Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Hands-On

It's been a little over a year since I last got a look at Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (ETQW). Last time, it was a hands-off demo at Activision's office in LA. Members of Splash Damage (the people behind the add-on Enemy Territory for Wolfenstein) were guiding us through the various plans they had for ETQW and what they had done so far. You can re-read my impressions from last year here.

I wouldn't go anywhere, without consulting the map first.

I'm gonna need a king-size flyswatter for this one!

I did not get to attend E3's swan song last year due to some pressing matters on the home front. My biggest regret at the time was that I did not get to play the demo of ETQW at the Activision booth. However, after the time I spent today with the game, I'm glad I missed out last June because I got a much clearer picture of how much the game has progressed in the last 13 months or so. And oh, has it progressed!

Thanks to LA traffic, I got to today's event late and all 24 PC's were occupied by other players. While I waited for someone to foolishly leave their machine, so I could jump into the game, I spent some time talking with id's Kevin Cloud. The first thing he confirmed for me was that all of the player classes, weapons and vehicles that I would be playing with today are staying in the game when it ships. All that remains is some pretty strenuous play testing to ensure that the balance is correct. The play testing is being done by a select group of closed beta testers that includes (among others) some hardcore player clans. These die-hard players, who focus on working as a team, are helping to ensure that game is evenly balanced and fun. Second, in typical id fashion, ETQW would ship as soon as it's done. No estimate on when that would be, but from what I was watching as we spoke, (a Strogg player jumped into an aircraft and rapidly flew across the map into the GDF base) I was assured that engine tweaking was still taking place as well. I am few steps up the evolutionary ladder from a turnip, but to me, the gameplay looked smooth, sexy and ready for prime time right now.

At this point in our conversation, the current match came to an end and some sucker left his chair for reasons unknown. Pretty soon, I found myself playing a Soldier (the assault class) in the GDF army as the next round started. The map we were playing on was called Valley and was one of three we would see for the day. The maps themselves are arranged with different objectives that teams must accomplish in order to win the round. These objectives run the gamut from destroying key equipment, (which once achieved, cannot be undone by the opposing team) to capturing spawn points to move closer to the enemy fortifications (which can be taken by either team multiple times during the match changing the area of team influence on the map).

As objectives are met and the battle moves across the map, you'll notice that tactics and demand for the different classes (and their unique skills) often vary. For example, you may be powerful when flying the GDF Anansi attack aircraft, but that will do you little good when the battle moves indoors. The game engine allows smooth, seamless transitions from wide outdoor dust ups to close quarter combat inside the twisting corridors of an underground research bunker. Players will find that if they want to complete the objectives for the map and win the round, they will have to have a good mix of all classes and more importantly, work as a team to win. This should help keep the battles tense and at the same hold the player's interest.

Paul 'Locki' Wedgewood of Splash Damage took some time to speak with me following my lackluster performance with the Soldier. He said that since each class on either team (Strogg or GDF) has their own unique weapons and deployable items, players can find the class that best fits their play style. That means players who like to take the biggest gun available and run around the map racking up kills can do so. However, what made the original Enemy Territories so engaging was the magic that happened when players worked as a team. While the prospect of requiring players to complete objectives to move forward sounds like a recipe for disaster when you have a bunch of gung-ho yahoos, trying for the highest frag rating, the development team has gone to great lengths to draw players into a group dynamic. The Mission assigning system was implemented so that everyone knows what they should do to help their side progress and do so in a way that draws the casual player in while not dumbing the system down to the point that it turns off the veteran clan players.

Whew! That's a tall order.

Let me fill you in on how the Mission assignment works. When a player joins the game, regardless of how long the round lasted and which objectives have been completed, the game prompts the player that new missions are available. By hitting M, the player can take an assignment that will offer the most help to the team. So when a GDF Engineer joins a game, he might be directed to construct a guard tower near the front of his base. Or he can ignore the mission and go construct an anti-personal turret near a bridge. Or go repair a tank that is taking damage in combat. Or mine the exit from the enemy base. In short, whatever best fits that player's play style. If you choose to take on a mission, the system updates your mini map and the HUD so that you know where you have to go, but again, in a not too obtrusive way. Once you reach the object, the HUD will discreetly prompt you to perform the necessary action to complete the goal.

These missions can range from planting explosives, to hacking a computer or using the engineer's vice grips to build something. You can either hit 'F' to automatically switch to the correct item or choose it from your weapon inventory by scrolling your mouse wheel. Either way, it's unobtrusive enough to help new or casual players complete objectives while not making veterans feel that they are being led around by the nose. I have to admit it helped me get acclimated to game mechanics more quickly. I adjusted so much more quickly that by the end of my third game, I was the leader in experience points merely by completing missions and fulfilling my role as an Engineer. I hardly fired a shot, but to be honest, I felt that was not my role - focusing on class skills, thus being a more valuable player to my team.