Activision and id Software began their E3 hype with the announcement of a new spin-off to their popular Quake franchise, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

　　Developed by London-based Splash Damage and built on id's MegaTexture technology, Quake Wars will give gamers the chance to take control of multiple character classes on either side of the battle as the barbaric alien Strogg launch an invasion of Earth.

　　Gamers will have access to more than 40 conventional and futuristic vehicles, from quadbikes, tanks, and alien walkers for ground assaults, to helicopters and antigravity ships for air support. Throughout each battle, teams establish bases and deploy defense structures, artillery, radar, and advanced forward-command systems into enemy territory while constructing and demolishing obstacles to gain a tactical advantage over their foes.

　　Players can take on class-specific missions or coordinate with a fireteam through voice chat and the game's context-sensitive mission order system. Over the course of multibattle campaigns, players gain special rewards for teamplay and persistent military promotions and medals.

　　Splash Damage hopes to marry this complex gameplay with plenty of eye candy, promising realistic lighting and shadowing for day and night missions, atmospheric simulation that affects everything from weather to vegetation, and id's new MegaTexture technology, which "crunches millions of polygons and a gigabyte-scale texture into a single, seamless and un-tiled landscape with unique detail down to the square inch or the un-obscured distant horizon."

　　No release date or price was announced for the game.