[  « Previous Page | 1 | 2 | 3  ]

I'll go out on a limb here and say that I feel like Frontlines is pulling me in two conflicting directions. One the one hand you have a single-player campaign that's desperately trying to provide a fresh, compactly-sized 10 hour cinematic experience on par with other FPS games like Call of Duty 4. Then on the other hand you have a game that's trying to be a re-imagination of the intense multiplayer we saw with the Battlefield series. Indeed Kaos was responsible for the Battlefield 1942 mod Desert Combat, and you can definitely see sparks of similarity. The danger here, of course, is that the game could simply end up providing an above average experience for both, rather than an amazing experience for one.

Playing the early levels it does sometimes feel like you're playing a multiplayer game against bots, despite Kaos' efforts to the contrary. This is the challenge, of course, and ultimate judgement will have to wait for the review. I for one will be interested to see which proves to be more popular, the single-player campaign or multiplayer matches on PC, Xbox LIVE and PSN.

 Advertisement

Cataldi has faith in his game of course. "Allowing you to manage the role and the load out and allowing you to choose your game style was a really wonderful thing for our style of multiplayer. Now that might be enough but we also like cinematic gameplay, and we wanted to bring those elements into the single-player in a way that no-one really has, not for a FPS.

"So the trick was to combine those neat multiplayer things in a way that you can experience it in a single-player environment but it isn't just a bot battle. It's not just you and a bunch of guys running around. They are defending their objectives. If you throw a grenade they are getting out of the way, if they're climbing in a vehicle they are going after you in a different way."

Frontlines' graphics don't look like they will blow anyone away, nor do they look terrible. There's plenty of nice-looking explosions and the game's physics, powered by the Unreal Engine, provide for plenty of impressive environmental destruction. But there are some choppy moments with texture pop ups and what not. We must point out that the build we played was a few weeks old, and we're assured the game, which is currently embroiled in the certification process, looks much better already.

Indeed, Cataldi is most proud of the way the game stands up graphically despite it providing multiple views of the battlefield. "On foot you can look at the game and go, hey that looks really nice" he says. "A lot of games do that. In those same games try and get in a helicopter and look at it from above and have the same experience. They will not be able to hold up because they are not built to hold up in that way. But I have to make Fronltines look good to you on foot, then I have to let you get in a helicopter and fly above the whole world and let you look down and go, that still looks good. Or even worse, or even better, I have to allow you to get into a small RC drone car that puts you inches above the ground and lets you drive around that same environment and go I'm still immersed and convinced. That was an immense challenge from an art direction perspective, to give you the player the camera in so many different ways and allow the game to hold up at each turn. I think we're pulling it off."

Frontlines: Fuel of War is scheduled for release on February 15 in the UK for Xbox 360 and PC. A PlayStation 3 version will follow. A demo will be released on Xbox LIVE Marketplace on December 12.

[  « Previous Page | 1 | 2 | 3  ]