Frontlines: Fuel Of War Review

Frontlines: Fuel Of War Review

Frontlines: Fuel Of War



Platform(s): Windows PC & Xbox 360 (PC Review)

Genre: FPS

Cost Now: Steam £9.99/ DVD & Xbox 360 £8 On Average

Developer: Kaos Studios

Publisher: THQ

Release: 27^th February 2008

Reviewer: Big Mac

The Words in the sentence “Bring the Rain” will make any small child cry while on their summer holiday, but you won’t. While you’re hiding away in a corner, behind a wall taking cover away from enemy tanks a comrade will respond to your call with a set of cluster bombs, to which you will reply “Thank God”.

Frontlines: Fuel of War is THQ’s answer to Activision’s Call of Duty and EA’s Battlefield series, and a call it is....

Graphics

The game utilises Epic Games Unreal Engine and it looks fantastic even compared to modern games, the reflective sheen off your weapons view finder, the detailed tracks on your tank and the landscapes all look nice and work together.

Weapons all look as though their actually made out of metal, maps based in an oil field actually feel as though you’re standing there and city scapes look as though a population happily thrived there.

The game runs well, and varies between hardware. Our M11X with an Intel Core i5 (Ultra Low Voltage), 4 GB of Ram and an Nvidia GT 335m handled the game nicely with very little lag. While our older rig with a Core 2 Duo (T5750), 2 GB of Ram and an Nvidia 9200m GS did well with slightly lower settings but still looked good. The hardware specs of our M11X achieved a solid frame rate of 25+ at High settings, so any bigger laptops or desktops won’t have any problems.

Gameplay

The game follows Battlefields footsteps allowing players to take control of a variety of vehicles ranging from attach helicopters, fighter jets, tanks, APC’s and off road jeeps to be able to capture “Frontline” points through the map, the more you get the better.

The game comes provided with a single player campaign and a multiplayer mode. The single player campaign mode thrusts you into the future where the world’s remaining energy and resource supplies are being fought over.... with the very machines that use those resources.


The battle is being fought by two factions, The Red Star Alliance (Russia and China) and The Western Coalition (America and Europe), who fight with similar vehicles although different. The single player campaign while short, keeps you entertained and interested... or willing to continue fighting with the endless supply of tanks. Story wise you and your squad are the primary escort of a journalist who has been chosen to report the good progress on the Western Coalitions front which shows its true portrayal of war.

Of course the multiplayer mode is where the action is, and still is with a hand full of servers. The maps used in the multiplayer mode are gob smackingly big with the biggest an apparent size of 4 square miles in size, make good use of your method of transport; you’ll need it or start liking to walk.

The game also utilises Battlefield’s role selection, with soldier types such as Ground Support, EMP Tech, Drone Tech and Air Support. Each Role provides its advantages and disadvantages but the good thing is you’re not tied to a specific role allowing you to adapt to your enemy or map. A Ground Support and EMP Tech are good on larger maps while Drone Techs and Air Support are good on close quarter combat maps. Whichever role or soldier type you choose to be you can use any weapons regardless.

It’s worth mentioning the differences between the factions on multiplayer. The vehicles used are the same, but differ between the shiny western coalition and rusty and more run down red star alliance. The weapons vary but act similar between each faction, the only two major differences between the factions is the accent in which your commanders speak to you and the attack methods and gadgets used by soldier roles, one for example is the Drone Tech. The western coalition soldier once having unlocked the 3 tiers of the Drone Tech can use a small flying type helicopter and two small RC tanks that fire either bullets or mortars. While the red star alliance can use 2 RC helicopters, one equipped to detonate near unwittingly foes and the other equipped with rockets and a small C4 drone capable of driving under tanks and detonating.

As said above the game offers a three tier ranking system, which allows players with a specific soldier type to utilise their role better with additional (2 more) gadgets to help them on the battlefield. To advance up these tiers is not hard, and can be gained by capture targets or killing enemies, although at round end or a new map you have to regain your tiers you’ve gained, although it’s is not hard and you may require another role depending on your last round performance or a new map.

Sadly the game offers no upgrades or other ranking systems, meanwhile you are able to create or join a squad that allows you and others on your team to know each other’s positions and to be able to respawn elsewhere on the map. If you are the squad leader you are able to give commands such as attacking or defending a particular area.

Conclusion

The game was undoubtedly released at the wrong time, as it was covered by other block busting titles such as Halo and Call of Duty that meant it never got the attention it needed. As far as we’re concerned this game is a gem, and a good one at that. It may not have a zombie mode, ranking and levelling up system or big name, but it has guts, and support and community wise its beating Call of Duty Modern Warfare.

Go get it, it’s cheap and well worth its price and 12 GB hard disk space.

 

 

Thanks to Matty over at http://dualor.blogspot.com  thanks dude  and please check out his blog and youtube channel all info on his blog page