Customer Reviews

Frontlines: Fuel of War

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I should say at the outset that I have only played a few missions on the Single Player aspect of this game, and found them to be dull and very cut and paste from virtually every other shooter out there. That being said, Frontlines: Fuel of War brings one of the most challenging, deepest and expansive multiplayer experiences you will find on the Xbox 360 this year. Where other popular FPS games offer maps that are at most a mile wide at most (Halo 3, Call of Duty 4), the maps in Fuel of War get as big as ten miles across, with flyable jets and helicopters, Tanks, Light Tanks, Anti Aircraft Artillary, Humvees, and more. You can have 50 people playing on the same map and still have room to breath, room to tactically manuever and flank with your squad. What makes this game truly fun for me is that there is no "God weapon" that lets a single player dominates the match. Like a chess-game, Fuel of War offers players a mixture of player classes and equipment that allows them to counter any other player's kit or vehicle. Snipers, tankers, and helicopter pilots are unkillable in other games, but not in Fuel of War. A smart player working with their dquad can take any objective or silence any threat on the map, if they play their cards right. This is a great game and a very fun game. Highly recommended!

We live in a country where energy is almost as important to us as oxygen, and taken for granted just as much.

But, the big question is what if? What if our abundant energy resources suddenly became more and more scarce?

Would other countries start to eye us (here in Alberta) for our Oil reserves? Would wars be fought over the dwindling reserves?

Frontlines: Fuel of War is about that very topic. What if the reserves were all but gone? The major superpowers would end up going to war over the few resources that are left. Of course the game is set many years into the future, but with the way we're consuming our natural resources, it's a frightening glimpse into a very real possible future for mankind.

In the game you play a member of the Stray Dogs, a heavily armed and well trained squad whose job it is to secure strategic locations throughout the game in order to help the Western Collation defeat the Red Star.

Ok, let's get down to the meat of the review.

It's your typical Xbox 360 first person shooter game, with all the usual bells and whistles that you've come to expect from this type of game. Instead of the regular health meter, your screen turns red, your heartbeat speeds up and your breathing becomes laboured the closer you come to dying.

Unlike the other games I played, the controls were somewhat different from what I've grown used to. So, better check your game manual before you dive in or you might find yourself dying a few times before you get the hang of the controls.

Speaking of dying, don't let it happen too often. You only get a limited number of re-spawns per level. I never used them all, but I did come close a couple of times as I played. I don't know what would happen if I used them all, but I am making an educated guess here that you'd probably have to restart the entire level.

Now, with many of the first person shooters that I've played recently, you've typically been quite limited to the number of weapons you could carry and use at any one time.

Frontlines steer away from this trend. Instead of the usual two or three weapons, you could cycle through at least eight, if you had a chance to pick up various weapons that were left around on the battlefield.

The downside is that you couldn't pick up any of the weapons that the enemy dropped upon their untimely demise. That was one of the drawbacks of the game for me.

The second problem with weapons is, unlike many other games I've played, you couldn't pick up ammunition from fallen foes... instead you had to find ammunition caches that were infrequently scattered across the playing maps. Typically they were located in the various objectives that you had to secure.

You also had a fairly limited number of weapons of which to use. An assault rifle, the grenade launcher, an anti-tank weapon, sniper rifle, pistol, grenades and demolition charges.

However, the one thing that set it aside from the other games I've played over the past three months is the fact that you could get various types of remotely controlled drones to use.

These weapons typically came in two types: airborne and land based. Of course it broke down even further than that. Some of the airborne mini-helicopters could be used on strictly suicidal missions, where you flew them into place and detonated them with devastating results, while others were armed with missiles that you could use to soften up the enemy resistance.

Likewise with the ground based drones. One type was nothing more than a bomb on wheels which could be used with truly devastating results, while another was armed with a powerful machine gun.

Of course the enemy could fire at and destroy your weapons, and you have to keep an eye on signal strength... if you let the drone get too far from you, you'd lose control and the enemy would have some nice target practice.

Sorry, I totally forgot about the sentry guns that you could place and they'd work wonders on any hapless foe that happened to wander too close to them. But, once again, these weapons could be taken out by enemy fire, so choose where you place them wisely.

The other feature that was used in this game, but poorly handled in this reviewer's opinion, was vehicles. Many times throughout the game you have the opportunity to pilot APC's, Tanks and even a helicopter.

The problem I had was controlling the vehicles! The controls were poorly done in my opinion, and if you weren't careful to keep your vehicles main body (such as when you were driving the tanks) pointed in the direction you wanted to go, when you moved you could very well find yourself driving sideways, or even in the opposite direction you were planning on moving!

This was quite frustrating, and I found more often than not my vehicle was getting shot out from underneath me because of this.

By the way, the controls for the drone's works on this very same principal so you have been warned.

On a final note when it comes to combat... the old adage is true. A head shot will take out your enemy with a minimum expenditure of ammunition. And besides, when you see their helmet go flying through the air, it's a lot of fun!

The maps were large and varied, but mostly consisted of ruins. Very few times throughout the game you found yourself in an open area, and those times you were, typically you were at the controls of a tank, battling against Red Star tanks.

On the maps however, you had plenty of places to hide and use for cover, but this worked very well in the enemies favour as well.

Graphically, the game had some of the most beautifully rendered images that I've witnessed to date. Only Call of Duty 4 and Mass Effect were on par, if not superior in my view. Excellent use of not only shading, but colours and texture as well.

As I said, you typically always fought in ruins, be it refineries, small towns, or outposts. Some of the most visually impressive maps though were of the ruined launch facilities, the underground bunker labyrinth, and of course the city of Moscow itself.

Every single map had a bleak, hopeless feel to it, just as it should if you read the history or followed the cut scenes at the beginning of the game.

Speaking of cut scenes, they were incredible! The interaction between the characters, the events that took place, it was like watching a movie. I didn't find the movement of the characters to be clunky or un-natural at all, unlike say - Turning Point: the fall of liberty. Even the animated facial expressions conveyed the way the characters were feeling and reacting to what was happening around them.

Then there is the music. Heavy, industrial type rock, something that I really enjoy. Now only if I could find the soundtrack for the game... Of course if you're not into metal or rock, you won't enjoy it, but even the music composed for the game was a delight to listen to as you played.

As is the case, I didn't bother with the multiplayer mode. Although I guess you can play with up to thirty two other players in this mode, and you can choose from different types of classes. What you choose is the type of weapons load you get to play with.

Lastly, there are the achievements. I only managed to unlock 7 while I played the game, out of a possible thirty, for a score of 105 out of a possible 1000. Some of the achievements you could unlock involved beating each mission in a certain amount of time, of course multiplayer, and accuracy.

Pro's
- Excellent graphics and huge maps.
- The ability to carry more than two or three weapons at once.
- Drones!
- Cut scenes and music, top notch.
- Intense firefights.

Con's
- Say it with me... too damned short!
- Poor vehicle controls (including the drones, even though they were fun).

I eagerly await the sequel, as it was left wide open.

4 out of 5

This game appears to pretty much be focused on the multiplayer with xbox live. Don't get me wrong, the single player is fun, story line is so so, but again the multiplayer is its "bread and butter." That being said, one would think that it would be near perfection in the multiplayer mode. It's not. '

1. City of Lag
It can be difficult to find a room without lag, even with their dedicated servers specifically for this Frontlines. If you get in a room with lag, you can shoot a rocket, and see it actually take off after about three seconds. Another player and I played "ring around the rosie" unloading about three clips and trying quite a few melee attacks, until finally one blow connected. You may think I am just a horrible shot, but find me on xbox live and we'll see! =) Once I switched around to a few different rooms, I found a good one. This room cleared up most of the issues of warfare.

2. Team Communication
This is a game based on teamwork, however the only team members that you can hear on the headset, are the members of your squad. Your squad can be no more than four people. That is a bit of an issue trying to coordinate with the rest of you other team.

3. Soldier to Soldier Combat
There are many vehicles, which are a blast! However, I wish the hand to hand combat was a bit more enjoyable. The aiming system is not so hot and sometimes it's just difficult to connect your bullets with the opponents body!

There are a few other little glitches that I have noticed, and I hope a patch will be soon to follow. If you can find a good room (a good connection) and get use to some of the odd controls, this can be a very enjoyable title. I have found the use of vehicles to be a whole lot of fun, and has really been the reason I even play this game.

SINGLE PLAYER OPTION
This is a fun and enjoyable game. I wish it wasn't so short--- 9 hours (without the cinema). I would give more to the rating if it was longer, but I do recommend this game. I think you will see shorter and shorter single player modes due to xbox live--this is not good.

Great weapon selection, pace of action and excellent graphics (not great-like cd4) makes it very much enjoyable.

I have not been able to unlock the special bonus extra: sp-street.

Addendum: The special bonus extra: sp-street was unlocked. As good as and some times better than any of the Rainbow Six terrorist hunts. Only two of these extras are available. :(

I have had a PS3 for a long time, however recently I recieved a XBOX 360. There are really few games that one system has that he other does not, with the major exceptions HALO, Gears of War and a few others. However, I had wantedthis one since it came out. It was worth the wait. Personally, at least as far as single player goes, I liked this game more than HALO. It has a very realistic plot. And while I do agree with the others, the AI is not as intense, it is more realistic. Only flaw is it kind of short

This game is so worth [...] i spent on it, i can't believe how underated this game has been. I must say that the only con of the game is that it's too short, other than that it's a great game. Nothing can really compare to any of the COD games, but this one is a little gem in it's own way. The game is non stop action, you get shot at from buildings, tanks, helicopters... you even hear the whiffs of the bullets and rocket launchers, just great!!! Note, you can also drive tanks, fly the helicopters, etc, there is a pretty good array or weapons you can use, they are usually given to you depending on the level or stage of the game that you are in. Let me tell you that the best part of the game is when you reach downtown Moscow, oh nelly get ready, it's like the wild west, bullets flying everywhere!!

I really enjoyed this game even though it has it's quirks and it's shorter than many. While it doesn't have the addictive nature of EDF 2017 which I played for over a year and finished at 100% (twice) and still enjoy going back to with it's cheesy graphics and Starship Troopers dialogue, this game has very inventive weapons IMO and in fact you may need to fart around spending time just getting used to all the Drone weapons which are quite cool once you get the hang of it.

It's never so hard that you want to give up and rarely do they leave you stuck in an area where you cannot replenish your ammo but you must keep your eyes out for where they leave advanced weapons as you don't want to suddenly be battling a Tank or a Sniper and no advanced weapons to use.

The more you make yourself prone the more accurate the hits on the enemy but beware many of them are wearing body armor including helmets with added protection and damn it can take a helluva lot of shots to take them down at times.

One quirk I noticed that's troubling is the dang Sniper Rifles and I was an expert marksman that went through Guerilla warfare training for Vietnam and in this game you give the enemy a head shot with a high powered Sniper Rifle and how the hell they survive doesn't make sense - Head Shots from an automatic at distance with armor protected helmet yes perhaps, but not a high powered sniper rifle. Don't expect the sniper rifles to work anything like those in Halo 3 where headshots are 100% kills.

There's one level where your dropped alone in the hills to use the sniper and damn if most will survive the headshots - always prep for the follow-up shot. Another quirk is the AI of your squads - sometimes your surrounded by them supposedly fighting with you and they are firing like hell at the enemy and it seems they aren't hitting anyone at times and your doing it all and it gets you cussing at squad because they seemingly cannot hit anyone thats directly in the line of fire of four of your soldiers and makes you think are you guys friggin BLIND!

The vehicles do not have the terrific fluidity of a Halo 3 so it can be frustrating at times with the Tanks and often I'll jump out of the tank and use the Rocket Launcher with auto aiming and it kicks butt as long as you don't expose yourself in the open for too long. That rocket launcher and mini helicopter missile firing drone are the MVP weapons as are some of the drones once you get used to them.

Despite the quirks I enjoyed it very much and it has good replay as you are in control of your battle plan tactics (though it won't let you leave a battle) you decide the tactics and no one else on each level.

Hell - great fun for $20 and the storyline is very appropriate for the times we're in today. Just like EDF 2017 many love it and others don't but for $20 no big loss as it still has resale value with next to nothing lost. Enjoy!

EDF EDF EDF!!!;)

Like many people offering their 2 cents, I find this game immersive and just simply amazing. The single-player is challenging and as good as (cough, cough) some entries in the COD series. Graphics are excellent and the overall atmosphere is a pervading force felt throughout the game.
But the multiplayer......OH THE MULTIPLAYER! Simply WOW! What a satisfying experience and what fun! Plenty of soldier classes with enough weapons choices to satisfy the most ardent Call Of Duty fanboy.
Vehicles are fun on the larger maps; and though a few take some getting used to, they provide a neat little strategy option missing in some other games of this genre.
I'm 42 years old and don't have the twitch reflexes I used to have. In Frontlines, you can be a member of a much larger force and not have to rely on the overcaffeinated reflexes of the younger crowd you're facing. You can pick off tanks with a shoulder mounted RPG from behind your own lines and knock down helicopters without racing to the capture points to get cut down by the fast/quick crowd. In that regard, the game can accomodate and is very forgiving for some of us older gamers.
The storyline is close enough to today's headlines to make you think for a bit; but the fun is in playing online.
At this price, it's a pretty inexpensive game that'll offer many, many hours of fun. It's pretty deep and immersive as an online gaming experience and well worth your hard earned $$$. (P.S.~ When you get to XBox Live, do yourself a favor and purchase the additional Frontlines:Fuel Of War map packs. They'll add even more hours of diverse strategic enjoyment.)

The short story:

This is, generally speaking, a fairly fun game. It didn't really break new ground for me, though, and there are so many shooters with online capabilities already out there. The fact that they added quite a few options as far as vehicles and weapons did give it an edge up on some other online shooters but after about a month it kind of wore out for me. I've heard this from some others as well.

I'm not sure I can put my finger on exactly why the fun factor faded but part of it might be the maps. At first I liked how open some of them were and then later I started feeling like they were TOO open.

My opinion... rent it and really get into the online play before buying it.

I enjoyed all the gadgets the game had. The remotes were fantastic.
It took a little over 8 hrs to finish this game on hard. which is about a little short but the used price made it AOK.
I enjoyed the ammo caches. I've used the unending stream of replenishing, especially the grenades in my attacks. The automatic weapon lock-on is a welcomed game aid. Looking forward to more games like this.
The reviews were a little helpful, especially the lower starred versions. It made me wait until the game price dropped. Buying used is the best way to get anything, especially when retail is unaffordable.