"Not bad Soap… but I've seen better" –Captain Price
8/10 – If you like large team based run and gun battles
Obviously the biggest draw that Frontlines will have to offer gamers is its massive online team/capture based battles. Following a battlefield type blueprint the main objective in the game play revolves around capturing points in the map that advance the frontline further into enemy territory cornering the enemy players until defeated. So those who crave a more open environment than shooters such as "Call of Duty 4," or a little more team play should enjoy playing this title.
I should mention the team play in a bit more detail here since it's clear from the onset that the developers really wanted to emphasize team play, compared to what's offered in other titles. With the push of a button your character can link up with a squad. Having a diverse squad really pays off, especially having many different roles. Roles in the game determine the special abilities of the players, ranging from being able to launch and control different drones, supporting the squad with turrets, calling in air strikes, or disrupting enemy radar and vehicles. This is where players can tweak their characters the most, and having a well rounded diverse squad can really make for exhilarating battles. One teammate provides drones to spot target which show up on radar while other squads use this to call in air strikes, while yet another deploys turrets to protect your position and take down enemy attacking vehicles. Having a diversified and coordinated team really makes the battles intense, and if you can get a few friends in different classes and work together, the team play is really enjoyable. If you prefer to go it alone, you can, but you're at somewhat of a disadvantage, though it's still fun to go lone wolf and snipe on an enemy flank.
Conversely though, there is a limit on how much tweaking you can do to your character, which I found was a bit of a let down. While you can select different roles and weapon loads, there isn't the customization you can find in the newest battlefield entries or Call of Duty 4. Weapons are somewhat limited here too. I really enjoyed the tweaking of the weapons in Call of Duty 4, in fact I wished there were more skins, attachments etc. In frontlines you're somewhat limited to a very standard machine gun, rifle etc. I really enjoyed the process of trying each weapon in COD4; seeing which weapon to be more accurate, which was more powerful, seeing which could be sprayed more accurately whiling running, and ultimately deciding on the weapon that suited my style of gaming. In frontlines weapons are pretty much the same and there's really no joy to be found in trying out every weapon, find the nuisances of each rifle to find which you enjoy more etc. A rifle is a rifle, regardless of which faction. The vehicles do exhibit a touch more differentiation the coalition leaning towards a tech/stealth type of play, while the red faction favors toughness, and strait forward power and durability. I should mention the vehicles can be a bit tough to drive. While some seemed to control fairly intuitively, flying the jets were somewhat awkward, and there seemed to be a bit of lag from when you want to turn and the vehicle started to turn. Not a huge deal, but stands out somewhat from the responsive controls of controlling a ground troop. Still it's definitely fun to be piloting a vehicle, with a few friends riding shotgun, lay waste to an enemy controlled area unload and take the position. This can be exhilarating and satisfying, making you really feel like you're part of a military commando unit.
I should also mention that while tactical, the shooting is somewhat "arcade" feeling. In COD4 for example, of you have a sub-machine you can run and gun somewhat, but with a rifle or machinegun you can pull off more accurate shooting standing still and crouched or even prone. The shooting in Frontlines feels more old school FPS; with running and gunning being much more of a viable option than crouching and holding steady, taking time to line up shots.
While the focus is on the multiplayer aspect, the single player is OK. It's like 1 part multiplayer tutorial, 1 part single player campaign. Not really doing a fantastic job in either category, but it should get you accustomed to what the multiplayer will be like and providing some decent thrills along the way.
From a purely technical standpoint, Frontlines is a mixed bag. Sometimes the graphics were great. An explosion from and overhead bomber would really look impressive. But at other times issues with pop up and odd layering issues make the game feel a touch unpolished; like the sales department set a deadline a month earlier than the developers wanted. Sound wise: Don't expect the voice acting to win any awards, the weapons and explosion sound OK, but the weapons don't sound unique and powerful such as the armory or weapons in COD4.
I've mentioned COD4 here several times because with that game out there being played by so many people right now (including myself) you just can't help by make comparisons. I would say overall COD4 does about everything better by 1 to 2 points (on a scale of ten), except in the area of more in depth team play and enormous arenas. In short, I like this game, don't love it, if you liked the Battlefield series, or want to play something different than COD4, this can be worth a look. But you want a more realistic shooting experience you'd probably like COD4 more than this title.
CLOSING ARGUMENTS:
Good not great
A touch worse than COD4
Much better than Battlefield 2
Fun