Friday, July 01 2005 @ 12:00 AM CDT
The world of the first person shooter has changed immensely over the years. Gone are the days of fast frags in games like Quake and Unreal being your only options in the FPS genre only. Rainbow Six and Half-Life came along and showed a unique experience could be played in the FPS genre and Counter-Strike showed a realistic war game could be an overnight success. Then came EA and DICE with Battlefield 1942 who helped create a real world war atmosphere and it has spawned an army of war simulators set in the FPS genre.
Skip forward to present day and we are introduced to the latest in the Battlefield universe with Battlefield 2. No longer are we in the jungles of Vietnam or the combat fields of WW2 but the contemporary battlefield. You can choose to play as the United States, Middle East Coalition or the People's Liberation Army of China.
Battlefield 2 features an all new game engine allowing for huge detail oriented maps. The game ships with 12 maps total, but these can vary based on the blend of map played. Server can be set up for 16, 32 and 64 players with the map adding new bases and strategies based on the number of players.
The most interesting turn of events in BF2 is the addition of some MMORPG qualities in an online FPS. Battlefield 2 tracks you as a player persistently over time. You'll create an account, log in and as you play you'll earn medals and ribbons. Support classes will be more important then ever as they now score points for aiding their troops. When driving a vehicle you emit an area of effect of your class skill. Medics will heal near by troops, while the engineers will repair nearby equipment.
The key thing that allowed me to have a lot of fun playing Battlefield 2 was the fact that the game is based more on fun than on realistic combat. Players can be sniped for a head shot and stay running along as if it was a flesh wound. While at first I found it frustrating I came to appreciate how simple the game was to play, and how exciting it helped make the battles. Vehicles tumbling through the maps charging into bases and are easy enough to jump in and drive which makes it less of a chore to become an effective part of the vehicle combat.
While in combat there are squads and commanders for each team. Commanders have the ability to call in massive air strikes, or assign the squad leaders assignments for areas to secure or blow up. This adds a whole new element to the game as your artillery and satellite trailer need to be protected to allow the commander to make full use of the battlefield for your team.
So with all the good in the game where is the bad? The single player is lacking in a strong way. The AI of the bots is like that of one of my ex-girlfriends. When in commander mode you can tell the AI where to go and what to do and they will not follow direction. The maps are only available in the 16 player blend so there is no real way to work on your strategy other than play online.
Graphicaly the game is gorgeous. Details can be found everywhere from the equipment of your squad mates, to the treads and antennas on the tanks that drive by. Visually speaking this game offers plenty of eye candy but at a cost. The minimum video card allowed is a GeForce FX 5700 or a Radeon 8500. Gamers with older hardware will just get kicked from the client without even an error. Not sure how gamers will react to needed to purchase a new video card for their system not because the game runs poorly, but won’t let them run at all.
The audio in the game is terrific. Combat chatter and the various explosions, tanks rolling, bullet fire and footsteps all help to immerse you into the world.
Battlefield 2 is an amazing game. It doesn’t set out to make the player read a manual to learn how to drive a tank, just get in and go. While the game does offer a “log on and kill” attitude there is also the ability to explore vast strategies in your attempts to take over each map and lead your team to domination. Battlefield 2 is a must have for any fan of the FPS or war simulation genres.
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