Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Preview

by Jeb Haught
April 22, 2007

Developer: Splash Damage, iD Software
Publisher: Activision
Platform(s): PC
Number of Players: Up to 24
Website: Click Here
ESRB Rating: T for Teen

Screenshot from Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Courtesy of Activision. Click image to enlarge.

As I peered into the room, a tear rolled down my cheek as the stunning sight of several top-of-the-line computers attached to giant widescreen monitors overwhelmed me. When Activision invited me to join their Enemy Territory: Quake Wars LAN session in order to help thin out the Strogg numbers, I was more than thrilled. On my way to the event in Santa Monica, I felt like I broke the sound barrier in my puny 4-cylinder Honda. Little did my hosts know that I would be ripping through both the EDF (Earth Defense Force) and the Strogg (merciless aliens) in my quest for pure gaming carnage!

After everyone was settled in, our hosts showed us a video detailing the strategy for the first level, called, simply enough, Valley. Since the only gaming mode is objective, every level in the game has different requirements for winning. This not only makes every map very unique, but it also drastically affects gameplay. Some maps are all about assaulting a particular area while others have certain requirements that must be fulfilled before the end objective can be achieved. For example, Valley requires the EDF to build a bridge, deploy their MCP (mobile command post) at the stationary command post, and then hack a shield generator before they can destroy the Strogg contaminator.

Due to the requirement of completing objectives in order, lone wolves trying to sneak behind enemy lines are completely worthless except for sniping. Another effect of creating ‘front lines’ is that a natural ebb and flow occurred that resembles real-life warfare. Defending teams embed themselves in the surroundings while attacking teams must overpower them with superior firepower and strategy. To me, ET: QW is a much-needed evolutionary step for the First Person Shooter genre.

Players unsure of what to do will find the secondary objectives, called missions, very helpful. Depending on what class the player chooses, certain in-game missions call for a wide variety of team-oriented duties including, taking spawnpoints, hacking devices, destroying vehicles, and more. Each mission is completely optional, but they all help out the team. This small addition is a great way for Splash Damage (the developers) to encourage team play and help players discover effective strategies.

Both the EDF and the Strogg have unique weaponry and vehicles to use, but players cannot use their enemy’s equipment since Strogg must physically ‘jack’ into their technology. However, players are free to use any of their team’s vehicles or switch their class kits out for those of a fallen comrade.

Even though ET: QW was months away from its release date, it still looked simply gorgeous, and the gameplay was extremely smooth and relatively bug-free. Even now, I still can’t believe that the developers can get such incredible looking graphics to run so smoothly on an online game. As Paul Wedgewood, owner of Splash Damage states, “most FPS titles are designed to be single player games and then get stripped down to handle online play, but ET: QW was designed as an online only game from the start.”

If the online gameplay can match the high quality of LAN gameplay, then Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is sure to be a huge hit!

More Screenshots (Click image to enlarge) :