Frontlines: Fuel of War (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by John Curry on 04.05.2008

Vitals

Genre	Shooter
System	Xbox 360, PC
Release Date	02/25/2008

Oil Shortages, Economic Depression, Chinese Russian Alliance...it’s not 2008. It's the new addition to the military FPS. Does it deserve a spot amongst the Call of Duty and Medal of Honor sagas? Check inside for our opinion.



Title: Frontlines: Fuel of War
Publisher: THQ
Genre: Military First Person Shooter
Players: Single Player/ Online Multiplayer

In a genre dominated by the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty sagas it would seem as if everything military has been done. I myself was a firm believer of this especially after the dreadful experience of playing The Outfit. This was until I saw the commercial for Frontlines. I was stunned with the graphics and more importantly the story seemed intriguing and fresh. While weary about trying another military game, I was surprised by the enjoyment I found in Frontlines. Was it perfect? No, but it wasn’t far off either.

Gameplay:

The premise is simple and deals with current issues. In 2024 there is a worldwide economic depression caused by the high costs of dwindling supplies of energy sources. The Western Coalition, which is the fictional faction of the west, has been given the duty of preventing the takeover of Middle East (Turkmenastan) oil fields by the Red Star Alliance (Russia and China). You are followed around by a journalist who you rescue early on in the game who plays a significant role in explaining what exactly is going on in the world. This is a big help as this is predominantly where you garner your understanding for what is going on in the game and what the actual story is about.

There are several different types of weapons for you to experience as progress through the eight chapters in the game. At various points you will drive a tank, fly an Apache-style helicopter, several vehicles, control drones, call in airstrikes and use a few different styles of firearms. The game is as fluid as one could possibly ask for (multiplayer online is a different story). Throughout the game you have the same general weapons, a scoped submachine gun, grenade launcher, C4 and grenades. This can be changed in the setting menu where you are able to select which weapons you want to enter the mission with. I personally recommend the High Powered machine gun as it only takes one shot to kill someone. Throughout the game, mainly near the blue smoke you will find a weapon and ammunition that is imperative to the mission. The most enjoyable and useful is the Missile Launcher which you will find yourself using to attack enemies from long distances in addition to destroy artillery vehicles and aircraft. The sniper rifle is unusually the most dishearteningly weak one to use. You will find that when you lock on to an enemies head or face and fire it will still take two shots to kill them. Not my idea of sniping. One problem I did have with the weapons in this game is that when you kill an enemy you do not have the option of taking their weapons.

When controlling vehicles and aircraft in Frontlines it is almost identical to controlling vehicles in the Halo games. One of the best features when controlling the vehicles is there are four different viewpoint options, 3rd person, 3rd person zoom, 1st person, 1st person zoom. This allows you to have better control of your fire. In almost every level you will have an opportunity to use the tank. If it is destroyed you will be ejected from the tank and another will appear where you obtained the first tank. In one mission, the Red Star Alliance drops a nuclear bomb which is a hell of a sight to see. In some miraculous invention in 2024 your tank is a safe haven from the blast as well as the fallout. In this mission you will use your tank to destroy an army of tanks from the Red Star. There is only one mission in which you will fly an Apache-style helicopter. Again it is controlled in much the same way as the tank. I was upset at the end of the game that there were not more opportunities to fly the helicopter. I was also upset that Frontlines did not include any type of fighter pilot aircraft. While these did upset me they did not really ruin the game for me. I hope that they do include them in the sequel.



Another weapon you will use in Frontlines on a consistent basis is the drones. Drones can be used to scout the enemy, destroy barricades, sneak under tanks and self destruct. Some of your drones and small RC helicopters which are capable shooting missiles, RC cars with mounted submachine guns, mobile mortar guns, and self destruct RC cars. All are relatively easy to control, have a decent range and have the option of first person view which makes it easier to control but most importantly adds another level to the actual gameplay. The only issue I had with the drones is they are easily destroyed by the enemy.

Calling in airborne or gunship strikes is another weapon available to use sporadically in this game. To call in one of these strikes you use you viewer to lock on to a target and wait until the attack comes. The negative of this is that when you try to call in these attacks you will be attacked. This presents you with the choice of stay and endure gunfire, cancel the strike, or move to a safer location and trying again. These weapons are not readily available in every level but when you do find one they are extremely handy at disposing large areas at once.

The controller setup is relatively identical to almost any other type of FPS. The RT fires, LT aims, LB is grenades, A jumps and so on so forth. The computer AI is smart as they will run to hide behind different obstacles when you shoot at them. They will also readjust their aim as they fire at you. On the other hand your own platoon members are not quite as smart as you will find yourself being the only one really shot at while your platoon doesn’t provide very much cover fire. They will literally sit there within view while the enemy focuses on attacking you. The levels themselves are varied enough to keep you interested. Some levels are simple deserts with rocks while the highlight of the game is the Moscow invasion. The destroyed city, statues, and office buildings are all well done and very challenging. This level alone made the game worth it. I’ll just give you this one hint: those empty destroyed buildings are not always empty.

While the levels are varied, the actual soldiers are not. You only fight Russian soldiers in Frontline. This is explained after you beat the game. I do recommend that you do not skip any of the cut scenes as they are to the story line. The final cut scene shows the true intention of the game and answers the where is China question.

The multiplayer aspect of Frontlines is where you will feel relieved that you spent the money on this game. Everything you do through playing the main mission is nothing more than training for the multiplayer matchups. In the multiplayer matchup there is a commander and many different choices of what character you would like to play as. The same equipment and selection of vehicles are available in the online multiplayer. The best part of playing online is that you have the option of playing for the Western Alliance or the Red Star Alliance. As of right now as I played online multiplayer there was no difficulty in finding a game in which there were 49 other players in the room. The only complaint I have about the online multiplayer is that during some of the larger shootouts the system does seem to lag. However, it does not lag enough to ruin the enjoyment of the game as it is something to be expected during such a large scale multiplayer match.

Graphics:



Anytime I play a game that is powered by Unreal Technology, I admit I become a little giddy. There is no company that has a better game engine. Frontlines show how much better a game can become when backed with Unreal Technology. The graphics in this game are absolutely awesome. The details on all aspects of the game are unbelievable. So detailed that you can zoom in on the tanks from a great distance and still see the rivets. The cut scenes are also extremely well done. While I don’t really understand the purpose of the journalist constantly following the military around through these dangerous missions, the footage he shoots is great. One thing that must be stated regarding the graphics in Frontline is that throughout my entire time playing the game I did not experience any glitches. There was no lagging during the main gameplay. However there is a certain amount of lagging on the online multiplayer. Overall the graphics push this into the same category as Call of Duty 4.


Sound:

Sound is the one part of this game that needs improvement. The constant chattering over the gameplay is understandable in military games but at least makes it relatively clear or provides subtitles (which are not available). One highlight of the sound is the effort put into expanding the sound to mimic real life. When you shoot a missile launcher at a close target it is extremely loud, when you shoot into the distance the explosion is accompanied by a great echo. The voice acting is well done when it’s not over the headphone chattering. There is some background music but not much to speak of. It sounds as if it is a slightly modified James Bond theme song played over and over and over again.

Fun Factor

The game is fun to play through once. The lack of not being able to play as the Red Star unless you are online does deter from the overall enjoyment of the game. However, that being said you could do a lot worse than Frontlines. The game keeps you engaged and passes by quicker than one would hope but the short three hours it took me to beat the game were an exciting three hours. The game is for the most part an open experience in which there are several different ways to execute a mission. You can continue to try to find different ways to conquer the same levels over and over if you want but once you beat the game there really is not much reason to return to the game unless you play online.

Lasting Appeal

Not much aside from the online multiplayer. After you run through the original game you will not see much reason to play it again as there are really no unlockables. The best bet is to wait and download the additional maps. The online multiplayer is where it is at for this game in regards to lasting appeal. Be forewarned though that the game lags in multiplayer as would any game that can support up to 50 people in one match.

The 411

Kaos studios have forced their way into the military FPS with Frontlines. Great gameplay, awesome graphics and acceptable sound work has mad Frontlines one of the must rent games of the year. I say must rent as the game is relatively short. It is a must buy if online play is your thing. I am already waiting for the sequel and there are very few games that leave me desiring a sequel. In the end my final recommendation for this game is go get it. Decide if you want it for multiplayer or single player. After this review you will know whether you should buy or rent this game.

Graphics	9.0	Top level graphics and fluid framerate makes this a pleasant experience on the eyes.
Gameplay	8.5	Excellent gameplay on the individual missions. Problem with lagging during online multi-player does get aggrivating.
Sound	7.0	The voice acting in general is very good. The voices over the headset in the game seem garbled and unclear. Little to no background music is noticable especially during periods when the action is slow.
Lasting Appeal	8.0	If you do not play the online multiplayer this will be a 7 as you will have no reason to play the game again. If you do use the online multiplayer this will be 9 as long as there are people playing online.
Fun Factor	8.5	Overall a very enjoyable experience and a refreshing new addition to the military FPS. This game is worth it just for the sake of the story. After you beat this you will be anxiously awaiting the sequel.
Overall	8.2   [ Very Good ]

Screenshots
All 3 Frontlines: Fuel of War Screenshots