Gaming Frontlines: Fuel of War Hands-on Preview

[Tim S]

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2007/...s-on_preview/1

Just yesterday we popped down to see Kaos Studios, creators of the Battlefield: Desert Combat mode, to see the new Frontlines: Fuel of War game. Billed as the next big multiplayer FPS, can it really find a place alongside Unreal Tournament 3 and Team Fortress 2?

[Sparrowhawk]

There's always room at the table for a good FPS.
Granted, the mediocre and the abandoned ones, not so much.

[liratheal]

I'm really looking forward to the open beta. It should get a whole lot more interesting with a larger number of players. It should be an awesome game, and I'd be very surprised if it didn't rival the Battlefield franchise within a year or so of its launch, added perk so far, there's none of that ingame advertising crap which, in my opinion, ruined BF2142 (Not because the ads were intrusive, but the way they were harvested from my browsing history etc).

[outlawaol]

I didnt care for the beta.

Too many post apocalyptic/modern war fare games out right now.

The industry seen that BF2 was huge, and these games are a after math of that. Everyone wants a piece of the FPS pie.

[indigo_prime]

I hope that Kaos / Trauma take the fight back to EA and screw them royally for the pain that EA put them through to take BF2 away from them.

[airchie]

I agree, I hope the underdogs bring it to the money-grabbing corporate monster that is EA...

[Redbeaver]

ok, i played BF2 for 2 years, and BF2142 for ~6months before going back to BF2. dont get me wrong, 2142 is all fun and joy, great graphic, mechanics, and even the ads are not the intrusive.... but Titan mode gets old after awhile, and cleaning up people with battlewalker gets bored too.... not enough maps (i quit before the expansion is out) etc... but BF2 got 3 expansion, lotsa maps, same graphics (or at least similar), more people playing, and real-life vehicles and jets are just plain more fun...... some maps are medium, some are huge.


now,

Frontlines: 64 people, semi-futuristic, objective-based, vehicles galore, 6class to choose from, huge/medium maps.


tell me, why in the world should i pick this up over BF2? to me its exactly identical. little different graphic, weapons n vehicle perhaps, but thats it. EA may not b my favourite company, but im not shelling out $50 'just to screw the big corporate monster'....

the article said it. its mediocre. nothing in Frontlines: FoW that... outshine the rest. no one specific feature. it may not be a bad thing, but current FPS multiplayer players need a good reason to jump ship....

we (i kno i sound like im representing a huge amount of people here, but for the sake of simplicity, lets just say im representing at least my CS: S/TF2/BF2 clan) NEED something... at least one thing... to make us go "oh! thats new! thats cool!".... CS:S had the graphic,"ole' skool" gameplay, and the name 'counter-strike', BF2 had the war-game/hugemaps/lotsavehicle, TF2 is just being TF2...... even UT3 has the name and fame plus the twitch-reflex gameplay plus beautiful graphic. Frontlines, so far, doesnt have... anything

i have good hopes on new games, so hopefully it'll change. afew clanmates are registering for BETA, so i guess we'll soon find out.....

[cjmUK]

Good review - at least for me. It answered many questions I had and some I hadn't yet thought to ask.

On this basis, I won't be rushing out to buy, but I'll keep an eye open to see what the masses think when the game is launched.

Personally, I'd like to see a (contemporary?) squad-based FPS that not only allowed VOIP but insisted on it, with some kind of inherent command structure. I'm sure if you are members of an well-organised clan, you'll be well used to some genuine teamwork, but if you are not (as I am not), you'll be continually disappointed with the way your teammates shun teamplay and are only concerned with racking up their own kills.

[matrixops]

First off, thanks for the candid review. As most gamers probably do, I get bored with the "Hey check out the graphics on this new game" reviews. I have been watching Frontlines development for some time and have been a long time player of the BF franchise. I was greatly disappointed with BF 2142 and agree that BF 2 is the superior of those two BF games.

One thing must be noted here, Kaos studios are the people who made BF 2, so it can probably be assumed that the game play will be similar. I wouldn't count this game out as a direct competitor to the BF games.

I, for one, am enjoying TF2 right now, but I am always looking for a great game that forces people to work together to succeed.

[Markt]

Originally Posted by Redbeaver

ok, i played BF2 for 2 years

but BF2 got 3 expansion, lotsa maps, more people playing, and real-life vehicles and jets are just plain more fun......



tell me, why in the world should i pick this up over BF2? to me its exactly identical.


the article said it. its mediocre. nothing in Frontlines: FoW that... outshine the rest. no one specific feature.


we (i kno i sound like im representing a huge amount of people here, but for the sake of simplicity, lets just say im representing at least my CS: S/TF2/BF2 clan) NEED something... at least one thing... to make us go "oh! thats new! thats cool!"....

i have good hopes on new games, so hopefully it'll change. afew clanmates are registering for BETA, so i guess we'll soon find out.....

Firstly I am totally comfortable with your critical attitude and glad that you still fill up the BF 2 servers. I had the energy just to scan through the preview (most of the time just scanning, not so much new in them). Some points. BF 2 expansions are not that luxury, you have to pay for them (unlike at BFV time) and at least booster packs are not that popular, I think.

But that is not so important, but about jets I hope them will be more balanced in Frontlines. I am not a pilot but I have been told that in BF 2 J-10 is too good. Next flying thing are the helis. Desert Combat heli controls are more challenging than BF 2 ones. Once this is a creation of Desert Combat makers heli controls will feel more DC than BF 2.

When comparing to Crysis I also agree that BF 2 is kind of a "better", nothing new and the same goes with CoD4.

What other thing there are so that Frontlines is not going to be exactly identical? http://www.frontlineswar.com/download.php?file=19 there you can dl sound examples and there is a clear difference, sounds further away are different than close ones. Also I think that different drones, especially the helicopter one, will be quite fun and a "oh! thats new! thats cool!" For example your clan mate is sniping in a good position, flank with RC helicopter, say Surprise at Ventrilo or TeamSpeak or whatever and bang he is history :P

Also compared to BF 2 Frontlines ranking system is session based. I don't know the time but basically during you play time if you succeed better that your opponents you will get ""unlocks". On the nest day you will have to earn them again but also nobody is not totally far away from you (like 100 k BF 2 points). In addition use of tanks are more oriented to 2 players versus very usual solo tanking in BF 2.


Finally, it is a really good thing that we are able to get that open beta opportunity. I have also the closed beta key but due to hardware problems not until next week I am hopefully able to play. Less that 30 minutes to FH 2 password

[Dreaming]

Sorry to ressurect an old thread, it's coming out tomorrow. Any chance of a full-fleshed out review in the near future?

[CardJoe]

Yep. On the cards for this week.