“Enemy Territory” fans have been waiting for the next generation version for a long time, and “Enemy Territory Quake Wars” was finally released in North America on Tuesday. The North America release was behind the European release when it launched last week. Initial reports have sales of ETQW to be stronger than initially expected due to all of the delays.

Reviews of ETQW continue to be quite positive, suggesting that the game has a lot of potential. The ETQW focused objective oriented model combined with the traditional FPS style gaming with a dash of vehicle combat combine to make a very compelling title. While the original “Enemy Territory” from Splash Damage in conjunction with id Software was released as a multiplayer only infantry based title set with a WWII backdrop, ETQW abandons it all to set a battle between the GDF and the Strogg in the Quake universe.

While there is no doubt that fans of games for the PC such as “Battlefield” and “Call of Duty” will be attracted to ETQW, the learning curve may initially turn some people off.  Still, once you get the hang of the weapons and vehicles, the game is very playable with outstanding visuals that really draw the player into the ETQW world. Those familiar with the concepts and strategies introduced in the original “Enemy Territory” will not be disappointed as the game is true to its roots by incorporating these concepts into greatly enhanced ETQW.

Those who have become disenchanted with other team based titles may be drawn to ETQW, and it does deliver a great gaming experience that was well worth the wait. As expected, the game will not run very well on older hardware. Our experience seems to suggest that you will need at minimum a reasonably current system to enjoy the game at a decent frame rate and to make it truly playable.