Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

Written by Kris Rosado  on October 10, 2008

Reviews: Saved the best for last? Hardly.

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Since we already have two damn fine reviews on this game by Troy and Jason, let me skip right to the chase on this one. PS3 owners aren't exactly lacking in the shooter department. We have Call of Duty 4, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Ghost Recon AWF2, Resistance, etc. So why must us PS3 owners have to put up with the technical problems and mediocrity that Quake Wars: Enemy Territory brings us? In truth you don't, but if you want to pick up a game that the PC development gods of iD Software brought to consoles, then you do.

In fact, that'АЩs probably the bulk of the problem right there; the guys of iD Software are PC guys, not console guys. So they commissioned Underground Development to bring the game over to the PS3 and the end result just wasn't up to par with something you would expect iD's name on (even if they didn't do the work). This is where the clear differences between the PS3 version and the PC version come into play. Starting with the most crippling problem is the unacceptable amount of technical bugs and poor online setup. Instead of hosting games on the PSN servers, the matches are held by individual players, so if the host decides that they have had enough, it's lights out for everyone. Of course, this is only a problem should you manage to wince over the bugs, such as the apparent instant kill upon starting a match. I can'АЩt explain it, but for some reason whenever a match started, it would countdown and everyone was killed. I should point out that this bug seems to happen a minute or two after the initial "warm up" period and didn't happen every match, just maybe three times out of 15. Not to mention the fact that once you use a vehicle it self-destructs making strategy with vehicles near pointless. There'АЩs also an issue with the bot AI. At times it'АЩs just nonexistent. Getting support for ammo or health in the middle of a fight is like playing a game of roulette, sometimes you get lucky and live, other times a bullet makes a hole in your head.



Further problems can be found in the overall visual feel of the game, it'АЩs very bland on the console compared to the PC. Weapon textures are of low quality and the effects are too. Character models seem to have suffered a bit of the blandness as well. Levels are lacking in numbers and the ones that do exist are uninspiring in their design and layouts. It'АЩs really making me desperately want a MOD community for the PS3.

Another issue is the games 4.3 GB mandatory install. Its not the installing that bothers me, but what exactly am I installing? The game still loads ridiculously slowly and while I can understand the slower speed loading up the maps thanks to the use of the MegaTexture technique, I just can't wrap my head around the two minute actual start-up loading.

Seeing as how this is supposed to be played as multiplayer shooting-fest, I'АЩm fine with the lack of story and the near nonexistent single player. Instead of forcing a single player mode, its confined to being a training mode, except instead of hearing your friends/comrades yelling into your ears, your hear the voices of a forced gruffness caliber repeating objectives over and over again until finally you look for the suicide button 'АУ or just throw a grenade at a wall.

What the game does get right is the feel of previous Quake games by using the eye boggling, puke inducing speeds when running and jumping. Character classes are nicely balanced with a few differences and despite the plague of problems; the game can actually hold your interest for more than an hour if you let it.