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Review: Frontlines: Fuel of War
A great FPS but doesn't bring alot of new stuff to the battlefield
A global war for oil is being waged between two superpowers, the Western Coalition (US/EU) and the Red Star Alliance (Russia/China. Using cutting edge military technology, stunning infantry and vehicle based technology, you advance through the enemy lines and extend the front line of combat.
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8.0
Good |
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We review Frontlines: Fuel of War for the Xbox 360, a stunning battlefield first person shooter complete with all the things you would expect but also many others, but besides that we find ourself thinking: Have I played this before?
Echoes of the Battlefield series can be found in the new FPS game from THQ and Kaos Studios, who worked on many aspects of the Battlefield series such as creating the Commander system and the artillery attacks for Battlefield 2.
Frontlines: Fuel of War gives us a great storyline based in a near
future (we mean really near, like this summer near) where the RedStar Alliance (with Russia and China), and the
Western Coalition (the United States and the European Union) face off
in a war in the Middle-East or on Russia's doorstep over the last remaining oil fields on the
planet. Being a soldier in the Western Coalition, the game takes you to the front lines of combat. First the story is of defending your front lines from RedStar attack, but then the game takes you to the heart of Russia and eventually Moscow.
Besides the comparison and the total clone of a game Frontlines: Fuel of War is, it still manages to make us somewhat happy. The game includes many different kinds of "Drones" that can be anything from a mini remote controlled tank to a fling aircraft with a remote detonated bomb. These come in handy when the battle gets tough, and all you have to do is get for cover and play with your drone and, assuming that the enemy doesn't destroy the thing, you can kill them without dieing.
However if you do die, the game gives you redeployments, the number depending on the difficulty level and how many objectives you completed, and then responds you back to one of the points you captured, usually with the same weapons and drones that you had before. Although there isn't much difference if you run out of redeploys and you have to restart from the last checkpoint, which is the last point you captured.
When you redeploy you get to choose the loadout (the weapons) and the role-type (the drones and other stuff) you play with. You can just do regular assault with a assault rifle, heavy assault with a gigantic machine gun, a really bad aiming Sniper Rifle, Anti-Vehicle with a big rocket launcher which you can lock-on to an enemy tank or helicopter, and many others.
The role types come in handy when you want to deploy an EMP in the middle of a tank fight, or when you find a ton of enemies and you want to call an EMP strike. When you choose a role type when you die or when you begin a multiplayer match, you have 3 abilities that can be anything from drones to airstrikes, the first of the three you start out with. Most of these appear only appear during the online multiplayer but some appear often.
The most common of the vehicles being the tanks, can hold more than one soldier at a time, and can usually fire like a machine gun or blast with artillery fire with a push of a trigger. Others like the helicopter, which apparently is only playable in one chapter, can fire a montage of rockets bombarding your target until you quickly run out of bullets.
The environment of the game seems to stick to the storyline, unlike some games that the developers just pencil-sketch in at the last moment. The brilliantly apocalyptic scenes try to leave a some-what grim style to the game, and for the most part do it well. The graphics are great for about 3 years ago but since we wet out apatite with games like Gears of War and Halo 3, going back isn't as easy as it sounds.
The difficulty of the campaign is very easy even on the hardest levels, and it's just plain too short. It could have been longer but like other games, gamers never seem to get the long story that they want. To fill that void, multiplayer comes into play.
The multiplayer in Frontlines: Fuel of War stuns us with a 50 man limit, and hits us with all the aspects of the campaign, including the front lines from the campaign. This would all be great if you could actually get a connection to a game. But once you do you can find a match that could go on considerably longer than games like Halo 3, which end when someone gets enough kills or time runs out. But in Frontlines, you get around an hour to capture the enemy points, which could take just as long.
Although the story doesn't seem to end with the closing of the campaign, it doesn't cry sequel. The clone aspect of the game doesn't leave us wanting to buy a clone of a clone for money that could have went to older but more unique games. But in an industry running out of ideas, this will not end in the near future.
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Final Word
Good: Manages to bring in some nice aspects like drones, air strikes, and EMP.
Bad: Fails to be unique and succeeds in cloning everyone else.
Game Play
Nice drones like fling bombs and miniature tanks stand in a familiar battle field environment, complete with all the bells and whistles.
Graphics
Great for 3 years ago but doesn't stand up against the big guys like Gears of War and Call of Duty 4.
Music and Cutscenes
Nice repetitive music combines with a grim environment.
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