Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Preview

The creators of the original Enemy Territory are at it again. With the support of id, the guys at Splash Damage are working on an online shooter entitled Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, which will attempt to engage players in challenging multiplayer combat scenarios. Taking place on Earth, this online-exclusive, full retail game will focus on the events before Quake II when the Strogg invaded the Earth. The core of the game, (which, remember, is the follow-up to Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory), is the conflict between the Strogg and the humans or, more accurately, the Human Defense Force called the EDF. Each side in this massive-scale conflict is armed with an impressive arsenal of weapons which gives them the means to annihilate the enemy. The players can choose between the humans and the Strogg, allowing them to decide if they want to stand on the side of the humanity or the poor, oppressed aliens (As for myself, I've always found it easy to identify with the aliens, as I am prone to fits of unnecessary violence, producing radiant, green vomit and such). (We have had to replace the carpet in her office 3 times now -Mo)

Tell Sgt. Frank I loved himmmm!!!

Roger that, sir, we run for our lives. Got it.

The developer talked superlatives when it came to their new game, mainly because it means making the sequel to a popular game (mod) such as Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. Their effort to bring the game to life with an "uncompromising level of detail and realism" may be visible in their struggle to provide the player with such a large number of various weapons and vehicles. Both sides have some rather impressive weaponry at their disposal. Some of the weapons are pretty standard, while some pack a real punch. Human weapons are more conventional (like grenade launchers), and alien weapons are... well... more alien. The game features vehicles such as anti-gravity ships, alien walkers, Abrams Tanks, Apache helicopters... the list goes on and on. There are in all more than 40 vehicles and other useful structures to be found in the game, which will significantly help in creating the right atmosphere and a very realistic feel of combat. Vehicles also possess a realistic feel, and they will be much needed in combat due to the vast in game surroundings. There will be a lot of outdoor action where speed of movement will be crucial. This will attempt to intensify the frenzy of combat, which is still not supposed to be chaotic but well-planned and strategic, relying heavily on team coordination (Interesting as Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory was both chaotic as hell, as well as team based. - Smap).

Both races have a class system implemented, but there are obviously some differences between human and alien classes. The class system is more than just window dressing, meaning that the class is not important solely for team strategy, but also in interaction with vehicles. Depending on the character class you play, it will be possible to further utilize the vehicle by giving it a certain specialization and thus turning it into a mobile hospital, or a stealth tank. (Talk about an oxymoron! -Mo) Apart from that, the class system is rather simple and logical, with assault, defense, support, and infiltration, each containing many different skills to be upgraded with time.

Apart from featuring huge outdoor areas, the game world will feature day and night cycles. There will be many things to take into account, from the lay of terrain and taking advantage of your surroundings, to finding the best strategy for fulfilling the objectives. Rushing heedlessly into trouble will not be encouraged, and the player will be forced to carefully infiltrate the enemy territory, positioning different weapon and radar structures in order to secure the position.

Team work will be valued as it will require the player to get familiar with the different classes and use them in the most effective manner. Some missions will require a specific class (i.e. a stealthy approach) while some will be a more frenzied run and gun experience. Players will be "instructed" how to achieve specific goals, and if they actually follow through and fulfill those orders they will advance in rank. Playing nice with the rest of the team seems to be the goal here and trying to work towards that end will bring the player great rewards. Effective team use of a vehicle may also result in gaining more points, so every segment of the game motivates the player to go for more and do their best in completing primary, as well as secondary objectives. There are many promotions and skills to be gained, and team cooperation is indeed highly rewarded. The communication between team members is also enabled though integrated voice-chat option, with many different commands to issue.

An advanced, rewritten Doom 3 physics engine has been announced for the game, and from the looks of it, it should do a damn fine job. Terrain types have an influence on the game play, and vehicles will behave differently on different terrain types depending on their structure. Players will also have to take care about details like that as certain terrain types make more noise when walked on, and being caught in the "middle of a stealthy act" is not advised. The advanced physics used for the game will attempt to further broaden the gaming experience.

Quake: Enemy Territory will employ the new MegaTexture mapping technology developed by id's John Carmack, which allows for detailed, seamless, and precise rendering of huge surfaces and smooth blending of different terrain types into one another. The ability to render impressive numbers of polygons with such smooth precision injects a greater dose of realism into the game as those powerful vehicles rumble over the different types of terrain. The game is supposed to excel visually, taking special care of weather effects, shadowing, and dynamic lightning. Light sources will also be very important in the strategic sense of the word, and it will be possible to destroy them in order to stay unnoticed in the dark. Different locations include all regions on Earth, from deserts to arctic landscapes, serving for some variety.

Splash's new tactical shooter sounds really exciting. One of the main aspirations of the developer is to create a tense and realistic atmosphere which will immerse the player into the story and make them an integral part of it. They are also striving for a balanced game play with well balanced weapons and vehicles which will not allow supremacy of one race over the other, while including a story that (hopefully) will make some sense. Bah! Who am I fooling? We all know that they're only doing this for the money. (That sums it up for just about all of us, don't it? -Mo)