I’ve been looking forward to playing Battlefield 2 for a very long time, especially since I am such a huge fan of its predecessor, Battlefield 1942. I also enjoyed Battlefield Vietnam, but it wasn’t quite as good as BF1942. In short, BF2 is better than BFV, but not as good as BF1942.
If you are not familiar with this series, you’re missing out. It is a tactical first person shooter, but not as annoyingly difficult as Ghost Recon or as linear as Half-Life. The object of this and the previous Battlefield titles was that you are a soldier on the field during one of many real-world fights, and you must help your team achieve victory. Each map is unique in its landscape and features and is covered with various checkpoints marked with flags. Basically, the game is like a wartime version of capture the flag where you must fight your way towards bases and hold them long enough for backup to arrive. A variety of guns and vehicles are at your disposal and you can fight on the ground, in the air, or at sea.
The installation process for this game was quite a headache and required a patch and multiple reboots. When I installed the game, it said I had version 1.02xxx and I thought that I was up to date since EA.com’s (Electronic Arts) official BF2 website says the current patch is for 1.02. Well, after trial and error when trying to play multiplayer, I found out that there is a higher level 1.02 patch that is needed to play most games online. Why EA uses such long numbers for their patches is beyond me. It is confusing when they have two different versions of 1.02. The 1.03 patch is due later this month and is supposed to fix over 100 known problems with the game. Dayum! I also had some lockup issues when I first tried to play online, but I don’t know if that is the fault of the game, ZoneAlarm, or Windows XP. My firewall prompted me to allow BF2.exe to connect online when I first loaded the game, but then at some point it is supposed to prompt me again, but the window would not come up, effectively locking up my PC. I had to manually power off several times before I got it all straight. Finally, if you are using an ATI video card, make sure you have the latest version of the Catalyst software, or else you’ll have all kinds of problems. Yeah, I had to update that, too.
The system requirements for this game are unusually high, so make sure your PC can run this before you buy it. If you have some cheap off-the-shelf system, chances are this game won’t work on it. You will need at least a 1.7 gigahertz processor and 512 megs of ram, plus a video card with at least 128 megs of memory. The website says you need to have a GeForce FX 5700 or an ATI Radeon 8500 or better to play. My PC has a Radeon X300SE card, which is pretty low-end by today’s standards, but the game runs pretty well at 1024x768 with all the details set on medium and no anti-aliasing. I do have a 3.0 gig P4 with a full gig of ram, so that probably takes up a lot of my video card’s slack. If your PC has the built-in (on board) graphics, like so many do, it will not work with this game. I also highly recommend that you get a higher level SoundBlaster card in order to take full advantage of the EAX surround sound. It makes a huge difference in gameplay.
The graphics are vastly improved over previous versions of the Battlefield series, and that is why the system requirements are so high just to play the game. You have to keep in mind that your PC is going to have to track a huge map full of characters that are each interacting with other players as well as the environment. It takes a lot of machine to manage all of that and still keep things running nice and smooth. Some of the buildings can be destroyed, but I haven’t noticed a lot of major things you can destroy. The EA website practically gives you the impression that you can knock down buildings in this game, but you can’t. One of the most impressive graphic qualities I’ve found is the water effects. This game features the most realistic water I’ve ever seen in a PC game; even better than Far Cry. Inside most of the vehicles, you can see the drivers, which means you can shoot them through the windows. I really like that element of the game.
Battlefield 2 features 12 very detailed maps. What’s unique about them is that they are scaled depending on the number of plays on them. When playing a map, you can select a max capacity of 16, 32, or 64 players and the maps change in size. In a way, you get 36 total maps, depending on who you play with. I can’t say I’ve noticed any big difference between the different size maps, but that is mostly because when in combat you don’t have a lot of time to check out the scenery. I do prefer playing on the smaller maps just because there is less running around you’ll have to do.
In BF1942, the maps had a few hills, but were mostly flat. You could play a sniper and pick off enemy soldiers from so far away they wouldn’t know where the shot was coming from. That’s how I like to play. With BFV, it had a bunch of hills and trees and obstructions that put the combat into much closer quarters, thus making the game substantially more difficult. With BF2, every map is full of hills and buildings and countless obstructions that make it difficult to do anything but constantly be on the move. You can still hide in the shadows or at the base of a cluster of trees, but it just doesn’t seem to work as well as it did in BF1942.
At the beginning of each mission, and after each time you die, you can choose to play a variety of different soldiers. You have a couple of options for straight up machine gunners, or you can be a sniper. You can take on an anti-tank role, or work as an engineer to repair vehicles. You can also be a medic or a support soldier who delivers ammo in the field. I am partial to either the Special Forces or Sniper option, just because I like the scopes on the guns. My advice to you is to practice with each one and decide what you like best, because they all play integral parts in the game.
My biggest disappointment with the differences between BF2 and BF1942 is the vehicles. In BF1942, the tanks and trucks were all pretty slow, but you could deal out some serious damage if you knew what you were doing. With this game, they made the vehicles faster, but the firepower doesn’t seem to be there. You can drive dune buggies and hummers and they move so fast that you can’t really do much else than drive. The tanks, which were plentiful in BF1942, are scarce in this game. If flying is your thing, BF2 features a variety of helicopters and jet planes, included those with vertical takeoff ability. Just like in previous versions, those who master the art of aerial combat can dominate the game.
If there is one new feature of BF2 that I wish had been left out, it is the artillery. In this game, you can have someone man a bunch of heavy artillery and bombard the hell out of a large area, effectively destroying vehicles and soldiers. I think it is way too powerful and really hurts the balance of the game. There are more than enough ways to get killed in the game without having shells fall from the air and having no way to defend against it.
The single player missions of this game are great and the A.I. is quite good, but the real way to experience Battlefield 2 is to play it online. You have to create an account with EA, but it is all free and can be done within the game. I think this is mostly done to keep pirates from playing online, but there are some benefits. This game features a point system that lets you earn ranks and medals based on your battlefield performance. It is sort of like playing an online RPG where you build up experience. As your soldiers rises in the ranks, it will unlock more and better weapons to use in the field. It also makes it harder for new people to engage veteran players because the outranking soldiers will have better equipment.
So the big question is whether or not Battlefield 2 is fun. Sure it is. I think it’s an awesome game and I’m enjoying it. But is it as fun as Battlefield 1942? I don’t think so. I think the foot soldier and aerial combat is better in this game, but if tanks and trucks are your thing, BF1942 is better. The bottom line here is that if you liked BF1942 and have enough machine to run it, buy Battlefield 2 and enjoy. The gameplay is pretty much the same, just a little more complicated. Either way, I think you’ll like it.
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