When armies wage war over the last of Earth's precious resources... it's up to you to try and get this game running.
Editor's Note: It is the policy of GameSpy.com to review games in their initial "out-of-the-box" state, meaning patches are not factored into reviews unless specifically mentioned. In cases where a patch is released immediately following a game's release, it may be necessary to patch the game in order to connect to online servers. In these cases, the patching process is reviewed as part of the installation. For Frontlines: Fuel of War, it was necessary to install the v1.1 patch in order to fully test online play, as outlined in the review below.
Difficult launches can make for a poor first impression. It's been several days since Frontlines: Fuel of War was released, and many players are still unable to launch the PC version of the game, let alone participate in the vaunted large-scale multiplayer conflicts that should have been the game's defining characteristic.
On our end, we've so far been unable to get the Steam version of Frontlines: Fuel of War to launch on two different high-end Vista PCs, which a perusal of the Frontlines technical support forums reveals to be known issues. We've been able to play under Windows XP, but even then it's clear the PC version of Frontlines is a significant notch below the Xbox 360 version. If you're patient, there's every chance that various issues related to SecuROM, Vista support, and other various crashes may eventually be resolved, but if you're considering a purchase, the rule of the day is let the buyer beware.
Caveat Emptor
As of the posting of this review, a patch has been released for the PC version of Frontlines that addresses server browser issues, team autobalancing, and assorted other fixes. A separate hotfix has been released that addresses the SecuROM issue and some Vista errors, but many users are still unable to proceed. No update has been released for the digitally downloaded Steam client, and so all of our playtesting was performed on systems running Windows XP.
Frontlines: Fuel of War is a first-person shooter from KAOS Studios, a development house whose core team is comprised of the creators of Desert Combat and the R&D team for Battlefield 2. The developer's pedigree is immediately evident upon playing Frontlines. The game is designed primarily as a multiplayer shooter with a strong emphasis on team play, with a healthy variety of vehicles and character roles to keep the action fresh.
Frontlines: Fuel of War features a modestly-sized single-player campaign that you could complete in a handful of hours. The single-player campaign can be seen as an extensive tutorial for the much longer-lasting multiplayer meat of the game, but that shouldn't be seen as dismissing its effectiveness. The campaign is quite entertaining, giving you a chance to utilize all the nifty tricks and high-tech weaponry that you'll need to master in order to excel in multiplayer, while also offering up some of the better vehicle-based missions we've played in a shooter.
Driving can be difficult at first, since the controls take some getting used to, and the flight controls in particular can be quite challenging. We've seen plenty of helicopters lift off only to crash a few seconds later. This sort of thing is always worth a good laugh, but is also an indicator of a much larger problem related to an unfriendly control scheme.
Touching again on the controls and gameplay, we noticed that the PC version of Frontlines: Fuel of War introduces a more exaggerated recoil effect that gives the game an altogether different feel from the Xbox 360 version. The console version has minimal recoil, and you can toggle a slight auto-aim functionality to assist those who lack precision with FPS controls. The PC version's recoil feels like overcompensation, crossing the threshold of balance and moving into unfriendly territory for the sake of realism. The heavy machine gun, for example, is deadly in the console version yet very difficult to control when playing on a PC. It's really up to your personal taste which version you'd prefer.
The single-player game drops you into the middle of a conflict between the major super powers in the world. When China and the former Soviet Union combine to form Red Star, the Western Alliance is quickly formed to impede their progress towards global domination. When the global oil supply runs dry, both factions meet in the Middle East, neither side willing to give up control over the last remaining oil wells. It's a story culled from one of the biggest issues facing the world today. Don't expect the narrative to browbeat you with politics, but instead take the theme as a reason to give the issues at hand some thought.
War on a Grander Scale
If the campaign serves as the appetizer, your main course will be the robust multiplayer that can be found here. There are quite a few absolutely superb multiplayer shooters available to PC gamers. Each provides enough compelling, long-lasting gameplay to merit being "the one game" that people choose to play. Frontlines is built around becoming your "one game." It offers up a variety of large-scale matches, with eight different maps ranging from smaller skirmish-sized areas best suited to eight or more players, to enormous battlegrounds that would feel empty without at least 24.
Bigger can very often be better, and it's in the largest theaters of war that Frontlines truly shines. You have fast-moving personnel carriers to zip squads to the front alongside heavily armored tanks that provide punishing ground support. There's even a battered, heavily fortified bus, complete with top-mounted machine gun turret. The larger maps even provide air vehicles like helicopters (with dual gatling guns) and even F-22 knockoff jets so you can do your best "Top Gun" impression. Every vehicle feels like it serves a purpose, and finding a new role with every deployment on the battlefield is part of the fun.
The vehicle variety comes close to the kind of experience you'd find in Battlefield 1942. Fixed play groups are popping up as clans vie for online domination, forever seeking to make a name for themselves on the next big competitive shooter. Frontlines could easily end up becoming a popular shooter for those who enjoy large team-based games.
Part of why Frontlines could attract die-hard team-based game players is that the map design and combat are centered on a system that borrows from Battlefield. Squads will fight over points of contention spread around the map, alternating between capture and defend mode as the battle progresses. This leads to firefights that flow back and forth like a tide as each team fights for control of more of the map.
Vehicular combat is one of the more entertaining aspects, but even playing as a foot soldier is made entertaining by the game's role system. You can choose to enter the fray as a ground support unit, for instance, eventually earning the ability to lay down a sentry turret, or to set up a shielded machine gun. You can go the drone route, and remotely control miniature helicopters to fly behind enemy lines, or a mini-tank armed with a fast-firing machine gun. Air support units work as scouts on the ground, calling in precision air strikes once they've achieved visual on their target, or dropping a larger-scale cluster bomb when the enemies are packed together so tight that a healthy dose of carpet bombing is the best option.
Visually, Frontlines: Fuel of War does a capable job of painting a gritty landscape for the conflict. The texture work and character models aren't cutting-edge, but the grand scale of the game, as well as the damage that persists in the environment as you blast away with your weaponry keep the game fun to watch. We noticed frame-rate issues with explosions and artillery fire, so we expect that some degree of the game's visual integrity may be sacrificed when under the stress of larger games. Compared side-by-side, we found that the Xbox 360 version ran smoother, with fewer frame-rate hitches, even when compared to a high-end PC. The graphics do look better at the higher native resolutions available on PC.
Frontline's sound effects are quite well-implemented, with the concussive boom of long-range artillery fire resounding based on distance to impact. The individual weapon sounds are satisfying as well. When massed enemy troops start raining bullets on your position and enemy tank shells land feet from your squad, the cumulative aural effect can be thrilling.
It's easier to recommend Frontlines: Fuel of War for the Xbox 360 for a variety of reasons. The premature PC launch has been a technical headache and major disappointment for a large number of users. Our inability to get the game to run on Vista is especially disheartening. Considering how excited we were to play what should have been the next Battlefield-style experience, we can't help but call this a missed opportunity. If you can get it to run, there's a lot to like in Frontlines: Fuel of War, and it could provide for many late nights of multiplayer excitement. But for now, your best bet is to wait until the dust clears and hope for something, soon, that resembles a finished product.
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