Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars

User Rating:

ESRB: Blood,Language - Mild,Violence
Publisher: Activision
Genre(s): Action, Shooting
Home Page: http://www.enemyterritory.com/

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By: Antti Summala Oct 10, 2007

Strogg? Strogg! You know Strogg, right?

In Quake Wars, you fight the alien menace called Strogg - or the human menace called GDF

Let's face it, Quake doesn't have the most richly developed storyline in the world of PC gaming. Far from it: the original Quake didn't have a real story per se, and Quake III Arena was a multiplayer only game with no story at all. Only sequels II and IV built a rickety sci-fi yarn of Humanity's fight with the Strogg, a race of grotesque cybernetic humanoids from outer space. Quake Wars is set as a prequel of sorts: where Quake II's story revolved around a retaliatory strike against the Strogg home world, Quake Wars are fought on Earth during the first Strogg invasion.

Following in Battlefield 2's footsteps, Quake Wars games pan out in episodic, non-linear sequences, with each map presenting the struggle from either side's perspective. The Strogg are up to no good, zombifying civilians, creating Stroggifier plants and securing a foothold on Earth. They are opposed by the Global Defense Force or GDF, described as a paramilitary organization rather than a powerful union of Earth's military forces. The GDF attack Strogg invaders, production facilities and strongholds, and conduct their own research into Strogg technology and biology, which the Strogg in turn try to foil.

Strogg vehicles look and sound menacing, but they sure are fun to fly

There's no wider story arc though: get ready to try and steal the same observatory data disc containing information of the Strogg invasion again and again - or to fight off the humans who try to steal the important and potentially compromising data. The game's twelve maps are divided into four geographical areas - Western Africa, the Pacific, North America and Northern Europe - and games are contested as part of a three-map "campaign" game. Players normally stay on the same side throughout the campaign. Still, you get no rewards or commendations for winning a campaign game, and the maps within one geographical area are just as disjointed as the rest of them.

In lieu of a strong story, Splash Damage's writers have instead turned to the online legend of Quake. After all, there's a limit to how many times you can drop Makron's name (the Strogg leader and boss enemy of Quake II and IV, and just about the only recognizable recurring character in the franchise) in the dialogue. Instead, the game is rife with references to internet subculture ("The humans will think twice before haxxoring our leet tech!"), camp humor, and even "good game" voice calls. I found this amusing for a while, but some of the geeky humor gets really old really fast ("Thanks man!" "Sman? What?").