Microsoft
Frontlines: Fuel of War
By Ryan Newman
Mar 21, 2008, 7 :17 am

Frontlines: Fuel of War may be the first official retail outing for Kaos Studios but it certainly isn’t their first time tackling online squad-based combat. As the talent behind the fantastic Desert Combat mod for Battlefield 2, the team has been honing the craft on that very style of game. Modding existing work is one thing but creating is another altogether, and it is evident that the team learned a good deal in their time with the long-running PC franchise. This Xbox 360 and PC release sees a near future where war has broken out between the Coalition (the European Union and North American allies) and the Red Star (China and Russia) over what’s left of Earth’s oil supply.

War for Oil is becoming the Nazi Germany and Invading Alien shtick for games – a convenient way to toss a world into chaos and nations at each other’s throats. Throughout the game, though, I found the story strikingly similarity to Massive’s alternate ‘80s Cold War real-time strategy title World in Conflict. The events of this futuristic Cold War-turned-World War III are also somberly narrated by a man caught up in a flurry of events, but now it’s a journalist embedded with the Stray Dogs. The story isn’t as poignant as Massive’s take, but it doesn’t go for the quick grabs at sentimentality either; it’s an interesting approach that manages to be effective despite not working all the time.

The turmoil is prevalent throughout the game itself, with missions taking place in bombed-out cities that are littered with debris and abandoned vehicles. The campaign is essentially the multiplayer portion strung together with the story portions, which creates some interesting situations but also strains the AI beyond what it is capable of. As the Stray Dogs stomp about they will be given multiple successive objectives to accomplish, involving anything from bombing communication devices to simply clearing out guard posts. At times the action itself is similar to World in Conflict, with war feeling all-encompassing as it permeates your periphery with rockets whizzing by and comrades barking out orders and warnings – “Over in the window!” – in an Unreal Engine-powered environment that is complimented by fantastic voice-overs and sound effects. This is when the game feels as it should, as a true entry into the first-person shooter genre on a system known for them - but often feels like a pretender as well.

Frontlines is most disappointing when the computer is relied upon for too much. You are a grunt, and when the game treats you as such, as one of many in a conflict beyond your reach, it is absolutely fantastic; but the game often abandons this, to its detriment, by keeping your comrades on stand by and have them do nothing until you led the charge yourself. Hey, I have no problem being the hero, but what happened to that initiative they just showed ten minutes earlier? The game’s design exacerbates this problem as its multiplayer stylings lead to enemies spawning in mid combat, which isn’t just tacky but also overwhelming whenever the game decides that you need to GI Joe-it-up while it hangs back. The enemies are similar to your fellow Stray Dogs in their behavior: at times showing initiative by flanking and seeking cover and other times content with standing in the open and getting shot. It is a good thing that enemies can take quite a few bullets to take down, which takes getting used to but isn’t as bad as TimeShift, allowing for them to survive some boneheaded mistakes.

It is a shame when the single-player falters because the game offers some absolutely awesome levels. Even when you have to contend with vehicles that feel like bricks and can be truly confusing to control, the scenarios you will be in are always engaging. There are a few that involve nuclear devices that were so well designed and everything so well implemented that I had no problem seeing as how this could have been a true contender. That isn’t to say that the campaign is bad, as I played through it once and some more, but it’s obvious where it could have gone and so disappointing in how it didn’t.

The multiplayer avoids most of the single-player problems by no longer having to rely on computer opponents, and it is a blast. It cannot escape the clunky vehicle controls, but it provides an experience that any team-based shooter fan will enjoy. Well, on the 360 at least; PC owners have Quake Wars and a host of other options; but as this review is for the 360 version and it delivers, there you go. The weapon loadout can be selected, similar to single player, before spawning, but now all of the classes – assault, heavy assault, anti vehicle, special ops, and close combat – are unlocked, as are the specialty secondary class. The secondary class is multiplayer’s only real experience system, which is a big letdown considering how successful ranking has been implemented, even in Battlefield 2, but they do spice up the action with success garnering quicker sprint, air strike capabilities, and so on, but also drone support. Drones, small controllable vehicles, are focused on in single-player but they come into their own in multiplayer as the wheering of a floating missile hunter sends an enemy scattering before the inevitable explosion. The drones really put the near-future spin on the war and can be effectively unnerving, as the hunters are in Screamers.

A lack of a true ranking system is a drag, though. A few unlockables are fun, but something more substantial is really the only way for Frontlines to compete with its contemporaries. What hurts it even more is the fact that there are only eight maps. They are generally good, but that few a number will be played through and burned out on fairly quickly. I can only hope a few free map packs are in the future, and possibly a few features to make multiplayer more robust. The dedicated servers are a nice touch though, as is the squad-based mechanics that are similar to those in Battlefield 2. What’s there is great; I just want more of it.

Overall: 7/10