Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (Xbox 360)

Quake Wars' shaky transition to another platform
6/5/2008 6:17 PM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 2

If you've played the PC version, you can make some reasonable guesses, but even then there are some obvious differences. For instance, there's no way to call transport, which means the vehicle proficiency is different from the PC and PlayStation 3 versions. It speaks volumes that Splash Damage didn't feel the need to explain how or whether this crucial element of Quake Wars works.

Getting into an online game is a strangely hands-off affair, which might not be so bad if it were more convenient. Instead of hosting a game or selecting one to join from a list of servers, which is how the PC and PlayStation 3 version work, you join a party. Your party then hunts for a server, which involves staring at an animated circle for a long time. Eventually, you're dropped into a game set up by someone else. The fact that it's called a "party system" implies Splash Damage wanted a Halo-style seamless option for players to gather and drop into a game. Fair enough. But why remove the functionality of browsing servers or hosting your own game?

Technically, this is the far better port of Quake Wars. It's a bit disappointing how poorly the graphics hold up, but at least the frame rate is mostly consistent. The mini-map is hard to use without more control over its zoom setting. It's all but useless when fights go indoors and you can't zoom in to better see corridors and rooms.

The artificial intelligence is mostly as good as it is in the PC version, but I've seen some weird things. Why are there two Strogg walkers stuck behind a hog on Area 22, unable to proceed to the mining laser? Why do the GDF insist on driving to the back of the barricade in Outskirts and tooling around doing not much of anything when they could be taking out artillery and radar? Why is the "medium" setting so easy, whereas the "hard" setting is so hard? Why no option to separately configure tactical skill and weapon skill?

The core gameplay is still plenty addicting, but given the disappointing state of this port, Quake Wars on the 360 is mostly a reminder that this is a great PC game. Why aren't you playing that instead?

This review was based on a retail copy of the game purchased by Crispy Gamer.