Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

I really hope that Quake Wars sells a ton of copies. With Halo 3 already in people's grasp when the game releases, it's possible that it'll be ignored, which is too bad because it's such a blast to play.

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Anyone who's played the free Enemy Territory game that Splash Damage put out a while back knows what they're in for with Quake Wars: a butter smooth online FPS experience with finely balanced gameplay.

My Own Worst Enemy

Each side--the Strogg and the human GDF--has access to five different character classes: the soldier, the medic, the engineer, the scout and the sniper. All of the classes fulfill specific roles and you really do need a good mix on the battlefield to be successful. Some classes are more important than others, though, and the game helpfully identifies what it feels to be the key class for each specific map.

A variety of vehicles also adds to the carnage. Each side has access to small speedy craft and large hulking battle machines; things get pretty hairy on the battlefield when all of the vehicles come into play at once. The only thing bad about it is that you can't use an opponent's vehicle.

Synchronized Slaughter

You also gain experience for everything from killing an enemy to using your class specific skills. Once you gain enough, you earn rewards in the form of combat bonuses, like increased sprinting speed and flak jackets, which is a nice touch.

The matches I participated in boiled down to one team defending critical objectives from the other side's assault. The objectives stack neatly on top of each other--accomplish objective 'A' to gain access to 'B' which opens up 'C' and so forth--and this creates constantly shifting combat zones as one team gains ground on the other.

Are You Experienced?

It's obvious after my limited play time that Splash Damage did a bang up job of crafting a fun and addictive team-based FPS experience. I feel like I just barely scratched the surface and can't wait to dig down deeper into what the game truly has to offer. I really do hope that a lot of players buy the game and hop online, if only so I can be guaranteed a steady stream of opponents to play against.

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