Frontlines: Fuel of War

As the gaming market continues to strive for the "next big thing" there have been several game titles that have come quite close to that mark. Frontlines: Fuel of War is definantly one of those games. From the start, the game takes no time in digging right in by going off of a fairly poinant message regarding the worlds oil consumption. The world is all but out of oil, and the small amount that remains has become the setting for World War III. You play as a coalition soldier fighting against the soviet and chinese Red Star forces. The intro movie is visually distinctive and has an almost comic book feel to it, which contrasts greatly the fact that this premise isn't as fictional as we would like. The game has a good level of challenge, but essentially seems to just be an in depth tutorial to play the multiplayer function of the game. The game has stunning graphics, good voice acting, and very interesting cutscenes. Some downsides would be that at times the aiming function is a bit off and can mean the difference between life and death for you. The game itself is also extremely short, after playing for roughly three and a half hours the game was more than 75% completed. I wasn't able to spend alot of time playing the multiplayer but what I did see was quite interesting. The game plays like a strong mix of Halo 3's "Territories" with Star Wars Battlefronts put in. On a number of maps there are several objectives that one team is responsible for holding while the other is responsible for defending them. There are a handful of job skills that give the player some choice as to how they would enjoy to play the most. The game itself is quite good and deserves a 3 stars out of 5.

-Downsides-
short game
Long load times
jittery controls
incredibly long matches

-Upsides-
fun futuristic weapons,
great graphics
good voice acting
intuitive controls

Another Legendary Map Announced!

As I stated in my previous report on bungie's upcoming DLC, a release was posted on Bungie.net detailing the second map of the Legendary Map Pack. Avalanche, this map is indeed the long speculated remake of the Halo:CE, Sidewinder. The map has had some changes made to make it unique and functional for Halo 3 and boasts an impressive size of map, large numbers of vehicles with quick respawn rates, and impressive visuals. This map is the second to be announced for the Legendary DLC, with only one map remaining shrouded in mystery. The Mongoose, Warthog, Scorpion, and Hornet have all received a new coat of paint for this map. The snow-esque design just adds for the immersion, and Bungie did so to further encourage the use of vehicles on this map. Some additional changes also reflect that desire, with the tunnel connected the two bases being removed which forces players out into the vast snowy plain. The map pack is due to come out next month, April 15th once again for 800 microsoft points. That still leaves plenty of time for Bungie to detail their final map before release and it will be interesting to see what else comes about.