Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

The Strogg have similar classes, but little else is the same. Animations for the two sides are completely different, and you'll be able to tell what weapons friends and foes are holding just by how their character moves. And, of course, the Strogg are fueled by Stroyent, a sort of Red Bull made from humans - and it powers both their weaponry and their health systems. If you've only got a little left, do you funnel it into your own survival or make it power the one final shot that could win the battle? You choose.

While Enemy Territory isn't due until late 2006, the developers have been working for two years already, taking what Wedgwood calls "a heuristic approach" to the game's difficult balance. "Someone says 'That sucks,'" he says, "and we cut it." That's brutal but necessary to build a game that can challengethe mighty Battlefield series - not to mention one worthy of the name Quake.