Lots of promise bogged down by lots of lag.

So sure, by this time of the year you've probably blown thru legendary in Halo 3, and tossed out more than your share of grenades after you die in Call of Duty 4, and you might have even warped time with Timeshift, or scoffed at the bland design of Area 51, but never fear 360 owners, there's even more shooters coming your way!

Not that you were really in fear, since the word shooter is pretty much tied directly to the Xbox 360 nowadays. However, this title, Frontlines: Fuel of War, does merit your attention, even if you are feeling a bit over saturated in bullets and bombs at the moment.

Frontlines single player is set a bit into the future, the year 2024. In a way it mirrors the current trend of rising oil prices, and humanity is facing a definite energy crisis with two world factions battling it out over the last of the oil reserves. The Red Star affiliation is made up of China and Russia, and end up being the "bad guys" of the single player game. You'll be taking on the role of the Western Coalition, comprised of the United States and Europe. Both sides are playable in the multiplayer mode, with similar abilities, weapons, and vehicles at their disposal. Future technology has made long-range war (think nukes) pretty much ineffective, so now everyone is forced to do combat up close and personal. The entire story is told thru the perspective of a reporter, but really lacks the punch of more recent war titles that have handled the "reality" of war far better.

Each mission in the main campaign has you either attempting to control choke points on the map, or tackling other small objectives to progress the frontline of your war campaign. It feels a bit like the bot battles that populate the single player mode of Unreal Tournament 3, but things aren't quite as fast paced as they are in Epic's title. The enemy AI isn't the smartest, but they do employ enough basic tactics to make certain sections and areas fun to play.

You won't find yourself forced to tackle your objectives in any particular order, and you're given quite a bit of freedom to roam around the map and take on each goal in a variety of fashions. This level of freedom really helps to sell the world of Frontlines to the player, and while the main storyline isn't as engrossing as other games in the genre, the open battlefield manages to make up for it.

As far as the actual look of Frontlines goes, it's a pretty solid presentation. There are certain maps that don't hold up well when compared to others, with a lack of detail present and a layout that feels uninspired. However, the complete package comes together just fine, and I never ran into any map that I absolutely hated. On the other hand, nothing stands out as extremely memorable either, but once again quite a few of the missions end up being whatever you want to make of them. You can simply run and gun and blow thru the map, or find interesting tactics and a variety of ways to get the job done. Unfortunately everything is over pretty quick, and the single player campaign won't take much time for shooter vets to blast their way thru.

One of the big highlights of Frontlines definitely lies within the multiplayer mode, at least when it's working. At first glance it might seem a bit barebones, with only one mode to pick from, but I'll be damned if it isn't a blast to play. Longtime Battlefield players will see some similarities between the two titles instantly. Lots of vehicle selections, huge maps and a high player count are some of the big draws here, along with a really nice selection of weapons and maps. There are still bugs that need to be ironed out, including some lag and connection issues, but once you team up with a solid server you should have a lot of fun.

However, finding a server with that solid connection is definitely a pain in the ass. Out of the dozens of matches I tried out, I could only get a couple that would allow me to play in a comfortable fashion, without darting ahead on the map in intervals or watching people blink in and out of existence next to me. These issues really need to be ironed out, and soon, if Frontlines is going to have any kind of multiplayer presence in the next month or so. Assuming this can be done, and it should be, it has the possibility of being one the best console multiplayer experiences out there.

My best call on this game is to at least give it a rental, and see how the multiplayer experience pans out for you. I can't say that the single player game warrants a $60 purchase, but if you can find the right black magic to make multiplayer work well, then you've got a solid game on your hands.