Activision was one of the many companies showing off their E3 wares at last month's gathering of Game Critic judges in Santa Monica. While typically the stuff we saw out there is under embargo until next week, Activision made an exception for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, lifting the embargo on the short demonstration today.

From what I saw of the playthrough, the game is at its heart, of course, Enemy Territory. That is to say, it doesn't appear that Splash Damage reinvented the wheel when they decided to make an Enemy Territory game set in the world of Quake. Which is a good thing.

Instead of Germans versus Americans or the British, the game pits Allied troops versus the Strogg. And, thankfully, that doesn't just mean that the two look differently, they play differently as well. Each side has different bases, character, vehicles and weapons. This is true of everything from the sort of large weapon attacks you can call in (a Hammer Missile Launcher for the GDF or an orbital Plasma Mortar attack for the Strogg) to the way you might play a character class.

While they didn't show a medic in action, the GDF uses them in a traditional sense, healing up character, while the Strogg Technician can use a GDF corpse as a host body for a future Strogg spawn point. Each side has five different character classes.

As with the previous Enemy Territory, Quake Wars is a a strategic game that has you fighting over territories while you fight to hold your front line.

The two most impressive things I noticed in the gameplay demo was the interesting weapon selection, from the hand weapons to the vehicles and deployables the game includes, (any game that has mech walkers can't help but be fun) and the graphics.

The graphics were really impressive. Splash Damage used id Software's new MegaTexture rendering technology to create impressively large outdoor environments. The one we saw took place in a wilderness setting with a clearing surrounded by forested hill and you could actually run around in those trees. The game also allows for day and night battles and includes weather, we're told.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars certainly doesn't reinvent the Enemy Territory franchise but it puts one hell of a luster on it and gives it a setting that allows the new look and feel to shine.

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