As for MGS4, the midnight launch will be held at the Reading Cinema in Belmont Forum. The event kicks off at 9PM, and GT will be selling the game for $99.95 (RRP $119.95). Maybe not as cheap as an import, but probably among the cheapest prices in Australia.

[Thanks Raze35]

Rather than increase the price and face our collective wrath, THQ decided to remove its catalogue instead. But like I said, it’s just a theory.

It looks like the recently released Frontlines: Fuel of War slipped through the block – at least for a while. It was briefly available for $US 50 on Steam for Australian and New Zealand users, but it looks like it’s been taken down as of today. THQ’s local presence couldn’t really comment as this sort of thing is out of its hands.

If I had to guess, I’d say that Frontlines was never meant to be available to us from Steam. THQ/Valve has just corrected the error… much to our chagrin. Good news is that if you did purchase it while it was up, it’s still playable.

Uhh..I live in Australia, where did Frontlines go? [Steam Powered forums, thanks Lev Arris]

Yesterday, the game, along with a few THQ representatives, made their up from their HQ in Melbourne to show off the latest build to us Sydney-based games journos in the best fashion possible – a multiplayer shoot-out.

I managed to get a solid four hours of gaming in (busy day at work, I know), and if you don’t mind a bit of reading, I’d like to share my impressions, and later, some cake.The event itself was held at the Player’s Lounge in Stanmore, a small yet comfortable venue that sits on Parramatta Road, just past the McDonalds. After a curt nod to the proprietors to assure them I wasn’t some random off the street, I made myself comfortable with a single Asahi (silly me decided to drive to the venue) and a can of Solo (to dilute the alcohol, because I’m a lightweight).

I’m not a diehard console shooter fan. Love them, for sure, as long as I can play them on PC with a keyboard and mouse. So it took me about 15-30 minutes to get into the groove with the 360’s controller, but once I was there, things started to click.

During the course of the afternoon we played a variety of maps, with “Streets”, “Gnaw” and “Solar Farm” being the most memorable. Streets was an intimate map, set in the ruins of a nameless city, while Solar Farm was a massive, sprawling desert with helicopters, tanks and anti-air trucks.

If you’ve played any of the Battlefield games, then the basic concepts of Frontlines will sound familiar. This is not surprising seeing as developer Kaos Studios was behind the excellent Battlefield 1942 mod Desert Combat.

When you join a game, you can select which side you want to play using the “Y” button, toggling between the Western Coalition and the Red Star Alliance. You can then pick your loadout and role, followed by a spawn point.

Loadouts and roles are where you get to customise your soldier. All the former really does is determine what weapons you begin with: Assault comes with a rifle and grenade launcher; Heavy Assault has a light machinegun; Special Ops provides a sub machinegun and C4; Anti-Vehicle packs an EMP rocket launcher and the Sniper has – you guessed it – a sniper rifle. All loadouts come with a pistol and most have grenades – Anti-Vehicle gets landmines instead.

THQ and Koas have pimped roles as one of Frontlines defining features. And it’s definitely a nice touch. Players can further specialise in Ground Support, EMP Tech, Drone Tech and Air Support. Depending on which side you’re playing as, these specialties will be different. For instance, Red Star Alliance Drone Tech provides the player with flying drones, while the Western Coalition is given tiny remote tanks. So if you ever feel like mixing it up, all you have to do is switch allegiances.

Each role has three abilities, and you start each match with the first of these. To gain access to them all you’ll have to earn them by killing enemies and capturing points. As long as the server continues unhindered, your unlocked abilities will persist from map to map.

The title’s other hyped feature is the Frontline system. In order to progress further into enemy territory, you need to capture all points along a line – usually two to three, depending on the map size – before you can advance your front. The points along the front can then be used as spawn locations, and any vehicles at these points can be commandeered.

Like the Battlefield games, a ticket system is used to track how well each side is doing. Victory can be obtained by running the opposing team dry of reinforcements, or having the most tickets when the time limit expires.

To make things simple, all enemy names are coloured red and friendlies blue, and your crosshair will transform into a white star if your barrel is aimed at a mate. Don’t panic if you can’t control your trigger finger – friendly fire can be disabled via the server creation screen.

Speaking of server options, Frontlines comes with a bunch. Auto team balance, min/max players, auto team-killer kicking and aim assist are all available. You can even disable individual loadouts, roles and vehicles to spice up gameplay.

A setting unique to Frontlines is “Upgrade speed”. This slider alters how quickly you accrue experience. For our matches, this was at 250% – the maximum – and even then I found getting to the more powerful abilities took 15 or so minutes.

Playing the game itself is straightforward. You can sprint by holding down the right bumper, and it’s something you’ll use a lot, seeing as how massive the maps are. If a point is neutral, you can start capturing it immediately. On the other hand, if the enemy holds it you’ll have to un-capture it first, adding an extra 30 seconds or so to the process.

Damage is handled via a progressive health system, like that in Halo and Gears of War. Dying is extremely easy, and a few well-placed shots from anything other than the pistol will down most foes. As you get hit, the outer edge of your view will flash red, and the screen proper will darken until it’s almost impossible to see. Avoiding fire will slowly return things to normal.

I found some roles to generally be more useful than others. The Air Support role doesn’t come into its own until you have carpet bombing, the second ability. Drones are extreme effective, the Coalition’s tank-like ones able to tear it up while taking significant damage. The EMP Tech is so-so, and requires patience and timing to use well, and even then its main advantages are against vehicles. The Ground Support is similar, except the deployable turrets are immediately potent.

According the THQ guys, the build we played was close to complete. It was about a month old, and provided a good representation of Frontlines minus tweaks, a bit of polish and an arseload of prolonged sodomy from quality assurance. Despite this, I found it fun, if all a little “done before”. Personally, I feel it’ll make an impact with the Quake Wars/Battlefield crowd, but I’m not sure it’s game of the year material. The roles are less game-defining and more gimmicky, but the good type of gimmicky that will entertain time and again.

PS: I received a T-shirt and poster as I left the venue, though the large size of the former stands no chance of conforming to my girlish frame.

Now we have shots and info on the Asia-Pacific Xbox 360 CE. Here’s what you can expect:
• The game (you’d hope so!);
• “Drone to Kill” T-shirt (Large);
• Poster;
• Frontlines art book;
• Bonus disc containing the soundtrack, behind the scenes and “more”.

It’s a healthy CE, to be sure, but I think I’d prefer to go with the PC one, seeing as it also comes with playing cards, iron-on patch and strategy guide. In defence of the Xbox 360 CE, it will only set you back $99.95, instead of the PC CE’s $109.95. Note that the $99.95 price tag is the same as the standard edition, so it might be an idea to pre-order the game.

If you’d like to see the contents disgorged from their box and nicely arranged, there’s another photo after the jump.

Kaos Studios’ open world FPS Frontlines: Fuel of War sure is taking its time getting out the developer’s door and onto retail shelves. It’s enough to make anyone a little narky.

It’s all good though, and here’s why.

THQ has just sent us the news that Australia – a region usually abused by the publishers of the world – is going to get its very own collector’s edition of the PC game.

Well, it’s for Asia Pacific, but it’s a nice treat nonetheless. A shot of the pack can be seen above, and details of the contents can be found after the jump. Sufficed to say, it’s packed with jam, and includes a soundtrack disc, poster, strategy guide and playing cards. According to THQ, only 10,000 will be made. Not a bad deal for $109.95.

Also included with all this is news of the Frontlines PC beta, which is starting this weekend. The specifics can be found at the game’s website.

As an aside, the PS3 version of Frontlines is being developed locally by THQ Studio Australia, otherwise known as Studio Oz. Stay tuned for our Q&A!

Frontlines: Fuel of War PC Collectors edition

The limited Collector’s Edition of Frontlines: Fuel of War on PC has been designed in Australia and is exclusive to Asia Pacific. Packaged in a special ‘ammo tin’ metal box and loaded with bonus content, only 10,000 of these badboys will be manufactured.

So what’s the loadout:

• Frontlines: Fuel of War game
• Mini Brady Strategy Guide for Frontlines: Fuel of War
• Bonus disk with the game soundtrack, behind the scenes videos, wallpapers and more
• Deck of Frontlines playing cards, each card featuring a different weapon, vehicle or drone
• Iron-on Stray Dogs insignia patch
• Art of Frontlines artbook
• Poster
The PC Collector’s Edition is available to pre-order now from specialist gaming retailers including EB Games, GAME and Gameplanet

Frontlines: Fuel of War PC Beta
The PC multiplayer Beta opens this weekend. Eager recruits can secure a place via www.frontlines.com.au, the newly launched Australian and New Zealand microsite for the game. System specs are available on the Frontlines: Fuel of War website

Frontlines: Fuel of War Xbox 360 demo on LIVE –FREE!
Xbox360 gamers don’t miss out either. A single-player demo is available to download now on Xbox LIVE, giving gamers a taste of the in-depth single player experience.

About Frontlines: Fuel of War
Frontlines: Fuel of War is an open world, infantry- and vehicle-based FPS (First Person Shooter) featuring advanced next-gen weaponry in a desperate, near future setting where controlling the planet’s depleting fossil resources determines the ultimate fate of civilization. Players will be instrumental in determining how the war is waged – and won.

About the developer
Kaos Studios, a division of THQ Inc. located in New York City, was formed in 2005 by industry veterans of the FPS genre. The core members of the group came from Trauma Studios, creators of Desert Combat (one of the most successful mods of all time from the original Battlefield) and the R&D team for DICE’s Battlefield 2. The 50-person team includes additional members from the development teams of other acclaimed shooters, including FEAR, Medal of Honor and Doom 3. More information about Kaos Studios and its products can be found at www.kaosstudios.com.

About THQ
THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) is a leading worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. The company develops its products for all popular game systems, personal computers and wireless devices. Headquartered in Los Angeles County, California, THQ is a top producer of original intellectual properties including titles such as Destroy All Humans!TM and JuicedTM as well as the upcoming Saints RowTM, Titan QuestTM and Company of HeroesTM. THQ, THQ Wireless, Kaos Studios, Frontlines: Fuel of War, Destroy All Humans!, Juiced, Saints Row, Titan Quest, Company of Heroes, and their respective logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc.

He tells Gamespot that development on the Xbox 360 was harder due to the 32-person multiplayer goal and that the PS3’s smaller available memory makes it challenging to develop for. Plus, SIXAXIS controls are still being balanced, adding an extra layer of development difficulty.

Halper discusses how the PS3 controller will be used in greater detail later in the interview.

Frontlines‘ delay is just another reminder that Epic and Sony Computer Entertainment had better be making good on their intentions to make the Unreal Engine a better fit for the PlayStation 3.

Q&A: Joe Halper on Frontlines: Fuel of War [Gamespot]