(andPOP) - Earlier in the year I reviewed Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for the PC, if you want to know the basics of this game and a general feel of what Quake Wars has to offer, I suggest checking that review out. For this one however, I will be looking at the later released Xbox 360 version of Quake Wars, and explaining what was made better, and what was made worse in this platform version.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, is published by Activision and developed by Nerve Software and Splash Damage. This title was originally released on PC in early October but only recently (May 27th of this year) has it been released on the Xbox 360 and PS3. People expecting more to their gaming experience will be sadly disappointed as it seems more was taken away to make this series console-ready.
A quick recap of the game, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is a team based first person shooter, in which you either play as the Strogg or GDF, each with their own animations and special weapons. Within these two factions you have a choice of different classes, each of which have different weapons, attributes and abilities. There is also a ranking and rewards system to keep players interested in the game and multiple types of matches that can be played. Again for a more in depth explanation, check out the PC version review of Quake Wars on andPOP.com
Now onto what differs this version from the PC. Yet again there is no story mode, but on top of that for those hoping for some split screen action, that’s missing in this one too. In order to play Quake Wars you have 3 options: play online with real people, play offline with AI or system link with your friends. The class ranking system has also been stripped down drastically, no longer will you find yourself getting a bonus for a specific class or weapon or even vehicle use, instead you get average ‘level-up’ bonuses that don’t take into account the class or faction you use. Basically what made this game different from most others is now gone. Oh ya, the number of players per match went from 32 to 16 as well, half the players, poof… gone!
As an FPS fan, I get asked all the time what I prefer in my shooter, a mouse and keyboard or a gamepad. My answer has always been that it all depends on how they deliver, if the developers do it right, I almost always prefer the gamepad to the mouse and keyboard, especially when couching it. Unfortunately for that reason, I would have to say I prefer the mouse and keyboard for Quake Wars. The game just feels awkward while playing using the gamepad and while I’m not 100% sure why I feel this way, when comparing my stats (which there are much more of on the PC version than the 360) between the two, in almost all aspects my PC rankings were much higher than their 360 counterparts. Even playing one after another, I almost always had more kills and fewer deaths on the PC. This version of the game also had an extremely strong auto-aim feature, much stronger than I would enjoy in any game on any platform, it’s almost like you just have to see your opponent to be able to track and shoot him to the ground, taking away the fun and skill of aiming.
Graphically and sound wise the game is toned down over the PC version to a point where you can see the jagged animations, awkward running and poor frame rates at almost all times of the game. While the audio has also been toned down, it’s not as noticeable as the visual effects, but still upsetting when you realize this is the later of the two versions.
Overall if you NEED to play Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and don’t have a PC that can run the game, I suggest picking this one up. If you can play this on a PC I would highly recommend that version. If you just want a good FPS, there are plenty others to choose from other than this stripped down leftover. Oh, and did I mention the 360 and PS3 versions are roughly $20 more than their PC counterpart? Ouch.
Graphics: 2.5 / 5.0
Game play 2.0 / 5.0
Sound 3.0 / 5.0
Replay value 2.0 / 5.0
