"Taste like Battlefield without the nasty EA Bitterness"

Dear Kaos Studios .....Wake up gentlemen your not a Mod team tinkering on Desert Combat in your spare time anymore. This is the big leagues now an hard earned cash is on the table being spent for your project. With that said, Congratulations on a great release Sans a few problems you guys have crafted an A++ title that any fan of the Battlefield series should at least check out . Hears how I got there.

Let me get this out of the way right now .... If you are or were a fan of the Battlefield Series in any shape way or form you owe it to your self to pick this game up. at its heart its a Battlefield clone. But what puts it over the top is its done with imagination an ingenuity that Seem to be lacking in the EA games.

CONCEPT:
The premise of this game is you participate in large scale battles using a mixture of modern an futuristic weaponry to gain control of the battlefield in a attempt to gain control of the dwindling an valuable resources. You can fight both in single player or jump onto Xbox live an fight on maps capable of fielding 50 players per team. the "Front line" combat system in the game is unique an adds a sense of tension to the game that is unique to this product. You will also have at your disposal 60 weapons an vehicles to wreak havoc on your opponents & move the battle in your teams favor.

GRAPHICS:
Everything in this game is modeled beautifully. The devils in the details is how the saying goes an when your playing through the levels you will constantly find new thing to be amazed at. there are no bland textures to be seen, everything is intricately detailed an seems to take a few cues from GRAW2 from a over all design aspect. The Rag doll physics are done tactfully an the only stumbles seem to be a few frames missing on the run animation when on Xbox live but that issue could be due to lag. The battlefields are unapologetically huge. trust me you have seen nothing like this with this kind of detail. The maps are big enough to to literally swallow a 50 man team but strike that balance where we never feel quite safe no matter where were at an death can come quick, an from any angle. on second your quickly approaching your objective an all is calm when out of no where a Areal battle erupts over head an you looking for backup as tanks race toward you in the distance. The environments really do there job in pulling you into the experience an keeping you emerged. There almost a character all onto them selves. The soldier models look good also an maintain there detail even in the distance. An to my surprise some of the vehicles features a cockpit view as well a down the barrel zoom. I promise you will squeal with glee as you do a dance around in areal combat in hello's dropping flares an firing missiles only to score a critical hit an watching your opponent get blown from the cockpit an the charred husk of his vehicle goes falling to the ground. Nothing but good stuff is happening in this game from a graphic stand point.

SOUND:
Again there is a lot of good things happening on the sound front in this title from the crack of the weapons , the sound of each of the vehicles. or the ambient sounds of the battlefield. Oh did I fail to mention that that those ambient sounds are actually player battles in the distance, or actual jets flying over head. Yeah the sounds on the battlefield are golden. In single player the sounds are great. but on Xbox live recognizing the different sounds on the battle field can mean the difference between life an death. You will learn quickly to listen fro the slight hum of an approaching unmanned drone or the crack of a sniper rifle. The ability to locate where sounds are coming from will serve you well in this game. Kaos Studios Also seems to have been able to pare great voice actors with the silky smooth visuals making for a great single player experience. The background soundtrack is also done well but non intrusive (almost ot the point of not even know there is one playing in the background at times.) Voice communication in this game for now is a bit wonky as the only way to communicate is by joining or creating a squad of four peeps . thats right ! 4 .... I understand they wanted to cut down on idle chatter and emphasize team communication, but proximity speak or the ability for squad commanders to speak to one another should have been implemented. The lack of these features seem to be the cause of some of the biggest complaints with this game, lets hope that Kaos can get this taken care of in a patch.

PLAYABILITY:
Call of Duty 4 an Halo 3 have spoiled us rotten..... what has this got to do with Frontlines Fuel of War? The controls will almost immediately make you want to sling the controller to the floor in frustration especially when trying to target your opponent in a Man on Man situation the assisted targeting has been toned way down. Things get even rougher when you hop into a vehicle an find that some vehicles control with just the left control stick while others require both the left & right control sticks. Helicopters are a bit intuitive just a bit slow an not very agile. an every thing goes completely into the hand basket when you hop into that shiny new jet to live out your tom cruise fantasies. but....But .....BUT!!! ..... you will praise the difficulty once you master the controls as the steep learning curve has seem to prevent folks from camping the planes like they do in the EA titles. go figure. Fortunately after about an hour of practice you will stop trying to click the left stick to sprint an the left trigger to zoom. (unfortunately after playing this game for a bit your teammates in COD4 are going to hate you when you accidentally sling grenades into them lol trust me it will happen, just apologize)
Ultimately tooling around in the vehicles is fun, an this game offers a vastly deferent play experience from all the other shooters out there. the team seems to have cherry picked all the best elements from the top shooters an crammed them into this title. The title is great fun an should do well as there really isn't anything that comes close to offering this kind of experience on the 360. There is something quite satisfying about killing an opponent specifically when they out gun you. And chasing opponents down with drones an watching them panic as they frantically search for where death is slowly creeping in from. good times good times.

ENTERTAINMENT:
The living battle field an innovative front line system creates a back an forth tug of war thats unmatched by any title currently on the 360. Lots of innovative features creative weapons an expansive maps makes this a stellar titles the only thing that knocks this out of contention as being one of the premiere games on the 360 is lack of open 50 player Kaos servers an really bad lag which contributes to some hit detection problems which really spoil initial impressions of this game. These imperfections are held under an even greater magnifying glass when attempting to carve its niche among the all time greats launching just a week before Rainbow Six Vegas an under the titan shadows of COD4 & Halo3. Fortunately Kaos Development team has established a good re pore with the community an have a reputation for giving there all to the projects they work on. If you were a fan of The Desert Combat Mod & are familiar with Trauma Studio you know what to expect from this team of talented individuals. Another draw against the game is the lack of game modes. with a solid foundation there is plenty of room for expansion in this area I'm just not really looking forward to being charged 800ms points to enjoy the inevitable DLC

REPLAY VALUE:
This is insanely high, the environments are the real star of the show an will keep you coming back. They are so well done thy will ruin you on lesser smaller maps. This game really raises the bar on what the 360 is capable of, and really makes you take notice of all the little flaws in other titles that you might have otherwise over looked. They have also manged to pull elements from COD4, RSV, & GRAW 2 an wrap them into the Battlefield / Desert Combat mold creating a unique experience that your not going to find anywhere else console side. The inevitable patches will only further extend the life of this game.

BUY / NOT BUY:
Definite Buy !!! A must have experience that hasn't been watered down just because its on the console. Its a good first outing an a fantastic foundation for future titles in the franchise. If your on the fence an looking for something a bit different with real strategic challenges worked in with your shooting, explosions, and mayhem this game is for you.

FINAL SCORE 8
This game makes a few freshmen mistakes out the gate but over all the spirit of a All star Hiesman class player. Lag issues aside you'll enjoy the multi player an it has a great single player campaign.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/29/08

Game Release: Frontlines: Fuel of War (US, 02/25/08)