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Quake III Sexy?

Enemy Territory has the distinction of being the nicest-looking Quake III-powered game we’ve seen, and that includes the titles we previewed at E3. Like Medal of Honor, it makes fantastic use of the outdoor capabilities of the Team Arena engine, but improves on MOHAA with better textures and modeling. Special effects haven’t yet been left behind by more modern engines, with ET making striking use of smoke and light.

The effects have a considerable effect on gameplay, of course. Smoke can be a huge help in breaking out of a chokepoint, and muzzle flash as well as knockback from bullet hits lend combat an undeniable veracity.

Crouch and fire

Cheese camping

Death becomes me

Levels are quite large, though not on a Tribes scale. What really sets them apart is the imposing level of detail put into each map. Grass, bushes, snow, tree stumps and more cover up a landscape that’s broken up by bridges, huts, and rocky outcroppings. All of these terrain features have a profound effect on gameplay. Field ops agents discreetly moving into cover from which they can survey an enemy encampment in order to call in artillery. Flamethrower-toting soldiers can spring up in a gap between two small hills to lay waste to a batch of freshly-spawned foes who were rushing to a battle.

ThumP! ThumP!

The sound effects are truly spectacular. Gunfire has that solid oomph to it, without relying on volume or excessive bass. Voice effects are used to keep players updated of objectives and happenings in the game. The moment a primary or secondary objective is updated in status, the players are notified with a voice message. If the Germans have loaded ammo onto a rail car, both teams get a warning. If the Allies have breached a tank barricade, there’s another notification. The system works great.

He's fixing the tank

Doh I sux0red

Fire away

What doesn’t work great

Where things get a little rough are when the weapons, skills and maps are put together. Certain scenarios can get very broken with the right combination of luck and ingenuity. Soldier-class players wielding mortars can pinpoint spawn areas or choke points right in front of those areas. Similarly, Field Ops can call in artillery and air strikes to those same places. Fortunately, those skills can be used only so often due to an energy replenishment bar.

Then the Covert Ops class is a whole new dilemma. Covert Ops is the only class that can almost single-handedly beat a map, by stealing a uniform off a dead enemy and going through doors accessible only to the enemy team, thus allowing engineers in to blow up objectives. This is fine, and by design. Unfortunately, a CO is discovered 99% of the time. Yet, a Covert Ops’ other abilities aren’t as useful. Sniping is relatively weak, and the satchel charge is really the only useful distinguishing skill.