Issue Date: March 23, 2008

"Frontlines": Not simply another shoot'em-up

With a nod toward current geopolitical intrigue, today's gamers battle possible real-world conflicts of the future.

By Jeffrey Ressner

Futuristic Weapons The weapons in "Frontlines" are based on actual military hardware currently in development and researched from sources like "Jane's Defence Weekly."

The world of video games is full of comic-book adaptations and boyhood fantasies populated by wizards, orcs and mysterious beings. With "Frontlines: Fuel of War," Kaos Studios tried something a little different: a first-person shooter based on a geopolitical possibility.

In the blockbuster game, available for the Xbox 360 and PC, the world is drained of oil, and an American/European military coalition battles a Russian/Chinese alliance for the last remaining reserves.

There's a back story that involves contemporary world leaders George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, but the main action is set in the near future and imagines the violent aftermath of a world faced with "peak oil" -- an actual term referring to the time when petroleum production reaches its apex, after which the precious resource dramatically declines. (Wait a second, this is a video game, right?)

The point of "Frontlines" was not to make a big political statement, but to provide a compelling backdrop for the gameplay, an alternative to the overgrown jungles and abandoned warehouses often found in games like this. "We wanted to provide a tie to reality -- a game that depicts plausible real-world events," says Kaos general manager Frank DeLise. "You may have heard about peak oil on the news. Now you can go and play a game about it."

The catnip for the target audience is a host of high-tech weaponry that has never been seen on Earth, let alone in a game. In addition to the usual rocket launchers and guns, gamers maneuver remote-controlled recon drones and Dragonfly helicopter modules, all of which are based on actual military hardware currently in development. These are the kinds of weapons American soldiers will be using 20 years from now, should a global conflict like the one depicted in "Frontlines" actually erupt.

"There are over 60 different next-gen weapons and vehicles," says Lin Leng, who serves as global brand manager for Kaos distributor THQ. The game creators used a variety of resources, including the magazine "Jane's Defence Weekly," to develop new combat equipment and employed several men with military backgrounds as advisers. They also added a multiplayer online function that lets up to 64 pals on the PC (or 32 on Xbox 360) participate in a massive warfare simulation, making it the largest virtual combat zone around.

At its heart, however, "Frontlines" remains a shooter game: You use your big guns to kill enemy soldiers who are coming after you with their big guns. DeLise doesn't pretend any lofty ambitions, but he does believe that his game is more realistic (and perhaps more educational) than others currently on the market. "As with most war games, it's all about the fighting," he concludes. "Hopefully, when people play ours, they'll also learn something."

No zombies or aliens in this game -- just the aftermath of a world faced with depleting oil reserves.