... and nothing new in the Multiplayer game
This is an unfortunate situation for Frontlines: Fuel of War as up until I was thinking that the single player campaign was actually more fun than Battlefield as there was a rather decent story to the whole thing. For sure, it’s not on the same level as Cod 4 but Frontlines: Fuel of War was nicely hitting the middle ground between full-on squad map conquering and linear objective based missions. But that single player fun has been cut short at the tank mission and there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’m forced to conclude that to get any fun from Frontlines: Fuel of War you’ll have to go online.Now as we all know, how a game plays off and online can vary tremendously and, as we’ve seen with the Battlefield series, who you play with can have a tremendous impact on the experience. Frontlines: Fuel of War does its best to try and minimize the ‘lone wolfing’, spawn camping and vehicle pinching that goes on in Battlefield but it’s still rife and frankly, a bloody pain in the arse.
Click for larger imageThere’s only one multiplayer mode available, titles Frontlines, in which you capture strategic points and push the frontline into enemy territory. Here, as in the single player game, you can assume a variety of roles, but having perhaps been spoilt but TF2, there’s only four on offer. That said, get a squad together of even low ranked players who are prepared to spread the roles and you can end up with a pretty devastating squad.
Ground support troops can repair damaged vehicles, which gives them a serious advantage if they’re driving them. EMP Techs can mask themselves from enemy drones and at higher levels can set up generators that disable enemy vehicles and drones. Drone Techs can utilise a variety of drones, as the name suggests, which can be used either for targeting the enemy or more offensively for remotely attacking anything from troops to heavy armour. And finally there’s the Air Support role which can call in cluster bomb attacks or fire from overhead gunships.
Click for larger imageAdd all that lot together and, especially if everyone else is playing disparately, you’ll be owning the map in no time. But if the enemy get their act together, even though opposing weapons have different strengths and weaknesses, you’ll find yourself with a satisfyingly tough challenge on your hands.
