The final demonstration of the day was an impressive group demo of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, the interesting development that marks out Enemy Territory as its own series, albeit one which uses other series settings (Wolfenstien and now Quake) to create its particular brand of team based military FPS titles.

The choice of the Quake setting is an odd development when you consider already how confusing that already is, with the first and third titles not having much to do with anything. But, wisely, this game takes its cues from 2 and 4, and attempts to expand upon and clarify the setting, working as a prequel to them. It is (apparently) 2065 and the Strogg army has invaded Earth, with their invasion bitterly opposed by the Earth Defense Force. The demonstration didn't show any details of the Stroggs other than in screenshots and as distant opponents, but there are supposed to be significant differences between the teams, the asymmetrical nature of the warfare apparently one of the selling points.

We're told that, for example, while the EDF have 'classic' medics, they hand out health packs and can call in supplies, the Stroggs have technicians, as Stroggs use a substance called 'stroyant' for both ammunition and health. How do you create stroyant? By sucking it out of human corpses, of course! Stroggs also have the advantage that fresh human corpses can be turned into 'hosts' for respawning Stroggs, to increase their effectiveness on the front lines.

While the teams are very different, the game's interface and style is highly akin to the original Wolfenstein Enemy Territory, right down to the deployment screen (but naturally the graphics are far and away more impressive and there are far more tactical options on offer.)

We watched as a EDF Field Ops character called for a helicopter to drop off artillery at the EDF base, drove a speedy buggy through cross country terrain (intentionally designed to be inaccessible to the larger vehicles) to a critical flashpoint, before calling an artillery strike to allow EDF mechanics to build a mission critical bridge.

Later he took a short trip in both an attack helicopter then a transport helicopter further into enemy territory to show us the range of vehicles on offer and the impressive architecture of the levels from an aerial vantage point.

Currently planned for PC only, it's debatable whether the asymmetrical warfare in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars can tempt Battlefield players away, but it does look like it will suit players of the traditionally faster paced, more exciting Wolfenstien: Enemy Territory.

Article from Eurogamer.net