If the best art imitates real life, then the war in Iraq must be a hell of a lot of fun. As far as we can work out, warfare has boiled down to a constant capture and recapture of checkpoints, in 15 minute intervals, forever. And you don’t get killed, you just reincarnate at your barracks. A pain in the arse, yes, but not life threatening.

It’s no wonder our perception of war has become slightly skewed, such is the volume of multiplayer shooters that the PlayStation 3 has already seen. Call Of Duty 4 is the grand master, of course, but with Unreal Tournament III, the forthcoming Battlefi eld: Bad Company and the very exciting next-gen SOCOM almost here, there’s quite a choice for the netbased soldier.

Looking to stay fi rmly within this pack is Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. When it was fi rst announced, this offshoot of id’s Quake franchise was pretty exciting news – 16 players online, huge environments, vehicles, class choices and breathtaking visuals. But in the two years since, the world has moved on. Those simple factors aren’t enough to wow the seasoned shooter fan any more. Gameplay has to count.

Thankfully, Enemy Territory has been out since October last year on the PC, and has garnered quite a hardcore following. It’s super smooth, satisfyingly meaty and is fi lled with those little unscripted moments of brilliance that spike your adrenaline and make you wish for a replay function.

For those of you not au fait with the PC version, Enemy Territory tells the story of the Strogg and the Global Defense Force and their eternal struggles for supremacy. In fact, it pits the humans of the GDF against the Strogg during their initial invasion of the planet, predating the traditional Quake stories by a number of years. Not that anyone cares about stories in games like this.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect is the character-class system. Unlike Battlefi eld, which offers a completely symmetrical war, with both teams having identical troop types, the Strogg and the GDF are unique, meaning players will tend towards one side or the other, based on their combat style and taste.

Take Medics, for example. A GDF doctor can heal and revive injured or fallen soldiers on the fi eld. Nothing new there, of course. But a Strogg Technician may use a GDF corpse as a host body for a waiting Strogg reinforcement. Every class type has an equivalent, but unique opposite. Field Ops on the GDF side can call in helicopter air stikes using a laser-targeting system from the ground, while a Strogg Oppressor can use a geostationary satellite to call in a Plasma Mortar. Choosing your side is far more important than in most expansive online shooters.

Once you’ve chosen sides, the persistent character upgrading, so popular recently, is present and correct. While it lacks the depth and reward of Call Of Duty’s perk system, the upgrading and awards that long-term players can garner are enough to keep you playing and give you reason to perform well above the simple pleasure of victory. Developers have learned that most players are selfi sh bastards who are far keener on levelling up their own character than helping out their team-mates. A sorry state of affairs.

Less upsetting, though, is the selection of vehicles on offer. The humans, who are sounding increasingly boring throughout the course of this preview, have the usual vehicular arsenal. We’re talking APCs, jeeps and hovercopters (okay, they’re not boring). But the Strogg have giant Cyclops mech-walkers and Desecrator hover tanks. No two ways about it, the Strogg are far more interesting than their GDF opponents.

The only danger for Enemy Territory is the competition. Although a very different type of shooter, Call Of Duty 4 has taken gamers by storm, and trying to tempt them away from their baby won’t be easy. If Quake Wars has the slightest bit of lag, the smallest of connection issues or a poorly implemented lobby system, it could cripple it before it begins.

PS3 is only just adjusting to fostering true online communities, and before Home hits later this year, a game like Quake Wars needs to take care of its audience, otherwise it will lose it. The product itself is a well-balanced, clean and entertaining shooter on PC, and there’s nothing to suggest it’ll be anything else on PS3. But whether or not it’ll be a success will be determined as much by the hardware as it will the market. We shall see.