I love shooters. Most of you regular readers will be aware that it is my genre of choice, especially if I am afforded the opportunity to shoot virtual people's faces online. The original Quake along with its buddy Doom helped shaped this preference in my early gaming life. With that in mind, I was really looking forward to Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. However, Quake Wars and me...we were just never meant to be. My first disappointment came when the console versions were released a long time after the PC version. I don't play games on PC anymore, so I patiently waited. When it eventually arrived, I was greeted by a largely unplayable game.
The "singleplayer" component works fine, but let us not call it something it is not. The offline component is a bot-match setup that helps you come to grips with the game, classes, weapons, maps, etc. Those that have played Unreal Tournament will know what I am talking about. Quake Wars does have some fantastic bots. Their AI is top notch, and on harder difficulties, they can kick my ass all over the place. It's not perfect by any means, but serves its purpose as a training mode. The online mode is where the core game is. Unfortunately it is also where the massive amounts of lag, glitches, pop-in and frame rate issues reside. I will take a break from my bitching for a second and talk about what you would have found if the above didn't exist.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars plays a lot like a Battlefield game. You work as a team to fight for objectives on large scale maps. Its setting is in my opinion a bit more interesting though and revolves around the Strogg invasion of Earth and you can of course fight for either side. The two factions are balanced, but very different at the same time. The look of the human gear and vehicles is not that different from the modern day stuff, while the Strogg's are...well alien, insect looking.
Quake Wars' use of objectives are more involved than that of Battlefield however, and revolves around achieving specific things (such as blowing up a bridge) as opposed to just taking various points on a map. You need to complete objectives before moving on to the next part of the map. Most objectives require a specific class to complete it, which means that there are usually a wide variety of classes stomping around.
After fighting my way through a half dozen or so bot matches (these take a fair chunk of time each) I decided it was time to jump online and play "the real game". The first couple of days I simply couldn't find a match. The next time I tried, I found a match, started the match, but I couldn't move away from the spawn point at all. The forces of Lag were too strong. I would get a few metres away and then find myself back where I started. The next game I could finally move around. But something wasn't right. A bunch of the other players were moon walking, and yet there was no MJ to be heard. Others were moving around without using their legs, and a few more were using some sort of lag powered teleportation. This went on for a few games (yes I quit early) and then I found a game with a much better connection. All of the sudden, I could shoot people! In fact it was a pretty enjoyable game. My team mates were all working together and things were going great. Just as we were moving towards the final objective.the game ended. The Host had quit out and it became clear to me that Host Migration was nonexistent. This premature end of the match left me highly disappointed. It also ended my relationship with Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.
This game has substantial online problems which is not acceptable for what is essentially an online game. Lag, substantial frame-rate drops, and a lot of pop-in makes it a highly frustrating game to play. The graphics look very bland (and brown) and the console release doesn't match up to the PC version. I cannot recommend this game to anyone wanting to play online (and I don't see why you would get it for offline only). If you want to play this game, get the PC version.Â* It makes me a sad panda. I really wanted it to be good. You cut me deep Quake Wars...
13-08-2008, 01:05 PM
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Review (Xbox 360)
I love shooters. Most of you regular readers will be aware that it is my genre of choice, especially if I am afforded the opportunity to shoot virtual people's faces online. The original Quake along with its buddy Doom helped shaped this preference in my early gaming life. With that in mind, I was really looking forward to Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. However, Quake Wars and me...we were just never meant to be. My first disappointment came when the console versions were released a long time after the PC version. I don't play games on PC anymore, so I patiently waited. When it eventually arrived, I was greeted by a largely unplayable game.
Hybrid Mode
