Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by John Curry on 06.24.2008

Could I get out of fighting in this war if I shot myself in the foot?




As a longtime fan of the Quake series, I was quite enthused when I first heard about Enemy Territory: Quake Wars being released on the next generation systems. So excited I couldn’t wait to play it on my Xbox 360. Unfortunately, all of my expectations for this game were not met. Is it a bad game? Not at all, it’s just a game that you have to understand exactly what you are purchasing before you buy it.

The premise of the game is simple. You can choose to fight as the Strogg or as the humans in a sandbox style battle. There are vast amounts of land, a small variety of weapons, different classes, and a few vehicles for you to enjoy. But enough of the generalizations, let’s look at the specifics of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for the Xbox 360.




Gameplay:

First of all the most important thing to know about this game is that there is really no main single player storyline. The setup of the game is a sandbox shooter in which you select whether or not you want to fight as the Strogg or as humans. Once you select which you will fight as, you must select which of the five classes you will fight as, each with their own abilities and weapons to choose from. The one thing that is important to realize about the selection of the classes is that there is a difference between the same classes for the Strogg and the Humans. There are several vehicles for you to commandeer throughout each battle, which include ATV’s, Armored Jeeps, and various aircraft.

Now while there is no set single player storyline, such as COD4, there are missions that you must complete as you move through the levels. The missions are not supremely challenging but they are fun and you can vary them by selecting different classes to play as. One of the best aspects of the game is the ability to change your class during game play. If you do select a different class during a game, you will just wait until the next wave of attacks comes to be placed in the game (about 10 seconds). The objectives during a mission are pretty straight forward, and once you complete an objective another one, sometimes more, will become part of the mission.

If you are familiar with the setup and usage of the original Quake series you will have no problems playing Quake Wars as the set up is exactly the same.

The truth of the matter is Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is an online game. That is what the game was created for and it is apparent from the start. The online play is exceptional for fans of run and shoot games. There is really no stealth or strategy involved in the game. You should have no problems finding a room full of players ready to play. I didn’t and it was actually quite enjoyable to just throw down with everyone against the Strogg and vice versa. There is no difference in the availability of weapons or vehicles in the single player game and the online game, so what you see in single player play is the same as you will get in online play.

There are some complaints I do have about the game play of Quake Wars. First of all, while the driving vehicles are quite easy to navigate and use, the airborne vehicles are an absolute nightmare. After a few minutes of trying to figure out how to properly control the aircraft and ultimately crashing, I refused to use one again. Second complaint I have is I would have liked to have seen more variety in the weapons. The ones that are provided are okay but I would have enjoyed seeing a better variety of weapons for all of the classes. The last complaint I have about the gameplay is the repetitiveness of the levels. It actually grows a little monotonous after a while.


Graphics & Sound

The graphics as a fighter are absolutely smooth to the point of being unbelievable. The firing, running, and moving as a whole is just top notch. There is no lagging or pixilation problems in either the single player or online modes. The levels themselves are a different story. The levels are not top quality graphically, and quite frankly seem a little lazily done for my taste. The original Quake series does a much better job of creating futuristic levels. Quake Wars just seems like the only thing they were concerned with is creating open levels in which to have multiplayer battles. The entire environment seems to be lacking detail and polish which is rather unacceptable for me.

The sound is another weak point for this game. The voices are horrible when in single player mode and the weapons don’t even seem that powerful. I would have liked to see some more effort put in to the sound on this game. The biggest disappointment is the lack of headset voices online. What the hell is the point of an online sandbox shooter if you can’t even communicate with your team. Just seems a bit lazy.




Fun Factor

This game does have a decent fun factor for a sandbox shooter. The run and gun styling is right up my alley and while I am disappointed with many of the graphical and sound details, the actual purpose of the game is quite enjoyable. The timed missions can get aggravating, especially in the early goings of the game as you transition your mind from trying to be stealthy to just shooting everything in your environment. The online play is really where this game is at and as long as there continues to be a large amount of people to play online with the game will always remain fun.

Lasting Appeal

The lasting appeal on this game will depend solely on whether or not you have online capabilities. If you do not you will probably grow extremely bored and ultimately regret purchasing the game. If you do have online capabilities the game will be a long term, stable amount of fun for you. The truth is this game is only going to last as long as you can find people to play with online. Plain and simple.

The 411

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars fails on one level and an succeeds on the other. The single player offline mode pretty weak. There are only monotonous battles that you will grow tired with over time. Yes, it is fun to run around and shoot things to no end but when there is no storyline to follow gamers grow bored rather quickly. However, if you are an online player then this is the game you will enjoy for a while. The whole game is fantastic online minus the graphics. The reality is if you want a single player great shooter with fantastic online play, you should be looking at COD4. If you just want a great online game this is for you.

Graphics	7.0	While the graphics on the fighter and the controls are smooth and well done, the environment looks like it was lazily done.
Gameplay	6.0	I am going to rate this aspect of the game as the single player mode. The single player mode is actually very disappointing. The online multiplayer is of great quality but not on COD4 level. 4 for single player mode and 8 for online which equals an averag
Sound	4.0	The total lack of headset communication online destroys any chance for this game. The gameplay sounds are not that great and again this is the weakest point of this game.
Lasting Appeal	6.5	The lasting appeal online is great as long as you can fill up a room with other players. The single player mode is just absolutely boring after about 10 minutes and 3 levels. So online would be a 9 and the single player is 4 which will equal an average of
Fun Factor	7.5	This is just a complicated game to figure out a point system as the online is so different from the single player mode. The game is extremely fun online but just moderately fun in single player mode. 9 for online 6 for single player equals…
Overall	6.2   [ Average ]

Screenshots
All 4 Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Screenshots