PC Games: Frontlines: Fuel of War Review/Impression
Frontlines: Fuel of War is an FPS (First Person Shooter) game that puts you as a member of Western Alliance (the good guys) against Red Star (a combination of Chinese and Russian forces a.k.a the bad guys). It actually covers one of the biggest crisis today, which is oil supply. The main story is that world oil supplies are running out and the last ones are in Middle East. Both sides will be fighting desperately for this.
Frontlines: Fuel of War is kinda similar like Battlefield’s gameplay style (a big open-ended battle where you can hop onto vehicles and choppers). It also introduces classes in the game (Sniper, Assault, etc).
The game doesn’t offer anything new, though, apart from being able to remote-control drones on the battlefield.
Single Player Campaign
Please note that all screenshots on this post are merely taken from Frontlines’ official site.
Unlike the Battlefield series, Frontlines: Fuel of War offers a single player campaign. However, it’s fairly short (probably as short as Call of Duty 4, which is around 5-7 hours of gameplay). It does offer some cut scenes using the in-game engine and also some drawn arts. Each chapter on the campaign usually asks you to kill all and/or destroy all. After a few chapters, I got bored of blowing the same people and the same thing.
The story line is not bad, though, but can’t beat Call of Duty 4 or World in Conflict story lines. However, the story is quite linear and pretty much predictable. The good guys always win at the end. Whoops, did I spoil it for you?
Graphics, Sounds, Music
They are pretty much quite mediocre. Graphics are nice (from trailers and screenshots) but unfortunately I have to set it as a mix of Low and Medium on my GeForce 7600 GT 
I can’t wait to upgrade to 8800GT.
When the battle starts, the sound effects help to further enhance the atmosphere. All of your weapons have satisfying sound effects, too.
Gameplay
The worst thing that I can think of is the recoil rate. There’s no way you can burst your weapon in this game and be able to hit anything. If you play Counterstrike, the recoil rate in this game is like your AK-47 * 3. It’s that bad. Although it won’t really frustrate you, it certainly removes some elements of fun in the game with realism, I guess.
Riding vehicles and choppers can be fun, but I was having a hard time controlling the chopper at some point in the game. Being the foot soldier is probably the best option, as tanks and choppers are easy targets in this game (and you’ll meet lots of enemies with anti-tank/aircraft weapons).
The bots are quite smart, but unfortunately your teammates are not. Most often you’ll get killed, even though you have 3 of your mates shooting at the enemy at point blank range.
Also, why is it so hard to kill an enemy through an explosion? When you are in a tank, a good FPS player will shoot at the ground near the target to kill it. Don’t expect it to work as effective as other FPS games here. Sometimes it’s better if you just shoot your shell straight to your target!
MultiPlayer
Unfortunately I haven’t tried the multiplayer yet (I guess this “blogging business” really takes too much of my time o_O). The single player is actually a “tutorial” for the multi-player, I might say. It gradually covers all you need to know for the online battle. It’ll be interesting though to see a grand scale battle with that kind of recoil rate 
Conclusion
Frontlines: Fuel of War doesn’t really offer anything new. The multiplayer can be fun, though, but I’ve heard that people are still having problems with connecting and stuffs. Hopefully the recent patch will fix it. If you have played the multiplayer, feel free to add your own comments here.
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Wow you got some awesome screenshots! This game looks amazing! Have you ever tried company of heroes? Now that game was good!
WHOOPS! Thanks for reminding me to put a note that the screenshots are taken from the official site. Since my setting was low/medium when I played the game, I thought that my screenshots are not worthwhile to be put here.
Company of Heroes?
That’s one of my most favorite games (+ its expansion pack). The best of the best RTS ever!
[...] PC <b>Games</b>: Frontlines: Fuel of War Review/Impression [...]
The graphics looks stunning which makes me want to play it. I recently played Conflict :Denied Ops which is also a great game. You should try that too.
The graphics look great. You should definitely go for 8800 Gt or 9600GT. I have 8600 GT but i am unable to play the latest game at high settings.
Same thing with my specs. I only have a 8600Gt.. I’ll be buying a 9600Gt soon well maybe next year hahaha.. I still need to replace my HDD, Mobo, and Processor before i’ll buy a newer card..
@michael nice review.
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@Madhur: I haven’t heard Conflict:Denied Ops before. I’ll have a looksie
@Vance: Don’t get 9600GT as it’s lower spec/performance than an 8800GT! Either get an 8800 GT or higher when you have the money
You’re still using a PCI slot?
Well true.. but if i only have 200USD, PHP41/USD, then its a bang for the buck. It even competes with a 8800Gt and ATi 3870. If I can afford a Vcard worth 230USD and up card I’ll buy a 8800Gt or 2 pcs of 9500Gt, which said to be good according to some reviews. hehehe. As of now, since I’m not a huge gamer my set goal would be a single 9600Gt Sonic with 512Mb ddr3 mems. I have a PCI-e card.
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Wow, this looks like a pretty cool game. I have been looking for something else to play, because I am getting tired of playing COD4. However, I think COD4 has been the best game I have played in a long time. Hopefully this one will be good.
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This game is just ok as far as single player and multiplayer gameplay. It rates an “F” for Vista support. COD4 had zero issues with Vista. Even with BF2 every Vista issue was able to be worked around. So why the total failure here?
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Awesome screenshots, I am playing serious sam II at the moment, this game will be held for the next one
Franca Richard’s last blog post..How to unhook a bra in 0.1 second?
@Turnip: I don’t have any issues with this game on Vista..hm
Anyways, I’d recommend to wait until Assassin’s Creed comes out
Should be anytime soon, rather than buying this game. Unless if you really have to buy an FPS!
[...] PC Games: Frontlines: Fuel of War Review/Impression - A great review of Michael’s personal experiences with the Frontlines fps (first person shooter) game. I have never played the game myself, however I would have to side with Michael on the issue of splash damage in the game. As an experienced fps player myself, I can vouch that, the usual tactic with a rocket gun, is to shoot near the enemy’s feet. Strange, that the game does not account for splash damage as heavily. [...]