The busy Christmas crunch of releases may still be continuing, but that doesn't stop many from looking to the other side of the silly season and the New Year (it certainly doesn't stop us here at the top of TVG Towers). Besides a bustling selection of titles already burrowing into the first quarter including the return of heavyweight franchises such as GTA IV, early 2008 will also be the battleground for many new brands, such as SEGA's The Club and EA's Army of Two. THQ is also drawing up the battle lines for the coming months thanks to New York City-based subsidiary KAOS Studios (formerly DICE New York and before that, Trauma Studios) and their debut brand, Frontlines: Fuel of War.

Set in a dystopian near-future where global conflict revolves around getting hold of the last drips of the black stuff (that's oil, not a certain brand of Irish stout), Frontlines: Fuel of War aims to deliver a deep, dynamic, and compelling multiplayer experience, coupled with a storyline that would make doomongers scream from the rafters 'I told you so'. TVG recently got whisked away to the heart of KAOS Studios in a snowy midtown Manhattan where the Holiday season is already in full swing (a belated Thanksgiving and Hanukkah to you all), to get a first hands on look at the game in action...

Adding fuel to the fire.

Due for release on Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 in February 2008, Frontlines: Fuel of War is the debut title from KAOS Studios, which in its previous guise as DICE New York helped piece together Battlefield 2. For KAOS, the aim of Frontlines is to produce a title that has both in-depth single and multiplayer modes, with a plausible scenario, as well as providing console gamers with an online experience of up to 32 players per map (PC gamers will get up to 64 players). But there's a lot more to Frontlines: Fuel of War than just the numbers, regardless that getting 32-player multiplayer on a console is a massive accomplishment in itself. The crux of Frontlines revolves around just that, the Frontline, with its dynamism produced by the tide of movement as ground is won and lost. More on that later...

Based in the mid-2020s where a NATO-led Western Coalition goes up against a joint Sino-Russian force called the Red Star Alliance, the action is set in and around the Caspian Sea, home to the last remaining oil reserves on the planet. With the populations of both sides subject to economic depression and the ultimate fall of civilisation getting ever closer, the factions end up looking across the tinderbox of the central Asian '-stans', and the inevitable spark that leads to the first scattered battles of war. The storyline is explained and directed by a reporter, fashionably embedded with one group of Western Coalition military squads called 'The Stray Dogs', as the first battles against Russian and Chinese forces begin, which brings a more plot-driven experience than was first expected.

Rushing to win key positions from enemy forces isn't a new idea, but what Frontlines will be doing is taking it to the next level or two above with the inclusion of a dynamic battlefield. At the start of the early chapters in the storyline, players will encounter a number of enemy-held positions that they have to capture, destroy, or use (in any order) to push the frontline forward, revealing additional positions. In multiplayer, the tug-o-war between both factions is more tangible than during early parts of the single-player Campaign, which seems to focus more on the 'smash and grab' offensive by the Western Coalition. It's not exclusively so however, as one battle in the fourth Campaign chapter "Anvil" has players capturing and re-capturing two positions when an influx of enemy forces appear over the course of several minutes. Either way, Frontlines feels very fresh to play yet comfortably familiar, no doubt ensuring a smooth transition from novice to all-out war hero come release next year.

As seen in recent developer trailers for Frontlines, the game will also let players control a selection of drones, both in the Campaign and the multiplayer mode. Taking a prophetic look into the future of warfare and current military trends, players on both factions will be able to utilise everything from manoeuvrable missile-armed mini helicopters, to radio-controlled explosive cars, and a Gatling-gun mounted robot mini tank that looks like Johnny Five's evil twin. Even in this early preview of the game it's clear to see that the drones are far from being tacked on novelties; instead they open up strategic solutions for players in both solo and multiplayer combat. For instance, driving across the rough terrain with the mini tank can cut down swathes of bosses with the only limitations being the destruction of the drone itself or venturing too far away from the player and losing its signal...which leaves it open to the first limitation. The soldier controlling the drone is also vulnerable to attack however, so a strategically safe position is pretty vital for players.

Mainstream weapons and vehicles have undergone KAOS' evolutionary design process, with many examples of today's military hardware given a facelift for the future. Western Coalition armoured vehicles for example are the next stages of Humvee 4x4s, along with various assault rifles, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers. Over sixty different vehicles and weapons have been designed and developed for Frontlines, with a 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' approach from Kaos ensuring that a broader sense of weapons balance is engrained, with additional fine-tuning currently being worked out in Quality Assurance. Weapon selection uses the same technique as another THQ brand, Relic Entertainment's The Outfit, with a multi-direction circle of options from C4 right though to rifles, RPGs, drones, and special attacks such as cluster bomb attacks by the Western Coalition air force. Fast to operate, especially when the amount of weapons being carried by the player's soldier gets too much to cycle through by button pressing, it's almost like the technique is a THQ trademark for this generation of gaming.

Taking Frontlines online

Despite the drive to create a robust Campaign, there's little doubt where the real meat of Frontlines will be come the New Year. Offering multiplayer battles for up to 32 players (a highly significant figure for the consoles as the release of Frontlines will make THQ the second publisher behind EA to get approval from Microsoft to run their own Live servers) together with 64-player gameplay on PC, Frontlines is looking to carve itself a decent chunk of gameplay online, on Xbox Live, and PlayStation Network when it launches front and centre next year.

Opening up with six classes (called 'Load Outs') to choose from, including Assault Rifles, Spec-Ops, and Anti-Vehicle, players will also get the choice of further roles from EMP Tech, Air Support, and Drone Tech, before entering into pitched battles. The roles can get also levelled up, increasing their capabilities to ever more devastating options such as showers of shells from Howitzers and adding heavy tracer fire from gunships, deepening the epic nature of Frontlines' online showdowns even further. The 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' strategy for weapons spread to the roles too, with sufficiently powered EMP players capable of shutting down a series of vehicles with entire radiuses. The use of jets and other vehicles will of course feature in the multiplayer maps, especially during some of the largest ones, with KAOS also building a number of features that aim to enhance the sense of strategy. Players will be able to tag targets for other teammates to follow up with missiles, something that is hinted at during the Campaign, together with the ability to parachute out of high towers and even the jets overhead of the battle map itself. Revolving solidly around the frontline mechanic, the multiplayer mode sees the dynamic battle push back and forth until the goals have been achieved and the last of the lines are won (or lost). Of everything that we've played and seen so far of Frontlines, it's this potential for truly epic warfare that gets us excited most of all.

Despite the brief introduction to Frontlines' multiplayer mode, it's already clear to see what KAOS is aiming for - hardcore, tug-o-war conflicts over LIVE, PSN, and the net. Fuel of War will no doubt promote the sort of in-game attrition that its rivals are famous, but with a much more focused sense of dynamism around the battlefield, especially when the 32-player maps are in play. During our time in the Big Apple with KAOS, TVG has also spoken with Frontlines: Fuel of War's Senior Producer, Joe Halper - stay tuned for that very soon.