Frontlines Fuel of War
March 9, 2008
Story and Background
The Oil scarcity is the base for the story line and is described on page two in the instruction manual. I tried to find an online copy of it, but it wasn’t published any were; so let me be the first.
Wayne Andrews, AP news 2024
Oil. Practically every facet of our modern civilization depends on it. So what would happen if it ran out?
That’s exactly what happened in 2024. Well, it didn’t happen all at once, like someone turning off the faucet. No, it happened slowly. It started in the summer of 2008. That’s when the international demand for oil surpassed the ability for oil producers to pump more to keep supply ahead of demand. ‘Peak Oil’, they called it.
In hindsight, it should have been hard to miss what happened net. The price of oil jumped form $70, to over $100 per barrel. Aside from paying more for gas and heating your home, no one seemed to notice at first. It was conventional wisdom that the prices would go down again. But instead, oil prices begin an irrevocable rise that slowly began to weigh on global economies and advance energy to the forefront of national policies.
At first it was just a recession; prices went up, but earnings went down, people tightened their belts and waited for it to pass. But it didn’t. Recession slowly gave way to depression. Unemployment soared, bankruptcy increased, businesses failed. Global trade started to slow. By 2012, the economics of the developed nations were sagging under unemployment lines and failing finances. Automobiles became a luxury, as did long distance traveling, or even the sight of planes in the sky. People got by with less. Micro-economics, whether it was wind or solar power, back-yard farming, or ‘garage’ manufacturing with recycled materials, kept people alive.
In the third world depression and global climate change resulted in darker, more cataclysmic events. Huge populations of refugees, fleeing starvation, disease or environmental disaster, went on the move causing disruption, chaos and conflict. Entire nations crumbled, and bodies started to pile up. The world watched as the large kill-offs began, the lucky ones signing “thank god it’s not me”
As the second decade of the century advances, the oil depression lead to political turmoil around the world, but the Middle East, the global oil reservoir, was the worst affected. Religious, cultural and political divisions lead to cataclysmic violence and arbitrary destruction on a massive scale. The horrible climax came in 2014 when western forces used tactical nuclear weapons to defend oilfields from a revolutionary army, leading to catastrophic casualties and transforming important oilfields into radioactive dead zones. Subsequently, governments fell and anarchy arose. Mobs, death squads and religious purges reduced much of the region and the world to a pre-technological, tribal wasteland.
In the developed world, things worsened. The people could live with blackouts and electricity rationing, but they weren’t ready for food riots, outbreaks of virulent diseases or the collapse of the environment. The hospitals filled up. Once unthinkable, people got used to seeing starvation and death on their own city streets-and just tried to survive. As it stretched on the depression came to be known as the ‘new dirty 30’s’ and it made the old one seem easy.
Desperate for the energy, the superpowers, the United Stated, Europe, Russia and China , found themselves in a stand-off over some of the worlds last reserves of oil; one in particular being the Caspian Basin in Central Asia. There wasn’t enough for everyone and none could get it by themselves. So they hastily allied into two superpower blocks. The Western Coalition, comprising of the US and EU and the Red Star Alliance; evolved from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization by Russia and China. Each side deployed sophisticated satellite missile defense systems that rendered long distance nuclear combat obsolete. Therefore they had to fight with conventional armies. Both sides undertook a massive build-up. Soldiers were conscripted and shipped out, vehicles based on synthetic fuel blend technology rolled of the assemble lines. The region is a tinderbox, with each side fortifying their oilfields and eyeing each other’s. Every one knows it’s a matter of time until some one fires the first shot.
The answer that we’ve found to the question ‘what would happen if it ran out’, seems to be that men fight over the last few drops.
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In case people skipped opening up instructions game developers added the story into the game through detailed cut scenes. The following video was a prerelease of the first level introduction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxFxrp5kDSo
It takes the concept from the story in the Manual and it personalizes it through narration and visual themes.
Whether the intent of the game designers was to portray a message or make there game sell I am unsure. However, there is a lot of emphasis on the importance of Oil in the world today and the issues that follow it. The idea that the global community is over using oil is real.
http://www.eurekalert.org/features/doe/2005-03/drnl-epu030405.php
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/oildep.shtml
The information found on eurekalert.org and fueleconomy.gov, back the prerequisite of the games description of a recession going out of control.
The social issues described by the scarcity of oil are also a real possibility. Medicine and medical technology are primarily petroleum base. Medical cost increasing is already a bubbling issue.
http://www.enterprisenewspapers.com/article/20080305/NEWS02/92441415
The riots that were described repetitive emphasized human nature. Along with the concept that the world would fight over the last drop of oil rather than move along also symbolizes this. During the game the narrator says “This reminds me of a story my grandfather once told me. It was about children being stranded on an island. With out order, there was chaos, destruction, and death.” The story that the narrator was recalling was Lord of the flies a 1954 novel by William Golding.
The environmental effects of fossil fuels are also real. Global warming and pollution are not being emphasized enough in the world although people believe its an exaggeration. You need to look at it with out a political, economical, or self interest slant. At the base level the way we handle waste and Fossil Fuel should be considered suicide and murder. Why should we be making an excessive amount of toxic chemicals to inhale and shorten out life span? Make lands uninhabitable to compress people into cities further exponential increasing more pollution. Don’t get me wrong I’m for conservation and environmental protection, but I’m not saying throw the idea of fossil fuels out all together, but there is definitely a responsible and irresponsible use. Using gasoline to light a camp fire because its easer is an example of how society today is using this resource ignorantly.
For information on fossil fuels
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel
For environmental information
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Game Play
This video provides insight to the weapon tech of the game.
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/frontlines-fuel-of-war-trailer/1718171355
These videos are fan based trailers of the game
This has and intro and covers the air vehicles preview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq10jA7GL_Q
This covers the robot tech and land vehicles preview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB9fD1NPTfg&feature=related
Another place to find more information about the game is
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/854/854565p1.html
you can also find a review by Nate Ahearn
Unlike me he wasn’t too thrilled about the story base behind the game. It is true first person shooters usually aren’t played for the story. How every most of them have a very good one. Another example of a fps that has a good story is Halo. With halo one of the lead game authors Eric Nylund wanted people to understand that there was more than just violence to the game so he started a novel series to back the game. In Frontline they included the story in the game.
I will agree with Nate Ahearn that the multiplayer is a selling point for the game. I like to work with others to solve problem and complete objectives in video games and the more people the merrier. 50 players online now, is a little to a lot of lag however it’s a good stepping stone for the future.
Focusing more on the multiplayer, I will also have to agree with Mr.Ahearn on the physical features of it. The ability to change your weapon, and character class, as well as your spawn point is pretty interesting. It combines aspects of many games that come before it such as Star Wars Battle Front and Call of Duty. It also provides a nice change when needed. I will fully admit the single game tip does get old fast and is hard to get used to.
Consumer reviews can also be found on IGN
http://rr.xbox360.ign.com/rrobj/xbox360/object/823999/
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Things to remember
Through this information I did not intend to force my public opinion on any one. I wanted to provide information about the game Frontlines fuel of war, in order for consumers to make and educated decision. I made un uninformative decision when I bought the game and luckily I found it to be “ok”. However, I want you to remember one thing; learning about something is different from experiencing it. So before you decide if the game is for you give it a try first.
