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Frontlines: Fuel of War Review for Xbox 360 (X360)

Frontlines: Fuel of War Review for Xbox 360 (X360)

Filler Up!

How do you make a military first-person-shooter set in the near future seem relevant after last year’s bar-raising Call of Duty 4? Between Activision’s monster hit, not to mention Ubisoft’s solid stable of Tom Clancy titles (Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter, Rainbow Six Vegas), this genre has not only been done to death, but it’s represented some of the best games of this console generation.

Frontlines: Fuel of War screenshot

And then there’s all the not-so-good games cluttering this genre–we won’t mention names. However, the competition and clones have not scared THQ, as their internal developer KAOS has just unleashed Frontlines: Fuel of War onto the crowded battlefield of modern military shooters. And the result, while not quite a Call of Duty-caliber effort, is pretty damn satisfying. To answer our opening question: apparently you achieve post-COD4 relevance by creating a fast-paced, accessible experience that forgoes realism in favor of fun.

The absolute coolest stuff in most other shooters is often restricted by a game’s narrative or its stubborn adherence to realism; the wickedest weapons might be in short supply, the sweetest rides may only be available in a single level, and just when you master your favorite piece of firepower, it runs out of ammo. Frontlines doesn’t tease the player with its goodies; rather it gives the gamer a barracks full of cool tech toys and ass-whuppin’ weapons and allows them to go nuts with them. Additionally, ammo is never in short supply, getting taken down by a one-shot-kill is rare, and you can carry eight–yes, eight–weapons at once. Let’s see one of Tom Clancy’s boys do that! The pace is also peppy because checkpoints are plentiful, and the trial-and-error that makes many games so frustrating is near non-existent here.

Frontlines: Fuel of War screenshot

All the guns–pistols, automatics, sniper rifles, etc.–are simple to use and satisfying to unload on the bad guys. And the heavier artillery plays a bigger part in the mayhem than it does in most military shooters. The rocket launcher, for example, is classically used in more “serious” war games as the go-to-gun for taking out tanks and large armed emplacements; as such, it’s usually armed with just enough ammo to complete your objective, then it disappears until another one just happens to be lying around when you need it for another specific task. In Frontlines, we found ourselves shouldering this bad boy whenever we felt like using it; sure, it was placed conveniently when we needed to take on some rumbling tanks, but it was also there for us when we just felt like planting a projectile in some dude’s face. This caution-to-the-wind approach also revealed itself in unexpected areas, like our soldier’s stamina. Most games of this nature will allow you to sprint–usually by holding down a specific button–for a short time. In Frontlines you still need to press a button to run faster, but as far as we could tell, our boy was ready to run a marathon, refusing to slow down unless we released the button or began firing a weapon.

While the running and gunning is a no-holds-barred blast, Frontlines really shines when it breaks out the gadgets and drivable goodies. Several kinds of remote controlled drones are at your disposable, including a neat little rocket-firing helicopter. Some of our most memorable moments involved buzzing this baby into a crowd of enemies and unleashing a torrent of smoke-trailing projectiles. Ground drones, self-destructing mini-planes, and air strikes offered similar thrills. Vehicles are also fun to tool around in; Humvees, tanks, and helicopters are all available, and, like the rocket launcher, aren’t just there for a brief tease. One tank-based level actually throws you into what feels more like a demolition derby as you take on multiple enemy armored vehicles at once while maneuvering in and out of rock cover. Climbing into the cockpit of the chopper is also cool, and multiple camera views allow you to spy the action from the inside or outside of your bird, while a third angle puts you right behind a front-mounted turret.

Frontlines: Fuel of War screenshot

Wide open levels nicely complement the free-wheeling weapon approach by giving gamers plenty of room to run around and tons of environments to tear into; cool destructible items abound. This isn’t to say it offers a GTA-like sandbox, but it’s certainly not a corridor-crawler, either. Each level is a large map with multiple objectives to take. These range from the typical taking over of communication outposts to destroying ammo depots. In fact, it’s with these generic missions, as well as Frontlines’ paper-thin narrative, that the game suffers a bit. The intro actually sets up a cool near-future yarn about the world’s dependence on oil, but it never goes very far. Also, a strange storytelling device takes the focus off the main character and places it on a third-party participant, a war journalist that’s tagging along.

Frontlines: Fuel of War screenshot

You’ll likely be entertained enough by the amped action that you won’t be longing for story details anyway. Just don’t expect the slick, cinema-style storytelling that’s becoming the norm in next-gen games. And, if we hadn’t already made it abundantly clear, don’t expect a ton of realism either; where Call of Duty 4 actually got criticized for hitting too close to home with its authenticity, Frontlines likely won’t hear any complaints other than from some folks whose trigger fingers are too sore. Frontlines is all about fast-paced fun, but delivering this means losing some of that realism and narrative depth. It proudly wears this approach as a badge of honor though, as proven by its strategy-starved achievements (on the Xbox 360 version). Players are rewarded for how fast they can complete levels, as well as how far they can make it without dying–not exactly tactical stuff, but lots of fun.

Frontlines clearly cares about its multiplayer experience as much as its solo campaign–good thing, as the single player mode only lasts about 5-6 hours. Online play only offers one mode–a cool objective-capturing game where you fight to occupy the most map, but it works very well. This is due mostly to the fact the same fun-over-realism approach translates well into the online arena, creating crazy addictive matches that support up to 32 cyber soldiers. You’ll blow through the solo campaign quicker than COD4–and people complained that was too short–, but most will get their money’s worth out of the online experience. Hopefully this one will benefit from future downloadable content; it’d be nice to see it stick around awhile, but it’ll take fresh content to keep folks interested for the long, Halo 3-like haul.

Frontlines looks and sounds good, generally keeping pace with other games in the genre. Being able to see billowing smoke and tall oil refining structures way off in the distance is a nice touch, really selling the immersion of the large levels. And simple sound tweaks, like the buzz of your flying drones, can be heard even as things explode all around you. Frontlines won’t get the attention that bigger titles with flashy production values receive, but it deserves a nod for its focus on fun. There are tons of military shooters out there, but where many offer a me-too experience, Frontlines differentiates itself by providing a fun-first approach. Let the other guys worry about dramatic storylines and realistic military maneuvers while we get our Rambo on in Frontlines: Fuel of War.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.0 Graphics
Plenty of nice next-gen touches. 4.5 Control
Simple, satisfying and intuitive. 4.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Good weapon and explosion sounds create great sense of chaos. 4.0 Play Value
Very short single-player will leave some disappointed, but the multi-player masses will find plenty of replay value. 4.2 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Besides the new next-gen vehicles and weaponry, the drones in Frontlines will be something you’ve never seen before.
  • Frontlines offers is an innovative contribution to team-based gameplay.
  • Frontlines provides a sense of freedom and tactical choice that’s really engaging throughout the campaign.
  • Drivable vehicles include tanks and choppers.

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