Patrick Elliot
Shaun InguanzoQuake Wars: Enemy Territory console review
June 9th 2008 02:36
The PC shooter comes to consoles - but is it too late to catch the Quake Wars wave?
ENEMY Territory: Quake Wars is one of the finest team-based shooters currently available on PC.
So with its arrival on the Xbox 360 and PS3 this week, gamers are no doubt awaiting the reviews to see whether the two high-def consoles can match the in-depth team-play experience found on the PC.
Gamer Herald has both good and bad news for potential Quake Wars owners.
The good is that the game is an almost perfect replication of the PC version and you would be hard pressed to find any real differences apart from some aliased environments, and a control pad in place of the keyboard/mouse combo.
The bad news is that online play has been butchered, and on the PS3 it's nearly impossible to find a lag-free game in Australia with what appears to be an almost non-existent uptake of the game.
Normally, playing a game such as Halo 3 online against Americans can be lag-free, or at the very least playable.
But via the Playstation Network the lag is that bad that I couldn't find one smooth game to play, which left me lost in the lonely world of offline play, with bots.
And here-in lies the problem with Quake Wars on the console: it's a great game but without the option of playing it online, you're left with a poor man's version that isn't worth the price of admission.
For those of you who are American, and may be able to find a lag-free game, there is a rewarding gameplay experience to be had.
Quake Wars pits two factions, the human Global Defence Force, against the Earth-invading Strogg, and requires players to complete a series of objectives on each map.
To do this successfully, you'll need to ensure that each team has a variety of different classes, ranging from assault to engineer, to medical and so forth.
Every map contains vehicles, and the Strogg appear to have the edge in this department. Crappy jeeps and weak tanks versus hovering death machines and powerful mechs - the winner is clear from the outset.
But nonetheless, the game is fun to play and the objectives put a real emphasis on team work. Sometimes you'll have secondary objectives that, if achieved, will make the primary easier to complete.
This ensures that the battle for each objective is not just a bloodbath of respawning assault class warriors, as there is often just as much at stake at other points on the map.
Graphically, the game appears to match the PC version in most respects except for the resolution. Running at a measly 720p on the PS3, Quake Wars pits detailed models against bland textures and aliased environments.
Sometimes the game looks a treat, especially when playing in the darker, war-torn environments.
But on the open daylight maps, the game looks underwhelming. It could have looked better, and Unreal Tournament 3 is a great example of how beautiful games can look on the PS3.
The unfortunate situation for Quake Wars is that it falls between the release of Haze, and the forthcoming release of Battlefield: Bad Company.
Although Haze should be shelved for Quake Wars, I've played the Bad Company online multiplayer demo and can tell you that it's the next big thing for console shooters.
So, the choice you have is to pick up this gem of a title and risk having nobody to play against, or waiting for the inevitably more popular online play of Bad Company, due out later this month.
Personally, I'd grab both if Quake Wars had an online community. But it seems it will suffer a similar fate to Unreal Tournament 3, in that a great game will not have the online population to help it become even greater.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is fun but you'll be lucky to find enough people to play with on the PS3.
ENEMY Territory: Quake Wars is one of the finest team-based shooters currently available on PC.
So with its arrival on the Xbox 360 and PS3 this week, gamers are no doubt awaiting the reviews to see whether the two high-def consoles can match the in-depth team-play experience found on the PC.
Gamer Herald has both good and bad news for potential Quake Wars owners.
The good is that the game is an almost perfect replication of the PC version and you would be hard pressed to find any real differences apart from some aliased environments, and a control pad in place of the keyboard/mouse combo.
The bad news is that online play has been butchered, and on the PS3 it's nearly impossible to find a lag-free game in Australia with what appears to be an almost non-existent uptake of the game.
Normally, playing a game such as Halo 3 online against Americans can be lag-free, or at the very least playable.
But via the Playstation Network the lag is that bad that I couldn't find one smooth game to play, which left me lost in the lonely world of offline play, with bots.
And here-in lies the problem with Quake Wars on the console: it's a great game but without the option of playing it online, you're left with a poor man's version that isn't worth the price of admission.
For those of you who are American, and may be able to find a lag-free game, there is a rewarding gameplay experience to be had.
Quake Wars pits two factions, the human Global Defence Force, against the Earth-invading Strogg, and requires players to complete a series of objectives on each map.
To do this successfully, you'll need to ensure that each team has a variety of different classes, ranging from assault to engineer, to medical and so forth.
Every map contains vehicles, and the Strogg appear to have the edge in this department. Crappy jeeps and weak tanks versus hovering death machines and powerful mechs - the winner is clear from the outset.
But nonetheless, the game is fun to play and the objectives put a real emphasis on team work. Sometimes you'll have secondary objectives that, if achieved, will make the primary easier to complete.
This ensures that the battle for each objective is not just a bloodbath of respawning assault class warriors, as there is often just as much at stake at other points on the map.
Graphically, the game appears to match the PC version in most respects except for the resolution. Running at a measly 720p on the PS3, Quake Wars pits detailed models against bland textures and aliased environments.
Sometimes the game looks a treat, especially when playing in the darker, war-torn environments.
But on the open daylight maps, the game looks underwhelming. It could have looked better, and Unreal Tournament 3 is a great example of how beautiful games can look on the PS3.
The unfortunate situation for Quake Wars is that it falls between the release of Haze, and the forthcoming release of Battlefield: Bad Company.
Although Haze should be shelved for Quake Wars, I've played the Bad Company online multiplayer demo and can tell you that it's the next big thing for console shooters.
So, the choice you have is to pick up this gem of a title and risk having nobody to play against, or waiting for the inevitably more popular online play of Bad Company, due out later this month.
Personally, I'd grab both if Quake Wars had an online community. But it seems it will suffer a similar fate to Unreal Tournament 3, in that a great game will not have the online population to help it become even greater.
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Comment by Glen Atwell
Computer Game
otherwise, if you're reading this review in America, have fun online!