Online only gaming is the future. We’ve been hearing the same line from industry insiders for over a decade now. The only problem is, outside the incredible World of Warcraft and the addictive Halo series, there’s been no real poster boys for this new world order.
Now id Software has decided to wade in with an online only version of its best selling Quake. Starring both the humans and the alien Strogg, these online match ups are as brutal as they come. With tonnes of maps and weapons, there’s a chunk of gaming goodness to sink those fangs of yours into.
They say:
PC Zone: “Quake Wars is a brilliant and immersive game and one that fluidly adapts to suit your preferred playing style.”
Gamespot: “Quake Wars is great fun and should provide FPS fans with a lot to sink their teeth into.”
We say:
Quake Wars is pure online shoot ‘em up action, but not quite as you know it. You’d think id would simply crank out a multiplayer version of its best selling series with dozens of mad men spewing bullets like they’re going out of fashion.
But shooters have moved on and that old school fire and forget action no longer holds the same appeal. Brawn’s great, but there needs to be a smattering of brains too. It’s less Arnie and more Snake Plissken these days.
Thankfully, id has thrown in a fair amount of strategy too. The side and character you pick makes quite a difference to the gameplay. You’ll find yourself both teaming up and sticking the knife in to hit all important objectives.
Getting online is as easy as pie. There’s a huge number of servers on the go and, what with this being a brand new release, no subscription fees to shell out. It’s just a case of clicking the one you fancy and heading straight to the lobby screen. Upon logging in you can take a peek at the action currently on the go, either by flying around the map or by flicking through the online combatants and spying what they can see.
From the lobby it’s on to picking sides – either the do gooders of the Global Defence Force or the evil Strog. Remember the bad guys have better outfits.
Your final choice is your character and there’s everything from your bog standard cannon fodder, via medics and engineers up to covert ops.
We recommend that you pick something other than the boring soldier option. They may pack some heavy weaponry, but they do precious little else. Engineers, on the other hand, are the only characters who can deploy turrets to defend your base and disarm the enemy’s explosive charges. Field ops characters have the nifty talent of calling in heavy air strikes to bomb the bejesus out your enemies.
Quake Wars boasts twelve online maps at launch and the objectives are nicely varied. One might be to blow the main gate into an enemy structure, another to claim a forward spawning point that’ll let your killed chums resurrect closer to the front line. Real teamwork is needed here.
The maps themselves are huge enough to warrant lots of vehicles. The GDF has pretty standard stuff from jeeps to tanks and helicopters. The Stroggs have much cooler kit including a neat little jet pack that allows them to sweep in and pick off the opposition.
Quake Wars manages to look blooming gorgeous too. Even those of you not packing the latest bit of tech can enjoy some cracking visuals trundling along at a fair old lick.
If you’re sick of getting blasted all to hell online, id has thoughtfully thrown in some offline training against AI bots. Pick your map, your objectives and your sideand off you go without the need to worry about logging in and being shot to pieces by talented sorts. You won’t gain any achievements and your stats won’t update with this offline info mind you.
Quake Wars may not be as fun as Halo 3, but for PC gamers it’s the best out there at the moment. Get online and get fragging.
Like this? Try these:
Halo 3 – Xbox 360
Call of Duty - PS3, Xbox 360
Medal of Honor Airborne – Xbox 360, PC
FORMAT REVIEWED
PC
OTHER FORMATS
PS3, Xbox 360
POSTED...
Tue 2 Oct 2007 at 5:50pm
