"The Strogg: soulless fusions of decaying flesh, bones and metal, twisted and ruined by centuries of war. They search the galaxy for the sole item their existence requires, harvesting, consuming and destroying everything in their path. And now, they have arrived… here!"
— Opening of the game
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, launched in 2007, is the fifth installment in the Quake series, and it's also part of the class-based FPS Enemy Territory series, which started with Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, four years prior.
Canonically, it is a prequel to Quake II, with the Strogg invading the Earth. The player takes the place of a human (incarnated in the Global Defence Forces or GDF) or Strogg warrior, first by choosing the side, and then, by choosing a class. Each side has 5 different classes: Soldier / Aggressor, Medic / Technician, Engineer / Constructor, Covert Ops (Spy) / Infiltrator and Field Ops / Oppressor.
And then, both teams fight in one of the four campaigns of three maps each one, taking place in North America, Africa, Northern Europe and the Pacific. The objectives of each map in the campaigns are different between each other.
Followed canonically by Quake II and chronologically by Quake Champions.
See also:
This game provides examples of:note
- Aliens Are Bastards: The game depicts the Strogg Alien Invasion of Earth, with the purpose of stripping it from all of its resources, including Human Resources.
- Back from the Brink: The Strogg have nearly wiped out humanity at this point in the story. Judging from the plot of Quake II, things turn out pretty well for us.
- Badass Army: The GDF. Each of the classes, including Medics and Engineers, have the ability to take on the Strogg and win.
- Base on Wheels: The GDF's MCP, an actual wheeled base that cannot be destroyed. Some maps even require taking it from point A to point B.
- Borrowing from the Sister Series: The very reason this game exists in the first place is to see if the mechanics and gameplay from Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory could be applied to the Quakeverse. To sum: ETQW is a class-based FPS with tons of commands, the ability to create fireteams, campaigns. For context, up to Quake IV, the multiplayer side of the Quake games was a straightforward, classic "every man for themselves" Deathmatch.
- Bloodier and Gorier: Inverted, as the game is rated T. Gore is still as present as any other Quake game.
- Came from the Sky: In the Quarry level, a Strogg ship was forced to crash in a GDF-controlled land, and failed to self-destruct. The Strogg must collect three batteries to empower the ship so it can self-destruct properly, while the GDF must prevent this.
- Conveniently Empty Building: Some levels take place in abandoned cities. They can be destroyed at certain areas.
- Cut and Paste Environments: Assets from Quake IV (whose engine ETQW also shares) such as the Stroyent barrels are common among levels.
- Cyborg: This game's portrayal of the Strogg has them being shown as this.
- Death from Above:
- The Strogg Hornet is the game's take on the eponymous boss monster from II and IV as a driveable vehicle.
- The GDF also has a plane of their own.
- The Oppressor/Field Ops can use a flare/smoke grenade to call a satellite laser/attack plane which follows a path destroying anything in it's way.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: Two, acting as Announcer Chatters in both human and Strogg sides each, with the respective reprimends in case of failure.
- EMP: EMP grenades temporarily shut down enemy turrets and vehicles.
- Energy Weapon: The Laser Drill in the Strogg side, which, objective-wise, is the equivalent of the GDF's MCP.
- Field Promotion: Racking kills and completing objectives grants players a better rank and upgrades.
- Gotta Catch 'Em All: The Quarry level requires the Strogg to deliver three power cells to a spaceship crashed in order to set it into self-destruction.
- Human Resources: The Strogg technicians can hack fallen GDF soldier bodies to become host spawnpoints for their team.
- Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: The Titan tank in the GDF side, which looks very similar to a M1 Abrams.
- Land Mine Goes "Click!": The Strogg Constructor and the GDF Engineer can plant mines.
- Magical Defibrillator: The Medic carries one of these. If used on a soldier, it revives him. If used on a Strogg, it does a bit of damage to them.
- Magic Tool: The Engineer and Constructor have these. The latter's can even be upgraded to work remotely.
- Modern Day/Sci-Fi RPG Class Equivalents:
- Soldier: Soldier (GDF), Aggressor (Strogg).
- Sniper: Covert Ops (GDF), Infiltrator (Strogg).
- Sapper: Field Ops (GDF), Oppressor (Strogg).
- Medic: Medic (GDF), Technician (Strogg).
- Other (Engineer): Engineer (GDF), Constructor (Strogg).
- More Dakka: Some vehicles.
- Mythology Gag:
- The Strogg side's one-passenger vehicle is the Icarus: a jetpack with three mechanical arms at each side.
- Weapons featured in the Strogg side include the Hyperblaster, the Railgun, and the Lightning Gun. The Strogg Devastator also shares similarities with Quake III: Team Arena's Shotgun-like version of the Nailgun.
- The Slipgate is shaped after the first Quake's logo. Slipgates were first introduced in that game.
- The console version's intro plays exactly like Quake II and Quake IV. With the exception that, this time, it's the Stroggos who are invading Earth.
- The Strogg side's flying vehicle is the Hornet, using it's Quake IV model.
- Oddball in the Series: Quake Wars is comparatively slower-paced and objective-based instead of having traditional multiplayer modes. Justified in that the game, although is canonical in the Quakeverse, (taking place before Quake II) is part of the Enemy Territory series, which started with Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.
- Over Heating: Unlike the GDF side, the Strogg weapons have unlimited ammo, but will overheat quickly.
- RPG Elements: Unlike the other games of the Quake saga, you gain better weapons and abilities with gameplay.
- Sarcasm Mode: Some of the basic gameplay response are this, humorously:Why, thank you!Oh, you're welcome.
- Sequel: The Original Title: Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars.
- Sprint Meter: Subverted. You can sprint forever, but your character will pant after a time, alerting nearby players.
- Two of Your Earth Minutes: Time passes differently in Stroggos, so the Strogg commander tells its subordinates they have "two Earth minutes" to complete an objective.
- Zombie Apocalypse: In the mission Valley, the Strogg's objective is to defend a Hetch Hetchy water supply which corrupts all of California's water and turns all who drink it into zombies. Needless to say, the GDF must destroy this generator.
