Does anybody remember that little gem of a game, that only last year, was one of the most anticipated releases of the year? The build up for the game was incredible! I remember all the gaming communities here in Australia talking it up and all the players feeling nostalgic [myself included] heading back to Enemy Territory and also Quake just to get that 'Schwing' back. But why did this game simply Epic Fail?

Lets take a look at the game first. Enemy Territory by it's core is a combination of Enemy Territory and Quake, Duh. But with some new, interesting vehicles and weapons, some game modes and some classes and you have the game.

The story is basically the opposite of Quake 4, in that, the Strogg [Aliens] are invading Earth [Douchebags]. You choose to play either Strogg or "GDF" (Global Defence Force) in a "campaign" that lasts 3 rounds. Each campaign earns you Experience Points in which you can upgrade your class, which in my opinion is useless because the upgrades only last 1 campaign. That's right, it can take you up to 2 rounds to get the 'XP' for that one upgrade you have been hanging for only to loose it after another round.

See More Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Screenshot at IGN.com

The gameplay in these 'campaigns' generally revolve around Attack and Defence, with each team swapping the role after each round. There are also sub-objectives that can be achieved for extra experience points like destroying certain points or objects (just like in Enemy Territory) but these tasks are generally tedious and often take you away from the gunfight.

The Healing / Ammo / Weaponry system is fairly unique in ET:QW. The 'GDF' use the standard Ammo packs and Health packs which can be obtained from Medics and FieldOps. A system many are used too. But the Strogg are quite unique, instead of having Ammo and Health packs, they have 'Stroyent'. Techecians are the only place to get your local Stroyent fix. The stroyent replenishes both Health then ammo in that order, but you can scarifice one for the other. GDF use standard Ammunition and reloading rules, but the Strogg never have to reload. Strogg weapons use a heat system, if it overheats, it stops firing.

See More Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Screenshot at IGN.com

There are also an assortment of vehicles ranging from Light Vehicles - Gravity Packs for the Strogg and a 4 wheeler for the GDF. Just read that over again, GDF... Crap 4 wheeler, Strogg...Gravity BackPack. Medium and Heavy Vehicles consists of APC's, Tanks, Battlewalkers and Aerial Vehicles (Transports and Attack style Aerial Vehicles) giving you something similar to a Battlefield Franchise experience.

All in all the gameplay runs a lot more like Enemy Territory [in my opinion] but the combat / weapons are very Quake. Two games which have both done individually well, it's hard to see how this game simply went from Hero to...fail.

See More Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Screenshot at IGN.com

Lets take a look at some reviews first, these may shock you.

GameSpot gave Enemy Territory: QUAKE WARS a 8.5 'Great' rating. the GS Reviewer Kevin VanOrd summed up his review with this:

"If you're an Enemy Territory veteran, this is the logical next step for you. And if you've been turned off by team shooters in the past, this one may change your mind. The accessible, objective-focused gameplay won't be for everyone, especially those into the chaotic, freeform warfare of other team shooters. But all told, Quake Wars is great fun and should provide FPS fans with a lot to sink their teeth into."

I found this part of his review interesting: "The accessible, objective-focused gameplay won't be for everyone, especially those into the chaotic, freeform warfare of other team shooters", its interesting he mentions this. It sounds like he is saying Quake Wars doesn't offer Chaotic, freeform warfare, which is true, the gameplay is linear, you fight from objective to objective, the game is in-fact forcing you to fight one and other at a particular point. I like the open, freeform, non objective gameplay in most First Person Shooters because it allows me to play how I like, use tactics and strategies to outsmart and outskill my opponent. But ET:QW doesn't allow you to do this to your full potential. This of course doesn't mean you can't out smart your enemy, you just can't decide where you want to engage the enemy, the game does for you.

See More Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Screenshot at IGN.com

Lets take a look at IGN's ET:QW review by Bennett Ring. Just looking at the title is concerning:

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars: Review
Breathes new life into the genre, but is it skating on thin ice?

The first paragraph is even more concerning

"The first few hours of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (ETQW) were a lesson in humility for me. This is not a game that is friendly to the novice - and I'm by no means a shooter virgin. Between figuring out what the dozens of HUD symbols meant, finding out where the hell I was supposed to be and struggling with the extremely high pace of the action, I spent the first few hours as a pin cushion for enemy bullets."

But lets be fair, playing a game for the first time can always be sketchy at best and it's not unusal to get owned from the first couple of games, even for a veteran. But this game is not newbie friendly.

See More Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Screenshot at IGN.com

Later on in the review...

"The sound effects are also a disappointment. Gaming guns are meant to sound like howitzers going off in a large cave, but in ETQW they're as underwhelming as they are repetitive. The GDF weapons in particular sound like pea-shooters rather than high-tech tools of destruction."

This is something a lot of First Person Shooters have trouble with. It's a hard thing to get perfect, some people enjoy the pea shooter sounds, others want big bangs, it's hard to please everyone. But this isn't anything that should turn people from the game, these are small gripes that the reviewer and myself seem to have in common, it's what comes next that sums it up, worded the best way possible:

"It's hard to put into words what this sensation is like, and why it's such an issue, but here goes. To put it simply, when you're running around in ETQW, it feels like you're skating across the surface of the world. Look at other players and they too appear to be sliding around, as if the world was made of ice and had low gravity. It lacks the solid, real feeling of other shooters - it's as if the players aren't really a part of the environment. It's even worse with the ground vehicles, which don't convey the sensation of weight that they should."

See More Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Screenshot at IGN.com

"Making matters worse, the movement tracking in the game seems a little bit… wonky. Regardless of how good my ping was, and which server I was playing on, every few seconds other players and vehicles would slightly warp, as if there was lag occurring. It's definitely not an ISP issue on my end - the Team Fortress 2 Beta, Battlefield and countless other shooters run absolutely smooth, and without issue. The problem is compounded in close range fights - trying to score a melee kill on a moving player is an exercise in frustration."

It's true, it's not an easy thing to explain. Maybe it's because we have a lot of shooters already on the market and we have certain expectations when it comes to shooters. Playing games like Counter Strike, Battlefield, F.E.A.R and endless other FPS's over the last few years may have jaded my opinion on ET:QW. I was never a huge Enemy Territory fan, but I was a Quake fan, I own every one of them. The joy of playing Quake 4 was something I hope I get to feel again, it's this same joy I got from Battlefield: 2 and 2142, which lasted for a long time. These were games I couldn't stop playing, I would spend hours (far too many hours) playing. But ET:QW just wasn't the same. I didn't spend hours playing, I didn't even get the feeling of wanting to go back into the game. I played it because I thought it would get better, but the doubt sitting in the back of my mind said otherwise. I don't feel I wasted my money on the game, as it did offer me fun, even if only for a few hours / days. Enemy Territory scored a 7.9 overall at IGN.

See More Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Screenshot at IGN.com

Lastly, lets check out GameSpy's review by Sal 'Sluggo' Accardo:

"The reason for that is something that was also a problem with the Battlefield games: spawn camping and constant out-of-the-blue deaths. Because of the size of the maps, it's easy for snipers to set up camp and pick players off as they spawn. It's also possible to set up artillery barrages and camp spawn points, leading to the frustrating scenario where you've barely taken two steps before you're dead and staring down a thirty-second respawn time. Even if you manage to get out of your spawn area, it's easy to get stuck without a vehicle, and it's possible to spend a minute running on foot before getting picked off by an unseen enemy halfway across the map. It's a shame that in shifting from an intimate, infantry-focused game like Wolf: ET to the larger setting of ETQW, the same problems that plagued the Battlefield games appear here as well. "

There's not much more I can say to this. I love the battlefield series, but yes, these problems also exist there, just thinking about Karkand, and the Hotel alleyway(s) that get camped make me sigh. I will admit, that in the time I played ET:QW spawn camping wasn't a big issue - mostly because people hadn't found the good spots to do it, just like Karkand wasn't camped at first. There's nothing I, and I would assume every other FPS gamer out there hates more then getting fucking killed over and over without being able to take a step or get out of a small area without getting smashed. That's not fair or fun, unless you're apart of the team that's dominating the situation. But that's an issue in all FPS's, I can't simply blame this as being ET:QW's fault, but it's still an intermittent issue.

See More Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Screenshot at IGN.com

There's one more thing I would like to mention here. ET:QW also has Dynamic Ads. This announcement comes from Neil Postlethwaite -- Splash Damage's Managing Director / ET:QW Producer:

"To help cover this level of on-going support without passing the costs on to the gamer, ETQW will feature appropriate advertisements in select locations of our levels. The ads aren't intrusive and you won't have to interact with them; they'll just be part of the normal environment. In fact, there are some places it's quite odd not to have an advertisement - the sides of container trucks, for example. Great care is being taken to ensure that all our ads are appropriate for the game world and we have absolute approval rights in this area. If it's not appropriate or it's distracting, it won't go in."

I will say this is a good thing for ET:QW. One thing I hate about Dynamic Game Ads is that companies are starting to include these for extra profit. They are annoying ads, that annoy gamers but add revenue to the developer/publisher. ET:QW however, is actually using the revenue from ads to support the game. "But Zombie you hypocrite, you said you hate ads, stop fucking with me", Yes, I do hate ads, again, I blame Battlefield: 2142 as jading my opinion on them. As much as I have an issue with ads, I don't have an issue with which the developer intends to use the profit. If they use it to regularly patch the game, sweet. If they use it to reduce the overall cost of the game, sweet, what I don't like is when they include them in just for financial gain.

Lastly, lets do some Number Crunching.

At the time of this post there are 1,719 players occupying a possible 10,600 player slots in Enemy Territory.

At the time of this post there are 1,865 players occupying a possible 27,200 player slots in Quake 3.

At the time of this post there are 131 players occupying a possible 3,826 player slots in Quake 4.

At the time of this post there are 590 players occupying a possible 15,865 player slots in Enemy Territory: QUAKE WARS.

Quake 3 has more people playing then Quake 4 and Enemy Territory combined. Quake 3 also has more servers / player slots. You would think combining such great titles would make ET:QW the end all be all. Guess not.

Sources:
GameSpot ET:QW Review
IGN ET:QW Review
GameSpy ET:QW Review
Official ET:QW Dynamic Ad Announcement
Game-Monitor for Server Statistics


So my question to you all. What killed ET:QW? Do you still play? What turned you off ET:QW? What could have made it better?