Battlefield 2 (PC)

...and views.

Battlefield 2, what is it ?

It is a modern combat game where you can play the part of a soldier, squad leader or commander. Each part have their own uses and abilities that make this game so huge in variety.

It is mainly an online multiplayer combat game in the first person shooter view where you can choose your class of soldier to be on the battlefield. The are ...

Special Ops ...
...Internet, this is where all battlefield 2 servers are listed for you to play on, you simply click update list to get a list servers, find one that is not full and double click on it to join it.

Single player option - after clicking on this you can slect which map you want and then simply join it, you will be playing against computer generated characters which are a bit thick but gives you a feel to the game.


... more

Going to be a bit of a long review again, sorry people. In this review I am going to review the game and it's features along with some friendly advice and my personal experiences and views.

Battlefield 2, what is it ?

It is a modern combat game where you can play the part of a soldier, squad leader or commander. Each part have their own uses and abilities that make this game so huge in variety.

It is mainly an online multiplayer combat game in the first person shooter view where you can choose your class of soldier to be on the battlefield. The are ...

Special Ops - Main use is C4 to blow things up
Sniper - Main use for sniping
Assault - Your close combat soldier
Support - re-supply your team mates with ammo
Medic - Heal or revive your team mates
Engineer - Fix things or plant mines
Anti-tank - Other than C4 the only real armour busting weapon

Although the main uses are listed above each soldier get their own basic weapons and more advanced weapons can be rewarded with your rank(known as unlocks).

How does it work ?

You install the game whether it be CD or DVD format, you then have to install the latest patch to play the game online. Patches can be downloaded from many sources but your probably best getting from EA's website to be sure you got the right official one.

Once this is installed you can launch your game, create an online profile ready for play. Once logged in you will be placed at the default screen with a number of options to choose such as BFHQ Multiplayer, single player, community, options and quit. From here you can setup your game how you want it to look and play through the options menu. It will look complicated at first so it might be best to keep to default settings and play single player until you are familiar with everything.

When you click on mulitplayer option you a number of further options, Internet, Connect to IP and Favourites. If you click on Internet, this is where all battlefield 2 servers are listed for you to play on, you simply click update list to get a list servers, find one that is not full and double click on it to join it.

Single player option - after clicking on this you can slect which map you want and then simply join it, you will be playing against computer generated characters which are a bit thick but gives you a feel to the game.

~ The Game Play ~

Now you know roughly how its works i'll give you a detailed breakdown of the gameplay. Firstly once you joined a server you will be confronted with the class selection screen, this is where you choose what type of soldier you would like to play. As you are new you will not have any advanced weapons so nothing can be changed, simply select your soldier and on you right will be a map, this will a number white dots you can select(called spawn points). Select one of these, click done and you will spawn at a random space near that spawn point ready for combat. you will notice that near you spawn point will be a flag, your job is protect the flags and take enemy flags. The winner of the game is the side that normally captures all flags or a certain percent of flags for a set time.
So in essence, this is a capture the flag online multiplayer game.

Fighting - With a lot of FPS games you get a lot of ammo and health, not with this. This is closely based on today's foot soldier and what they can carry. This means you will run out of ammo and other equipment is limited e.g hand grenades, c4 mines etc. This forces you to be careful in what you do in the game. This is not a game where you can jump in rambo style and take everyone out.

Death - while protecting flags or capturing enemy flags you will no doubt die, this can be a good or bad things depending on your situation. But not to worry, you will have 15 seconds to choose a new soldier, spawn point, stay with same soldier and or stay at same spawn point.
Don't forget, if you die and there is a medic near by he might revive you so be ready.

Where did these vehicles come from ?

As well as being a foot soldier you can drive a number of vehicles or fly planes and helicopters. Different spawn points will have different vehicles at them while some may have none. Due to this fact this game has even more variety in what you can do compared to other games. The vehicles are not realistic as this is not a simulator but they are fairly close and fun to drive. Different vehicles can also carry different amounts of soldiers, e,g a Jeep can carry 3, driver, passenger and a mounted gun operator. I'll break these down a little further.

I just got blown up and nothing was near me !!

This could be any of the following reasons, a player had left a claymore mine that activated when you stepped infront of it, a special ops agent left C4 on the floor and detonated it when you were near enough, someone was hiding and threw a hand grenade at you or the commander knew where you was and used artillary on you.

What does the squad leader do ?

The squad leader is used to issue commands to his squad and or commander. He/she can give you orders such as attack here, defend, repair and he can called in artillery, supplies or vehicle drop from the commander.

Why don't I have a squad leader ?

At first you are placed as a solo player on the map, you can join a squad in two ways. Either you are invited and simply accept or you can join one by bringing up the class selection screen and clicking on the squad tab, from here you can join any of the available squads or even create your own if you think you are a good leader.

What does the commander do ?

The commanders role is watch over the battle using a screen only available to him. He/she can see every player, every vehicle and equipment on his/her side. He/she can zoom into the action and watch you, give you commands or drop supplies or vehicles for you. His/her sole purpose is to command the squads in order to take flags, to show enemy locations using the UAV(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), drop supplies, drop vehicles and use artillary on enemy. This is a fairly important job and requires someone very experienced, you can apply for commander position at the start of the map but it is awarded to th highest ranking player. Some players take this very seriously and you risk being kicked off the server if you don't do the job properly. The commanders job is to command not fight so remember that.

How can I gain ranks ?

This is simply done by a points system, there are set ranking points for you achieve before you go up a rank. With each rank you should also get a weapon unlock and you can choose which unlock you want in the main screen.

How do I gain points ?

Points are gained by killing enemy, capturing flags, healing people, re-supplying people, blowing up and fixing things. Becareful because points will be deducted if you hurt/kill team mates.

Won't this get a bit boring after a while ?

For me no, as you play on ranked servers you gain points, EA records these points and displays them in the main screen under the BFHQ. Using these stats you can see what your rank is, how far you need to go to the next and what medals/awards/ribbons you need to get and what is required to get them. This gives you goals in the game than to just run around shooting people. Some are easy to get while others are hard. The boring ones are the ones where you have to be playing for a total of say 100hrs for that class. There are many website that give you a better breakdown than EA such as www.bf2s.com.
If you get bored of this then you can also buy the expansion packs Euro Forces or Armoured Fury, these are small addons but there is another full game/expansion called Special Forces which is very good to play too.

So a quick summary of the gameplay is, you have to capture flags to win but can simply hunt enemy instead, you can use a number of vehicles and classes of soldiers to do so and you can play as a foot soldier, squad leader or commander. as you are doing all this you are gaining points and they are being stored for you to check your progress.

~ Soldier Class ~

Now you know a little about the game play I will breakdown the types of soldier you can be in a little more detail...

Special Operations (spec ops)

The sole purpose of this class of soldier is blow things up, this means bridges, AA guns, static rocket launchers, enemy, enemy vehicles and enemy equipment. What is mean't by equipment is the enemies Radar, UAV control and artillary. This class can protect itself with a knife, pistol, sub machine gun and hand grenades. This class has a long sprint and no body armour. Each weapon unlock is better than the previous regarding accuracy and power. The combination of weapons make this class one of the best to play in my opinion.

Sniper

This is my favourite class, it is slightly camoflaged and is equiped with a knife, pistol, sniper rifle, hand grenandes and 2 claymore mines. This is really the stealth class for hiding places and shooting enemies at long distance. To stop yourself being sneaked upon you can lay claymore mines nearby but be careful they are not too close otherwise you will die to. This class has a long sprint and no body armour. The first sniper rifle is basic, the second is an unlock which is more powerful but less accurate and can go through windscreens, the 3rd unlock is quiet with better accuracy but not as powerful as 2nd and can't go through glass.
Why would you want it to go through glass ? well it takes practice but you could shoot that helicopter pilot or the mad man trying to run you over. The sole purpose of this class though is to stay hidden and pick off easy targets.

Assault

This is the main combat class that is a good starting point into the game. It has a knife, pistol, sub machine gun with grenade launcher and smoke grenades. The gun is quite accurate but the grenade launcher takes a little practice. The launcher is commonly called "the noob tube". The reason being is that all new people usually use this class and use grenade launcher a lot. The launcher can take out enemy and certainly vehicles easily but cannot destroy armoured vehicles unless you have a supply nearby to keep topping your gun up. This class has a short print but has heavy body armour for protection in combat. The unlocks for this class are good depending on what you prefer, with the G3 you hand grenades instead of grenade launcher on gun, and the F2000 is accurate and has a launcher on it. If I ever go this class I always take the F2000.

Support

This class is used mainly for suppressive fire and to re-supply your team mates. You get a knife, pistol, light machine gun, hand grenades and a supply bag. The unlocks for this class improve accuracy but have other downfalls or vice versa. The best unlock for this class in my opinion is the 3rd unlock MG36. This class has a short sprint and heavy body armour as you spend time in combat. The re-supply bag can be used by holding to top your team mates ammo up or throw a bag on the floor for them to pick up, when you have no bags left there is like a recharge before you can supply more. Not only can you supply team mates on floor but you can supply them in vehicles by standing next to vehicle. This is a teamwork based class and best in a squad.

Medic

This is a very good class and has many uses but I woulsd say it is best in a squad. It has a knife, pistol, sub machine gun, hand grenades, defibrillator and a medic bag. This has a long sprint and no body armour which can be a pain as a lot of the time you are in combat trying to heal people. Healing works in the same way as supplying ammo. To revive someone you have to get the defibrillator out, wait for full charge and then press the fire button, if it don't work at first wait for full charge and try again. Not only can you use this to revive people but if you are caught with it in your hands why not use it on enemy, you can shock the enemy to death if you get close enough.

Engineer

This is a very handy class that has a long sprint and no body armour to get in and out of situations. This is not meant for combat but can deal some damage at close range especially when equipped with the automatice shotgun unlock. This class is equipped with a knife, pistol, shotgun, hand grenades, mines and a wrench. Mines are used for destroying any vehicles including tanks. The wrench is used for fixing things whether it be equipment or vehicles. This class is really good and would be much better if if had a better gun than a shotgun.

Anti-tank

This is one of if not my favourite class, it has short sprint and heavy bosy armour. This is mainly used an armoured vehicle buster but handle very well in close combat with the sub machine gun. It is equipped with a knife, pistol, sub machine gun and an anti tank gun(either SRAW or ERYNX). The launcher is very accurate and can be guided scopped or unscopped. It takes practice but you use unscopped enemy vehicles do not get a locking on alarm and won't know your there. One missile takes out most vehcles, two will take out an APC and 2-3 will take out a tank depending where you hit it. If you are feeling adventurous why not try and take out helicopters or planes.

~ Vehicles ~

As there are many vehicles in this game I will not list them all, each army has their own type but all follow near enough the same pattern in regards to what you get.

Buggy
Jeep
Humvee/Transport
APC
Tank
Helicopter - troop carrier and attack
Plane

Each vehicle has it's own purpose but can be used as and how you want to, my favourite would be the buggy but it is light and very fast which means it takes damage easily.
All vehicles have mounted guns on them and will vary from vehicle to vehicle andeach will carry at least 3 people.

So if you bored of being a foot soldier why grab a vehicle and have some fun.

~ Graphics ~

The computer graphics are very good but not fantastic, a lot of people pay attention to graphics whereas I think gameplay is more important which this certainly has. Although the machine specifications are not too high the game is very graphic card hungry. As an example I have a radeon 9800xt and can only play it on medium settings. Even on low settings the graphics are still quite good.

~ Programming Issue's ~

What do I mean by that ?

Well EA is very strict about the rules placed on ranked servers but haven't made steps to correct the programming to stop it happening in the first place. As an example spawn killing is not allowed.

This means that an enemy is sat near a spawn point waiting for people to spawn and killing them easily and gaining points.
To stop this from happening EA could have programmed into the game that when spawning you cannot kill or be killed for say 3-5 seconds, this means that for the first 3-5 seconds all you can do is run and hide, a small bit of code would fix this.

Another problem is base raping, what is that ? Some flags you cannot capture, reason for this is that they are your base and ensures that you can always spawn and join the combat. People like to attack these places with planes, helicopters or the commander using artillary on it to get easy kills. This once again could be sorted out with a small piece of code by cancelling out enemy fire at bases.

EA also state that commanders are there to command and not fly or use vehicles, so why don't EA correct it and add code that stops a commander staying in a vehicle for longer than a few seconds.

~ Package ~

What do you get altogether ?

Depending on what version you buy will depend on what you get, with my dvd version I got a nice little black dvd case, an instruction booklet with serial key on, an advertisement and the DVD game itself.

~ Cost ~

Price seems to ranger from £14.99 at play.com to £28 but I would say that you get a lot of game for that money and many hours worth of enjoyment.
Special forces expansion around £14.99
Euro Forces and Armoured Fury around £5.99 online only

~ Software Bugs !!! ~

Some of you may have heard that Battlefield 2 has a load of stability problems, well it's yes and no.

Prior to patch 1.3 most problems regarding crashes, disconnections from servers and many other issue's were down to PC problems that could be fixed.

One major cause for connection problems to BF2 servers were firewalls or router blocking ports BF2 needed and therefore causing timeouts and disconnecting. This still is an issue today but can be fixed by opening the ports.

Since 1.3 patch has been released there have been problems where servers randomly crash. The only way to know if the server crashed or it your game/pc did is to try and connect to server again.

Any problems with the game are minor and can be fixed either by yourself or in the case of patch 1.3 by EA.
For a good guide to fixing problems or advice see
http://www.tweakguides.com/BF2_1.html

BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO FIX ANY ISSUES MAKE SURE IT IS YOUR PC AND NOT A GAME BUG.

~ Specifications ~

The MINIMUM specification is:

1.7 GHz CPU
512mb RAM
1.4 shader model videocard being ATI Radeon 8500 or above with 128mb.
NVIDIA Geforce FX or above (Geforce 4 series will not work).
2.3gb of Hard Disk Space

The RECOMMENDED specification is:

2.5 GHz CPU
1 Gigabyte of RAM
Radeon X800 or higher with 256mb of ram
Geforce 6800 or higher with 256mb of ram

To give you a better idea I will provide some screen shots from my pc which is low-medium spec.

AMD 2800 64bit
1gb ddr
radeon 9800xt 256mb
16x dvd rom
 

...less