So, I Tried ET:QW

I know it has been out for awhile, but I tackled a full session of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars over the weekend just to get a feel for it. If you’re not familiar with the game, it’s basically a humans vs. aliens FPS (first-person shooter) executed in little 3-scenario campaign segments.

While the game does have a single-player option (in the form of playing the campaigns with some computer teammates against a team full of computer players), where it thrives with its player base is in the online play on “ranked” servers. I do take some issue with idSoftware’s choice in only allowing leased servers from GSPs to be ranked, but oh well – it’s not my money, and they’ve already made theirs.

I must say, I’m not exactly good at it when pitted against people probably half my age that have been playing since the game first came out. But, I do get the basic gist of the classes and how to work with them, though I have an early preference for the straight up soldier and the engineer.

Try as I might, I couldn’t advance past the first rank online. Either it’s hard, or I suck at it; probably the second one is true. Early on I adopted a strategy of jumping right into a firefight and I usually lost multiple times. Towards the end of my experience I tried to take a more tactical approach – as if I were really doing it myself. I’ll say that my lifespans were longer, but I was still getting my ass tin-canned all over the map.

All in all, it’s a fun game. The gameplay is very good – it does have a few points of concern, but none that are deal-breakers. I could use some advice, however.