Review
Release Date: 06.21.2005
Platform:
PC - WindowsDeveloper:
Digital Illusions CE ABPublisher:
EA GAMESReviewed by
Ryan Dean on 7.27.2005
| Review Rating: 9/10 | User Rating: 7.67/10 |
I've been a fan of
EA's
Battlefield for quite a while now, ever since I picked up
Battlefield 1942 fresh off the rack a few years back. I remember, like a lot of gamers, sleepless nights and days spent inside, perfecting war-time strategies and owning many a noob. The game, at the time, was perfect: It ran like a dream on my rig. I found players who took the game seriously, and teamplay was a focus. The difficulty of Conquest mode and the diversity of the player kits forced teammates to rely upon each other, which was quite a different pace for me, being so used to fighting on my own in the deathmatches of
Unreal Tournament.
Once I had fallen in love with
1942, I found myself craving more. True, we did see the release of
Battlefield: Vietnam a while back, but it didn't really add much to the
Battlefield experience, and I was devasted. However, Electrionic Arts and
Digital Illusions heard my, and others, cries, and now the long awaited
Battlefield 2 has been released, and gamers, it is everything we've been waiting for.
But let me first say, those with weak rigs, turn away now. I know, it hurts to be shunned, but this new installment of
Battlefield will break you, if
Half-Life 2 didn't already.
BF 2 is definitely tech-heavy, you'll need a nice video card, and around 1 GB of RAM to run smoothly with everything on high. While it is still possible to play with everything turned down to lower settings, such as draw distance and textures, it does take away a lot from the experience.
Battlefield 2 is the game that will lead us into the next-generation of gaming, and to turn all the effects down doesn't exactly make it the most gorgeous game, and this makes it incredibly hard to judge the game's graphics. For those keeping score, if you have a sweet gaming computer, the graphics are a "10", and for those with Dells, well, it's time to get one of those sweet computers mentioned previously.
As for the audio factor, the same rule applies. I happen to have a very nice audio system set up, the center piece of it being a Sound Blaster Audigy 2, and I can hear the game sounds
beautiful. The movement of your feet on different terrain, the whizzes and bangs of artillery fire, the smash of two tanks colliding, it's all truly amazing. The game also has a small tutorial which follows you through single and multiplayer, which is voiced over nicely. Commands, responses, and the new VOIP feature work very nicely. Finally, a shooter that has better audio than
Call of Duty.
The gameplay, I daresay, is drastically different from
1942 and
Vietnam. Taking place during a fictional war, the game pits players against 3 armies, the People's Liberation Army (China), the Middle Eastern Coalition, and the United States Marine Corps. Of course, with everything being set in the future, the weapons used in the game are quite advanced. From satellite designated artillery strikes, to delicate guided missles,
Battlefield 2 is a war-junkie's dream.
As we discussed before, the game's kits are far more balanced than in
1942.
DICE obviously took a look at some of
Trauma Studios' designs, who developed the popular
1942 mod, Desert Combat. Now, instead of the standard 5 kits, there are 7: Assault, Anti-Tank, Medic, Engineer, Support, Sniper, and Special Forces.
All are balanced fairly as to allow better teamplay. Some kits will have strong armor, while others will have more stamina and greater speed. All carry individual special items, such as silenced pistols, AT mines, claymore mines, C4, and shock paddles. Using these special weapons, primarily the tools of the Engineer and Medic, will give you teamwork points, a new addition to the game's stat tracker. As you progress through the game's Online Mode, your various points can be used to receive new weaponry.
The Online Mode is incredibly advanced from what gamers had to use in
Vietnam. All statistics are ranked, from teamwork points, Commander points, kills, wins, losses, you name it. You can see that the talent at
DICE really put a lot of thought and effort into this. As you play online, your points will continually tally up and slowly you'll begin to advance in rank, from a lowly Private, to a great General. Your rank is used to decide in-game who becomes the Commander or Squad Leader of your team: The greater the rank, the greater the power you have. So, if 3 players choose to apply for the Commander positon, the one with the highest rank is given the job. This is a great way of making sure you have an experienced player leading your team, which increases your chance of success. There are a few elements that do need slight tweaking, such as the penalties for disconnection, and teamkilling, but if DICE chooses to address them, we will probably see a later patch.
The Commander Mode, one of the new features to the
Battlefield universe, is a huge addition to the game. Players, during the intial spawn into the game or during the game, will apply to become the Commander, using the squad screen. If accepted, players will have access to the Commander screen, a powerful tool which controls, well, other powerful tools. Basically, the Commander receives a huge map of the battlefield, a squad list, the ability to command squads with text, map visuals, or VOIP, and access to sattelite scans, artillery strikes, UAV support, and supply drops. Because all supply boxes and health cabinets have been removed from the game, players will rely heavily on the Commander for supplies, and, in the heat of battle, the Medic and Support players. While a Commander isn't necessary to win a game, it always is nice to know someone has your back.
But what if you don't like your Commander, or the guy isn't doing a good job? Well, players can attempt to start a mutiny, which is essentially a kick vote of the Commander. If you get a majority of your team to support the mutiny, the Commander is demoted. If you fail, the Commander stays and will be less keen on helping you and your squad.
Another cool feature is the squad system. Players from your team have the choice to create and join squads, like a buddy system. These squads work together, under a Squad Leader, to achieve objectives designated by either the Squad Leader, or the Commander. A Squad Leader can make requests to the Commander, as for supplies or artillery strikes, using the Squad Screen (basically a stripped Commander Screen) or through VOIP. Another benefit of being in a squad is the extra spawn point: Say you die in the heat of battle and your Squad Leader is hiding in some bushes. Well, if you want to get back into that heated battle quickly, you can use your wimpy Squad Leader as a spawn point. This is a pretty awesome strategy, if your Squad Leader is positioned in an awesome spot, such as a helicopter or an enemy base. However, if you're the a "Lone Ranger", you can feel free to play on your own
without the help of a squad. You won't receive any orders, and you won't be able to communicate to squads or the Commander, but whatever your style, you can certainly play it.
Of course, there is a Single Player mode, but it is far from the focus of the game, or perfect. I like to think of this portion as a tutorial for the online game. The options for Single Player matches aren't robust: Some of the game's maps are here, and can only be played with a maximum of 16 players. It's a great introduction to the Commander system and the various kits, but is far too skimpy and short to be anything close to great. If you plan to pick up this game just for the single player experience, it's better not to. I could see how this game would be disappointing for those that expected a nice, long campaign as in
1942, but it really seems that EA wanted to focus on the Online Mode, and that turned out to be superb. Hopefully next time around EA will possibly have DICE get both modes polished and complete.
I can say I've thoroughly enjoyed
Battlefield 2 and it easily receives my seal of reccomendation, considering its infinite replay value and polished online play. This is definitely a gem for anyone to pick up, and EA proves once again that
Battlefield is a war title to be reckoned with.
