Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (ETQW) kicks things off as one of the first among a slew of competitive multiplayer shooters slated to release this fall. Players choose between the Strogg, a cybernetic alien race bent on exploiting the planet, or the human GDF (Global Defense Federation). The game breaks down into four campaigns that highlight different battles in the Strogg invasion of earth.

The four campaigns, each comprised of three missions, span the globe and cover North America, Northern Europe, the African continent and the Pacific. Missions play out in the same succession, no matter which side wins the match. Although players extrapolate some kind of story from these campaigns, mission briefing text usually goes by quickly while the level loads, and any attempt at a plot degenerates into a generic series of objectives once the game starts. The only determine progression comes from rising through the ranks, which grants bonuses to whatever class they play. For example, Engineers can repair and disarm bombs faster with higher rank and gains a grenade launcher attachment.

Enemy Territory features five classes; ranging from the straightforward soldier that can plant explosive charges to the Covert-Ops spy that can disguise as the enemy and hack their systems. Both the Strogg and GDF feature the same classes, and are almost identical, save for a few variations in weapons and equipment. Three of the classes can summon deployable devices, but only the Engineer is reliant on them. Engineers can call upon three different turrets types that specialize in eliminating infantry, vehicles or countering incoming artillery fire, but they can only have one device out at a time. There are other restrictions, like only being able to place turrets within controlled territory, and within that space, only on pre-designated flat areas where they can get airlifted in and dropped. With all these limitations in place, Engineers and scouts are at a significant disadvantage when defending indoor areas, since all the heavy firepower must be left outside.