mile by 1 mile texture without fog! The game actually runs smoothly with medium Setting on an 8600GT. I myself get about 60-100 FPS (at times drops to 40 though) and still looks decent. So performance in this game is definitely a plus and very important in a multiplayer game. So to sum it up, the game looks great maxed out but you will need a good rig to run it with High FPS smoothly at that level (an 8800 or better is enough) so if you got a weak rig, don't be afraid. The game run very smooth at low or even medium at moderate rigs with some options turned off.

System Requirements:

Minimum System Requirements

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 2.8 GHz or AMD(R) Athlon(TM) XP 2800+ processor (Pentium 4 3.0GHz or equivalent for Windows Vista)
Memory: 512MB RAM (768MB for Windows Vista)
Graphics card: 128MB NVIDIA(R) Geforce(TM) 5700 or ATI(TM) Radeon(TM) 9700 (full list of supported chipsets below)
Sound card: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
Hard disk: 750MB of free hard drive space, plus 200MB for Windows swap file
Internet: Broadband connection and service required for full gameplay and downloads. Features may change without notice.

SUPPORTED VIDEO CHIPSETS

NVIDIA GeforceFX Series (5700 or higher, not including 5700LE and 5700VE)
NVIDIA Geforce 6 Series (6200 or higher) NVIDIA Geforce 7 Series (7300 or higher)
NVIDIA Geforce 8 Series
ATI Radeon 9700 or higher
ATI Radeon X700 or higher
ATI Radeon X1650 or higher

Audio

The audio is not bad in the game, actually good but definitely nothing special. There is enough sound in the game to let the player know what is going on. Everything has a sound from every usable gun, to the nearby woods to even a building's air conditioner. There are also many 'Voice Says' for each team, from 'Yes!' to 'I need Covering Fire!' to even 'Eat that Human!' So it’s defiantly enough, although the GDF vsays sound strange. But it just needs getting used to.

Community

The community of this game is great. Although it may lack the numbers of say, Call of Duty 4 or Battlefield 2, there are more then enough players and there are a few idiots/noobs running around. Most public teams by now play teamwise (it was different when the game was out) and most matches would be fun. (only a few frustrating matches when you are on a bad team). In certain servers, games are much better since more experienced players are there and fewer newbies are there so it would be a good idea to find a good server and stick to it.
The forum community is also great. They are friendly, cool towards newbies and if you have anything to ask, they will answer right away. So if you play ET:QW I would suggest checking the ET:QW community forums out!

Summary

+ Great Performance for even old rigs, compared to other modern games

+ Great team action that will make your day and gets better if your team is better

+ Both sides aren't exactly the same. They may be similar but the differences are still appreciated and make the game last you even longer

+ Great maps both by looks and play. Even though there are only 12, they will keep you busy. And if this game goes through the same footsteps as Wolf:ET expect many, many more custom ones.

- The game isn't newbie friendly. It does its best to introduce new guys as best as can be but new gamers to the FPS-MP Genre will have a tough time.

- If you are going to be in a bad team, you are going to be punished, hard. It will be very frustrating and well, make sure your mic is muted while playing.

Conclusion

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars in an excellent Multiplayer game and of the most fruitful out there. There may be nothing majorly original but there doesn't need to be because the formula of class based Objective teamplay is still great. If you are one looking for good, team action, this game is for you as the teamplay in this game is very rewarding. (and also punishing) You will have a bit of harder time if you are a rambo kind of guy that doesn’t care about teamplay, so you’d better set your strategies so you could have fun. But if you hate FPS games, stay clear. For everyone else, its a game worth trying out and don't let the first frustrating moments of the game turn you off as it gets better afterwards when you get better yourself.