Eurogamer tells that for a game which maxes out at eight players per team Quake Wars produces an unreal quantity of carnage. The havoc is relentless, it's cinematic, and it's largely due to two things.

Despite having big maps (which, thanks to Quake Wars' megatexture technology, run exceedingly smoothly) any fighting that's going on is almost always happening in the same area. This is because maps consist of strings of objectives that have to be taken one at a time. For example, Refinery, the new map we played set in North Africa started, with the GDF escorting an MCP through a suburb, then them hacking a shield generator in a city centre and finally advancing into an oil refinery to blow up some Strogg machines. More details after the jump.

Let's have another example. The GDF Covert Ops troop packs a sniper rifle (or a scoped assault rifle if you'd prefer, you brute you), smoke grenades and EMP grenades that knock out any Strogg deployable or vehicle for 30 seconds. If 30 seconds isn't long enough then you've got the option of getting up close and hacking. Covert Ops can also have a radar airlifted in that'll show up nearby Strogg on everyone's minimap and give Engineer-created turrets a helping hand. Best of all is the 3rd Eye Camera, a surveillance device that can be planted on anything and detonated with impressive force. Sneak into the Strogg base, put it on your vehicle of choice then wait for an eager and freshly respawned Strogg to get into the driver seat and put his life in your hands.

All this is to say nothing of the mass of upgrades your class gets throughout a three-map campaign, from flak jackets for the soldiers to a launchable repair arm for the Strogg Constructor that lets you fix things from a distance. Just make sure your hovering, disembodied arm doesn't get shot out of the sky.

Even vehicles are being done with more colour and depth than we've ever seen. As well as being destructible both cosmetically (losing wing mirrors, aerials and so on) and seriously (wheels or hover pads getting shot out) players have a greater degree of control. The default control scheme is the same across all vehicles and has digital stabilisation, which is there to prevent wannabe hotshots from leaping into aircraft, immediately crashing them, then mumbling something about them being for boners and never trying one again.

However, advanced control schemes are available for anyone who wants to push their game. These schemes are nowhere near as intuitive but feature everything you'll need to pull off cooler trick jumps, handbrake turns, donuts and the like. We're struggling to think of ways it could all be useful in a combat situation but then that's what obsessive clans are for.

But what's really interesting is that Quake Wars has been designed to work well when you can't even fill the server. Splash Damage was born out of online games that drew the attention of the hardcore, which means training constantly, which means it's tedious to always have to get together a big team. Thanks to the focused front you can play Quake Wars 3 on 3; it's just a little slower, a little more tactical, and a lot more personal. We spent all day playing this game and can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that it's great, and it's finished, and all they're doing now is spit-polishing. If you still haven't settled on any games to be excited about this summer then you should know this is a very safe bet.

Sayyed via eurogamer.net »