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Wolf Team - Review

Posted By Scott Elliott on Aug 23, 2009

Summary : Wolf Team Online is the brilliant online MMOFPS action/shooter title brought to you by Aeria games.

Wolf Team [PC]

 

”Baby Wolf!”

Introduction
Wolf Team Online is the brilliant online MMOFPS action/shooter title brought to you by Aeria games. It incorporates everything which you might expect in a normal FPS and combines that with MMO style game. You play as either the blue or the red team, the objective? To either kill, capture or annihilate the other team. 

How it looks
First impressions of the game presented me with a comment something like, “omg have I travelled back to the time of Counter-strike 1.6?!?”. But on reflection the graphical style is well suited to this games feel and character. WTO does not need to be the best graphical game in the world, you won’t at the end of the day be looking at the walls or even the scenery, all you will be interested in is killing, capturing and destroying the enemy. If it had been heavy on graphical nicety then no doubt it would be unplayable not only due to the fact people will be staring at the nice graffiti on the walls but the lag and low fps which will no doubts occur on most people’s systems. 

The game does offer some nicely done weapons and wolf characters, which seem to stand out more than the apparent lack of ‘scenery’. When you attack a player using either the normal ‘human’ modes or the wolf mode you will find that when you kill enough or in a certain situation, little achievements popup with a nice little graphic on screen. This adds to the in game experience and for me anyway made me want to play just to get these, though not the entire point.

 

How it works
When you launch the game you must login, providing you have created an account, if not you are a silly Muppet. Once in the game you are presented with a list of servers on the right of the screen, they are based around the world such as West-US East-US etc. I would first start by selecting the Boot Camp server first, especially if you are unsure how to play. 

You also can collect game points which you can spend on items in the store, such as special abilities, weapons and extras which will give you an advantage. It seems to work well and give you items which you may actually use or need unlike other games I could mention. Also when you are in game you can also rank up and gain new ranks as you go along. These are based on kills and overall experience gained; I played for a few days and managed to rank up 2 times. 

Once in game and providing you have setup your controls at the top of any menu screen you are presented with a list of current games. Some are private others may be full but don’t be afraid to join one which takes your fancy. You may want to play dependent on what game type; here is a list of different types of game play and what they do. 

Conquest mode is the first, in this you have to capture/conquer 5 bases by standing in the vicinity of set points in the map, the team with the most points wins when the time runs out. I found that this is one of the best game modes; the most tactical in my opinion ad you need to keep an eye on entry/exit points and make sure you aren’t losing ground. This game type similar to that of the king of the hill type modes of other games is quite entertaining. 

Deathmatch mode, does what it says on the tin, those of you who know what it is need not read on this part, if not I will explain. Granted Deathmatch mode is deathmatch in every game no matter what genre, the objective is to kill the opposing team and the one with the most kills/points at the end of the round wins. Simple as that right? Well yes and no, in WTO deathmatch has an added twist with the added wolf feature, also if you don’t have enough WP (Weapon Points) you and your team may have a disadvantage. The more people you kill the more points your team gathers and thus the better you will do. Win Win eh?!? Well again not necessarily with the wolves as an option you can walk walls, sneak or just plain run into the battle with claws raised and kill at will. This has to be my second favourite type of game play.

 Destruction mode is similar to the de style game play of Counter-Strike where one team must plant a bomb at a bomb site and the other must defend etc. This is an easy mode to master although not a lot of people tend to play in my opinion. 

Wolf Conquest mode is practically identical to Conquest except the red team is human and the blue is wolf for the entire game. This mode pits guns against pure strength and tactics. Whereas Humans can be good at long distance and in large numbers, when face with the same amount of wolves can be quickly destroyed, so pick your team wisely.

 

Yes there is 3 more yet; 

Ex Conquest mode like Wolf and regular conquest you must capture bases yadda yadda yadda, but in this one team is human and the other is Mutant Wolves who are harder to kill as they can block and take much more damage, this requires the human team to pick wisely when it comes to weapons as not all combinations are good ones.

Not finished yet, there is a lot of choice eh? 

Destruction S2 mode, again is a kind of spinoff of another game play mode which entails planting an explosive and defending, but this like with the Ex conquest mode has Human vs. Wolf teams, doesn’t sound original I know but it is fun and again requires a great deal of practice to get to know the right path and weapons you wish to use. 

Last but not least is Ice Hold mode. In this you must kill the opposing team to win, sounds simple right, but think again when you get killed you can be revived but to be sure not to be killed yourself. Again a very fun but little played mode. 

Well I think you have a pretty good idea as to what game modes are available, so what’s the nitty gritty of the game like? Fast paced, fun and sometimes funny. The game allows for pretty all types of player, from the hermit who likes to hide and shoot at long range to those who love to get in the think of it and kick the opponent into submission. 

AI
The guns aren’t the most realistically accurate in my opinion but they do provide a pretty good idea of what they should look and react like. There are a few in the game which I haven’t seen in any other and I suppose they are what you would call the ‘standard’ futuristic weapon that most games put in to make them new and fresh. Character wise, the game is not 100% I am not saying it is sluggish or hard to use but the way you act and react within your surroundings and with each other can seem to be a bit ‘blocky’ at times. The best character depending on what situation you’re in is the Wolf; they come in a variety of forms from your standard wolf up to ghost wolf which when still becomes invisible.

 

How it plays

The game plays surprisingly well and is very accurate in all its weapons and fighting styles. The game is fast paced, tactical and very unique with its use of ‘standard’ weapons, more scenarios based and wolf mode. You don’t get the chance to start off as a wolf on most of the game modes as you must acquire WP as you play; this is done by killing capturing etc. You have the usual spawn time and selection of mode/gun and then you jump off into the world. You will have to use the surroundings wisely, it’s not always the best to run through the map and start shooting up the place. Sometimes the best thing to do is to walk or even crouch your way round as there might be wolves in your midst, not forgetting those heavy feet of yours make some noise. When in combat you will need to make sure you either have cover or that you have sufficient support from your team, it can be quite annoying and frustrating otherwise. Once you have mastered playing on a team as a human, try the much anticipated wolf mode. With this you will go from your Jekyll side to your wolf Mr Hyde. Most of the wolves tend to be best in close combat short range attacks as they are vulnerable to long snipe shots and the occasional grenade.

 

If you can save up your WP you will be able to use Ghost wolf which when stood still makes you invisible. There are 2 benefits to this, one being you can hide standing still and when the opponent casually walks past allows you to sneak kill them. The other is mainly when on Conquest mode when capturing sites. If you manage to stand still long enough not to be tempted to kill the enemy you can stand there thus making it impossible for them to capture it whilst you stand there. This is particularly fun and sometimes amusing when 3 or 4 of them walk past and you jump out with claws at the ready. As I said there is a downside, if you are seen when going invisible, as it’s not instant, you can be attacked and in some cases the roles can be reversed as another enemy wolf attacks you in the same style.

 

Controls and ease of use
Using a standard setup it is easy to master these controls, WASD like all games of this genre type is the best used system although variations are easy like arrows etc. When you decide that it’s time to play as a wolf and want to walk on walls you can jump as you approach the wall and most of the time you will jump straight up. There are times however which you carry on hugging the wall.

 

A good thing I have found is jumping, yes not the most original of game abilities I know but when in the right situation as a wolf you can find you will be jumping, slashing at players and while they are spinning round trying to kill you, they are dead. I have ranked up a few kills with this method. 

The Good
The fast action game play is fun for hours! You will find every aspect of this game a thrill when it comes to strategy, fast paced tactical game play. The combination of the standard and wolf modes makes it an interesting game to play. 

The Bad
The only thing that I would say is bad is the graphics and the, learn to play as you go along mentality. I mean who reads up how to play before you pick a game up? Well ok maybe some of you, but I expect to start a game and almost immediately know what to do and what I will be presented with when I get playing. 

The Just Plain Ugly
There is nothing I would say about WTO that is ugly sorry! 

Summary
Although the concept of most of the game play styles is not unique and the graphics aren’t what you would call spectacular the game is a very exciting, fast paced and most of all fun! I see myself playing this for months/years to come.