Frontlines: Fuel of War

Frontlines: Fuel of War

While Xbox 360 war-based shooters are almost ten-a-penny these days (at least they are in the second hand game stores) none of them enjoy a premise so relevant as that of Frontlines. The titular Fuel of War is, as any tank driver running on empty will tell you, oil. As the apocalyptic introduction explains, it’s 2024 and the world is embroiled in a global energy crisis, diplomacy in tatters as the world’s superpowers move in on what little resources remain. In game terms this premise supplies yet another opportunity for Xbox 360 players to slip into some khakis and set about shooting polygons, albeit one with a different take on near future current affairs.

In game, things have a much less serious tone. As first person shooters go this is light, fast, frantic and oodles of fun because of it. Your guns fire quick and accurate and, thanks to the Halo 3 control mapping, it’s an easy game to slip into without much learning curve.

In a similar way to recent shooter Unreal 3, the single player portion of the game is short, sweet and mainly serves as an enjoyable training ground introduction to the multiplayer meat of the package. Right from the start you’re presented with a wide variety of weapons to try out as you scrabble to clear objectives and take capture points from the enemy. Securing these points is key to advancing the frontline of the battlefield until you eventually take it over completely. In order to capture these points you’ll need to employ a variety of different future war techniques, from drones to C4 to remote controlled robots, and it’s through these gimmicky elements that the game seeks to stand out. Flying exploding drones in through the window of a lookout post to take out a bunch of soldiers and a control panel is immense fun.

The single player game boasts some standout scenes, and while it doesn’t quite match its most recent rivals in terms of grand scale, it’s very enjoyable. While it burns bright it also burns short, presumably a deliberate decision on the part of the developer who seems excited about getting you stuck into the online portion of the game.

And luckily for them, it’s here that Frontlines really excels because, in addition to the fast flowing game mechanics, there’s support for up 50-player at a time. This extraordinary achievements means that you and up to forty nine other players from around the world can take to the battlefield with all of its planes, tanks, hummers, helicopters, drones and other pieces of futuristic technology simultaneously in what’s, at once, a terrifying and glorious recreation of warfare. Players pick a class, a role (which can be leveled) and play their part in their side’s war effort in what seems certain to be one of Xbox Live’s enduring hits. In a vastly overcrowded genre Frontlines manages to carve out a niche for itself and excel at it. This is a wargame that doesn’t take itself too seriously and will provide months of enjoyment – providing the oil doesn’t run out first.

4 out of 5