Enemy Territory: Quake Wars [X360]

Somewhere off the western coast of Africa sits Moore Observatory, which currently holds important strategic value for Earth's Global Defense Force (GDF): somewhere in its data banks, it's recorded the location of the slipgate the Strogg used to transport to our solar system before launching an attack on Earth. Our job is to get in, restore power to the observatory, retrieve the data and transmit it to GDF scientists. Of course, the Strogg know this, and have sent a sizeable force there to stop us, so it won't be easy.

In advance of QuakeCon 2007 later this week, we visited Activision for an exclusive playtest of the newly-unveiled "Island" map from the upcoming Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (which will be on display at the show). In addition to getting our first real hands-on time with the new map, this also marked our first opportunity to go toe-to-toe with the new computer-controlled bots that will be able to fill out games when you're running short a few teammates.

Like most of the maps we've seen in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars to date, "Island" is a hybrid of indoor and outdoor locations. The GDF starts on the beachhead, and first needs to infiltrate a bunker where an engineer must repair a generator that will restore power to the rest of the island.

Starting out, there are multiple routes from each team's spawn point to the objective. There's a bridge to the left of the GDC spawn point, and a few boats directly below to traverse straight across the water. In this case, it's a short distance, but having that second option makes it harder for the Strogg to concentrate long-range artillery on one location, and the boats also make it possible for the GDF to send a small squad further into the Strogg camp to disrupt things away from the frontline.