I've
only played this game for a few days and I've barely
scratched the surface. What I've encountered so far
is one of the best persistent online action games
that I've ever played. I'll be playing this game long
after I've completed the review.
Battlefield
2 is a very ambitious project that succeeds in virtually
every level. You can play with up to 64 people and
have access to more than 30 vehicles such as tanks,
jeeps, choppers and jets. The situations are realistic
yet you don't need a pilot's license to operate a
helicopter. Modern warfare weapons are included in
this version and depending on what class of soldier
that you choose you will have greater control over
class-specific weapons and vehicles.
Classes
include sniper, assault, special ops, engineer, medic
and anti aircraft. They are all upgradeable. An incredible
stat system keeps tabs on just about everything you
do including the number of kills, favourite weapons,
medals awarded and missions accomplished. Ultimately
you could rise to the rank or squad leader or commander.
The inclusion of real-time voice chat is the single
most important addition to this series. The ability
to communicate directly adds another dimension to
this game. You'll wonder how you ever did without
it.
With
64 players all chatting at the same time you can only
imagine the cacophony. Fortunately you can divide
your group into several smaller squads that can only
communicate within that unit. The squad leader will
also have direct contact with the omnipotent commander
whom oversees the entire mission. The commander has
the most responsibility. He's not necessarily the
best player but he's one of the most important. He's
got to scan the map for enemies and then issue orders
that best neutralize the threat. It's the others'
job to carry those orders out and win the battle.
All
of the commander's work will be for not if you don't
have a fully cooperative team on your side. For this
reason the game contains a buddy list so that you
can always keep track of your favourite players. If
you have a killer in your midst, (some loser that
shoots at his own teammates) you can have him or her
kicked off the server. All players must register when
they choose a side (American, Chinese or a Middle
East Coalition) and class. This not only allows the
server to keep track of your stats and status but
it also keeps track of unscrupulous players and can
bar them from the game.
Map
locations and sizes vary. The more players on a map
the bigger it is. You can enter games with 16, 32
or 64 players. You'll fight in areas all around the
world, in locations that range from city streets to
the great outdoors where you'll encounter mountains,
forests, swamps, valleys, rivers and plains. There
is an extraordinary amount of detail to these environments
- and they are totally destructible. It's possible
to use parts of the environment for cover but if the
enemy is aiming some huge artillery in your direction
you may no be safe for long.
Tanks
and aircraft can really do some damage to the enemy.
Tanks can shoot smoke bombs which can confuse incoming
missiles while choppers and fighter planes can launch
guided missiles. Anti tank and anti aircraft units
are at the ready to defend against these attacks.
Collecting
medals for a job well done can get addicting. It even
makes supporting roles such as medics and engineers
more exciting. With so much intense action taking
place the supporting roles are more important than
ever. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement
of war and want to see your team win. By healing players,
repairing vehicles and weapons and blowing up key
installation and bridges you realize these roles are
integral to your team's success.
If
multi-player isn't your main interest the single player
mode has been improved significantly with much more
intelligent bots. Both the enemy and your teammates
act with more savvy. They are aggressive and will
also take measures to protect themselves from attacks.
There are some pathfinding issues that get them confused
when the map becomes too complex.
With
tons of detail from the destructible environments
to the animated mechanized gears on background machinery
you're going to need a fairly robust computer with
a new 3D card if you want to see everything. The animation
is smooth and the sound effects are top shelf. Bullets
whiz by, explosions echo in the valley and the screams
of the enemy play like a sadistic symphony across
the bloody fields. War has never been this much fun.
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