Not only will you be able to run around the map killing anybody that gets in your way, but you will also have a chance to jump into a number of vehicles. You can expect a lot of the usual suspects (including jeeps and tanks), as well as a few vehicles you might not expect (such as jets, helicopters and the like). In total there will be more than a dozen vehicles, which should go a long way to giving the game some much needed variety. If flying a helicopter or manning a tank isn't your thing, then perhaps you should think about picking up one of the futuristic drones. In the version I played I was able to use both a small unmanned drone and a small RC car. The advantage of these weapons is that you can fly them into whatever situation you want without being noticed and then explode them whenever you want. These small vehicles are great for taking out large groups of bad guys and armored vehicles, such as a tank.
Unfortunately the game I played suffered from a few problems I can only hope Kaos Studios can resolve. One of the biggest complaints I had with this version of Frontline came when I jumped into a vehicle, for some odd reason the driving just didn't feel natural. This was especially true in the single player mode when I was both driving and moving the gunner around trying to kill people. The vehicle controls are simply awkward, and I have my fingers crossed that this will be addressed. It's also worth mentioning that the game's frame-rate was extremely unstable, there were moments in the game when I felt like I was watching a slide show. But not to worry, frame rate issues are common place in alpha builds of games, I have complete faith that this problem will be ironed out before the game ships.
Another concern I had was just how original this game would be. When it comes right down to it the first-person shooter genre is extremely crowded, does this one add enough to the formula to warrant a lot of fanfare? I like that the game offers vehicles and tons of weapons, but is that enough to differentiate it from the rest of the crowd? I also worry that the multiplayer modes might not last very long, so far Frontline only offers two different online modes, the one I spent some time with and a free-for-all deathmatch. Is that enough to keep gamers happy, especially when similar games are offering a much more robust online component?
At this point it's just too early to tell whether or not Frontline: Fuel of War will be able to stand out from the crowd, but from what I played the game is looking pretty good. It's not without a few hiccups, but it's hard to find a game this early in development that is perfect. Expect much more coverage of Frontline when it blasts its way onto the Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 sometime this fall.
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