Developer: Kaos Studios
Platform : Xbox (click to purchase), PC (click to purchase)
Release
Date: 2/25/08
Grade: C
The sounds of war…submachine gun fire, constant explosions erupting all
around, men straining their voices barking commands at one another, screaming
cries of agonizing pain. These sounds
can only mean one thing in the world of video games: the sound of the impending
FPS.
With Frontlines: Fuel of War, however, the problem is that the sounds
never change. Poor controls and boring gameplay keeps this title from truly making noise
in the FPS market.
The story goes that the Western Coalition is formed in 2024, a new alliance
between the United States and the European Union to secure what resources are
left around the world. The opposing faction The Red Star Alliance made up of Russia and the People’s Republic of China, struggle
against the Coalition for control of these resources.
The player assumes the role of a soldier in the WC125 AKA the Stray Dogs
strike force. The story is being told from a series of flashback battles from
the memories of the narrator a journalist who followed the Stray Dogs during
the major battles.
The title of Frontlines: Fuel of War speaks volumes about the games
main content. The assortment of weapons offered to the soldier is the standard
stock of machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, and C4. The frontlines
are the focus throughout the game, as you spend your time capturing and holding
points of tactical importance. And much like real life, each struggle changes
supply lines, changing the amount of supply given to each side with each
territory lost or gained.
With the addition of UAV vehicles, air strikes, tanks, jets, &
helicopters, Kaos Studios has made a well balanced war field. As cool as this
sound on paper, the task becomes quite stagnant.
The game play is remarkably repetitive consisting of either blowing up or
hacking into something the enemy controls, making for a rather boring and
predictable campaign. Between enemy AI that runs from combat and cant find
cover, to squad mates who fail to even notice enemies. The player is left to
complete mission objectives and fend off a multitude of enemies without any
real aid or struggle. Most vehicle controls are annoying and impossible to
handle, forcing the player to run when a tank would be better but to much of a
hassle to drive.
The multiplayer is fast-paced, full of active environments, with great maps
and an awesome weapon unlocking system that doesn’t take too long to master.
With up to 64 players allowed in a game, players are allowed to create squads
of five and fight on the frontlines as a team. On the down side, the
multiplayer only has one game type (the frontline system). With only eight maps
currently available the same tasks at the same maps quickly become boring after
a week or so of play.
Overall, this game is not one worth buying for the story or single player
campaign. The multiplayer is worth the pay for a short while, but unless new
game-types and maps are introduced don’t expect to be kept entertained for long
(not with COD4 and GRAW2 available to play).
The concepts are brilliant and the action is intense, but Frontlines simply
proves that you need more in the now saturated FPS market.
Joel can be
found hanging around the TheGamerStudio.com, helping in its construction and at
the myspace.com/thegamerstudio page, beating off the spam with a stick.
