Quake Wars is a Battlefield style FPS based on the Quake series of games. It pits the human GDF faction against the alient Strogg, and features the same objective based gameplay, assault, medic, engineer and sniper classes most games of this genre include.
Where it begins to differ is in the nature of the missions and in the scoring system. Battlefield games have a very straightforward mission system (capture objectives), and very straightforward scoring system (killing people is the quickest way to get points). QW:ET places less emphasis on killing enemies, and more on completing objectives. At any given time, each class will have a mission it can accomplish, one of which is central to advancing the progression of the current map. There's an attacker and defender, and generally three steps to completing the mission.
The mission system seems interesting at first, but it's difficult to figure out in the heat of battle, which leads to a slower learning curve than the Battlefield games. It's also probably not worth all the complication, as the missions tend to blur together, and ultimately boil down to the same basic concept: control a piece of ground for long enough and you win.
Personal weapons are good but nothing exceptional. They seem well balanced, have a decently solid feel, and fulfil a range of roles. There are also various bigger weapons that are part of the map, such as constructable anti-infatry and anti-tank turrets, and huge artillery rocket attacks with corresponding defenses that can be built to stop them. It's interesting, but again, tough to figure out for a first time player.
The graphics engine is excellent, rendering extremely long view distances with smooth frame rates, and is by far the most impressive part of the game.
Playing this game gave me a newfound respect for the Battlefield series. As solid and technically competent as QW:ET is, there's just something fake and tinny about the gameplay. The weapons almost seem too accurate, while players are able to run and leap around too quickly. It's too frantic and twitchy up close, and too easy to hit from afar. I realize now how well tuned the Battlefield games are, where movement rates don't feel too slow, yet enemies don't seem to be flying around at exaggerated speeds.
Ultimately I was impressed with aspects of this game. It seems more tactically deep than the Battlefield games, and the graphics engine is definitely superior. However, the complexity of the game seems unncessary and is more of an impediment to involving new players. Above all, there's something about the game that just feels wrong, too much like the arcade style of Quake III, and less like the tactical FPS games it's following.