Battlefield 2

[Platinum.]

 

 

 

____/ Game Information \____________________

 

Title: Battlefield 2

Developer: EA Games

Console(s): PC

Players: 1-64

Genre: Tactical Shooter/First Person Shooter

PEGI Rating: 16+

Learning Curve: Basic Understanding: 1 hour // Full Knowledge: 1 week

 

____/ Multimedia \____________________

 

428 Screenshots (Courtesy of Gamespot)

 

32 Videos (Courtesy of Gamespot)

 

Battlefield 2 v.1.01 Patch

 

Battlefield 2 v.1.02 Patch

 

Battlefield 2 v.1.03 Patch

 

Battlefield 2 v.1.12 Patch

 

Battlefield 2 v.1.2 Patch

 

 

____/ System Requirements \____________________

 

Minimum System Requirements:

 

System: 1.7 GHz or equivalent

RAM: 512 MB

Video Memory: 128 MB

Hard Drive Space: 2300 MB

Other: Geforce 3 or better, XP Only MB

 

Reccomended System Requirements:

 

System: 2.4 GHz or equivalent

RAM: 1024 MB

Video Memory: 256 MB

 

 

 

____/ Overview \____________________

 

Battlefield 2 is a realistic army shooter with tactical squad play and very team based gameplay. Released on the 21st of June 2005, it's getting quite old now but still remains the best massively multiplayer shooter to date. Featuring 12 maps that set you in vast locations all over the globe, and three armies to play as (United States Marine Core, Middle Eastern Collision, Peoples Liberation Army).

 

____/ Graphics \____________________

 

 

Graphically, this game is one of the best to date, thats if you're PC is good enough to handle it. You'll need a well above average PC to be able to even run the game, let alone have all the settings strechted to the top. Battlefield 2 was specifially made to accompany the Nvidia GeForce™ series, with any card over the 6800GT being able to run the game well. If you can afford to run this game at it's best, then the sheer detail of the weapons, terrain and character models will blow you're mind away. Little things like being able to read the engraved writing on you're weapon, to watching the dust kick up as a transport vehicle accelarates away really add to the feeling of realism which all adds up to a very big factor in the game.

 

I give it an 9.5/10 for it's visual eye candy.

 

____/ Sound \____________________

 

Ah, the sound. A Jarheads bliss. The explosive sound of artillery exploding all around you, to the sounds of a nearby helicopter flying overhead, to the sound of bullets from an enemys weapon wizzing past you're head. It's all there. The sounds that emit from the weapons are immense, and really make you get a sense of power and strength from the firearm. It's also nice to hear you're team mates shouting to each other over the sort of intercom system, in which players can issue requests or demands to their team mates. Being engulfed in a huge 30 man firefight and hearing you're teamates scream for a Medic really gives you a feeling of panic and chaos. It's perfect. It's a 10/10 for me.

 

____/ Gameplay \____________________

 

Gameplay is what Battlefield 2 is all about. Even with the graphics so perfect and the sound so ear shattering and real, compared to the extremely eventful gameplay they seem like icing ontop of an amazing gameplay and chocolate cake.

 

Right. Where do I begin? The gameplay definetly makes Battlefield 2 one of the funnest, if not the funnest game out.

When the game starts, you'll be able to choose from 7 army kits for when you spawn. These are:

 

Special Operations: The Special Ops kit is ideal for behind enemy lines infiltrations. This kit comes equipped with a Knife, Pistol, Carbine, Grenades and C4 (explosive device) Special Ops are very effective in one on one close combat situations, using their silenced Carbines to blow holes in any enemy soldier in the way of their goal. Perfect for taking over flags and blowing up key enemy weapons such as the Artillery guns and UAV scanners.

 

Sniper: The Sniper kit is obviously used for picking off enemies from a long distance, and spotting enemy troops, vehicles and aircrafts for troops to be able to see on their radars. If used in the hands of a skilled player, the sniper rifle can do deadly damage to the enemy and features one shot kills if the bullet makes contact with the targets head ("BEWM! HEADSHAWT!"). Be careful though, Snipers are vunerable to being crept upon from behind by the enemy and knifed. Yes, there are cocky sh*ts online that like to do this, so watch you're back when using this kit. It comes equipped with a Knife, Pistol, Sniper Rifle, Grenades and Claymore Mines (You can use these useful mines to blow up anybody that stands on/near them. Useful for placing near the ladder of a building you've just climbed to stop enemys from getting up there with you).

 

Assault: These equipped little buggers are pakced with a: Knife, Pistol, Assault Machine Gun with built in Grenade Launcher, Grenades and Flashbang Grenades (If thrown at the enemy, it causes them to momentarily see only white as they run around blind, you can just easily shoot them before their vision returns. Depending on how close the grenade is when it explodes near the enemy soldier determines how long the effect will last. Unfortunately, often people like to overwhore the grenade launcher, but if you're quick you can often kill them with a few nicely placed head shots before they can even spin round. The Assault kit also has extra body armour which results in them having more health, but they cannot sprint for as long.

 

Support: The Support kit contains some of the biggest portable guns you will find in the game. Even though the Support kit is slow, the weaponary makes up for all of that. This kit comes equipped with a Knife, Pistol, Machine Gun, Grenades, Ammo Packs and Smoke Grenades. This machine gun is very powerful, but lacks accuracy and mobility. However, if you become mastered at using this kit (like a certain man I know) then you can mow down multiple enemy soliders at a time. The clip is huge and you will rarely need to reload, but after firing continuosly for about 12 seconds you're gun will overheat and need a few seconds to cool down before you can begin massacring again. The smoke grenades come in handy to cover you're position, and then you can unload a whole magazine into the enemy soliders without them being able to see you. However, it does take a while to master the art of the machine guns in this kit (unfortunately, made a lot easier by EA's new patch). It is also the Support's job to supply ammo to the rest of the team mates.

 

Engineer: This kit is used for repairing you're team mates veichles, artillery guns and the UAV scanner. It comes equipped with a Knife, Pistol, Shotgun, Grenades and Mines that can only be set off by vehicles, so you can run over them on foot with no effect. The repairman can also fix bridges and the shotgun is highly effective for very close range combat situations, but only that. It's very inaccurate over long distances.

 

Medic: The Medic is the healer of you're team. Equipped with a Knife, Pistol, Assault Rifle, Grenades, Health Packs and Shock Pads, they have the ability to heal you're teams soldiers and even bring them back to life within 15 seconds of them being critically wounded. The Assault Rifle that comes with this kit is you're average rifle really. Medium Damage and Accuracy, it does fairly well over short and long distances. The health packs are thrown at you're team mates to heal them, and if you see a team mates body lying motionless on the ground, if you run over in time you can revive them with you're shock pads. It's a good kit to use for helping out the main soliders by healing and reviving them after major firefights.

 

Anti-Tank: The Anti-Tank kit is obviously used to destroy enemy tanks and road vehicles. This kit comes equipped with a Knife, Pistol, Shotgun, Anti-Tank Missiles, Grenades and Mines. This kit is slow and cannot sprint for as long because it's weighed down by the huge anti tank missiles and all the armour. The shotgun comes in useful for close range combat, and the Anti Tank missiles obviously are extremetly effective against tanks, and it's important to destroy them as quickly as possible as a tank has the ability to wipe out you're whole team. The mines are obviously used to destory enemy tanks and vehicles.

 

You can respawn as any one of these kits after you die. Now, once you've chosen which kit you would like to use you join the battle by selecting one of the Spawn Points, known as Flags. The objective of every game is to capture all of the other teams flags, or make the other team use up all of their tickets. The ticket number shows how many times the team can respawn it's soldiers, when it reaches zero it means no one from their side can respawn so the other team will win. If you capture all of the other teams flags it means they cannot spawn from anywhere and therefore, you will have won. Dosen't sound very in-depth, does it? Well you're very very wrong to think that.

 

Battlefield 2 promotes teamwork. The ability to create and join squads is an important feature of Battlefield 2. If you create a squad, people will join it and you will be able to issue them instructions to follow. If you join a squad, then of course the Squad Leader of that squad will issue you commands to follow. You can respawn on the Squad Leaders position as long as he is alive, so it is handy to have a few Medics in you're squad to revive you all after a big firefight. You can also request orders from the Squad Leader, if he hasn't issued you some already, or you feel that new ones are in order. Unfortunately, it's quite rare that you find a server that people actually join squads and play with teamwork. But there are a few out there that are Battlefield 2 heaven.

 

Now, you may ask who commands the Squad Leaders in what they do? Of course, this would be the Commander.

 

The Commander has his own special screen in he can Scan the map and find all the enemy soliders locations. Once he knows where they all are, he can order an Artillery Strike on them. Of course, this only works if you're artillery guns are still intact. If the enemy has destroyed them you will have to request a repairman to fix them for you, or manually respawn as a Repairman and do it yourself. You can also order UAV Scans on an area with a lot of enemy soliders, which will show up on all you're teamates radars displaying to them where all the enemy soldiers in the area marked on the radar are. This is very useful. The Commander can also drop Supplies onto a location where a lot of you're teamates are. Once the Supply Box has landed, you're team mates can stand near it and it will replenish their health and give them more ammo. Commanders aren't supposed to fight out with the soldiers, they are supposed to hang right back in you're base and command orders from a mile away.

 

So, you've joined a Squad and have been ordered to take over a certain flag. You can either try and grab yourself a transport vehicle or tank to get you there, or walk on foot with the rest of the troops in you're squad. There's no feeling better than sitting in the back of a truck with 5 other Squad members as the Driver takes you directly into the enemy base and you attempt to take over the flag. To take over a flag, simply stand near it and a bar will appear showing the status of the flag. Wait for the bar to empty first and you will have taken the post from the enemy and the flag will be "Neutrual" meaning no one can spawn off of it. Now wait for the bar to fill again and when it does you will be informed that you have captured the flag. You're teamates can now spawn from the flags location and you will now move onto the next one, of course meeting lots of enemy troops, veichles and coming across huge explosive covered bridges which you will have to find another way to get round. It's all very fun, and it gives you a feeling of achievement and honour when you overcome the odds and you're team triumph over the other.

 

Battlefield 2 is highly addictive due to an in-depth ranking system. While playing the game, one of the main goals you have is earning "Global Points". You achieve Global Points for a number of things, such as killing enemy soldiers, taking over flags, supplying ammo to you're team, healing and reviving them, etc etc. At the end of the round all you're Global Points are added up and added to you're total Global Score. As you earn Global Points, you promotions and weapon unlocks. You start off as a Private, and as you get promoted up the ranks you become such things as Corporals, Sergeants and even Lieutenant's if you're really good. It's possible to have points deducted from you're score by team killing, accidently or not.

 

Overall, the Gameplay is very very in-depth and involving, and you have to play it to fully realise how brilliant it is. However, brilliant it may be, frustration is a mood which becomes unavoidable when playing online. When shooting at an enemy and some n00b team mate runs into you're line of fire, or you get APC whores (APC = tanks), Grenade Launcher whores and annoying C4 suicide bombers that will blow up you're whole squad including himself just to add points to his Global Score.

 

Asides from that, this game is flawless, brilliant, a mastepiece, pure genious that you will be playing on for a long long time. I rate it 10/10

 

____/ Summary \____________________

 

Whether you're a fan of shooters in general, or online games, you definetly need to have this game in you're possesion. All I can say is that I promise you will not regret buying this game, it's well worth the money.

 

Battlefield 2 is awarded a 9.8/10 from me. However magnificent this game is, there is still always room for improvement, and in a few years from now I'm eagerly awaiting Battlefield 3. (Title Unconfirmed)

 

I'd also like to add that GTAForums has purchased a Battlefield 2 server, which is very popular and almost always full of forum regulars. This server is very fun to play on, and the members are very friendly. I'd reccomend joining it if you've got this game, it's very entertaining. To view the Official Battlefield 2 topic, click here.

 

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Cheers.

Edited February 18, 2006 by Platinum.

[anuj]

Great review. Very indepth. Although I'd like to add that the SpecOps kit contains an assault rifle, and not a subby.

 

Good rating for having written so much.

[DaRotor]

I think nuj means Carbine, not assault. And medic's have a Assault rifle rather than a SMG.

 

Nice reveiw platty. There are some thing which are technically incorrect, but yeah, good job. If people are thinking about this game, get it. GTAF has a awesome BF2 community, and, as Plat mentioned, we recently started to rent our own server. So if you try to shoot down Datalord, then mowed down by Admiral's (daz) PKM, revived be me only to be mistakenly backed into be MMMS's tank, then grab a copy and get on the server.

Edited February 18, 2006 by DaRotor

[anuj]

I think nuj means Medic not SpecOps. Nice reveiw platty. There are some thing which are technically incorrect, but yeah, good job. If people are thinking about this game, get it. GTAF has a awesome BF2 community, and, as Plat mentioned, we recently started to rent our own server. So if you try to shoot down Datalord, then mowed down by Admiral's (daz) PKM, revived be me only to be mistakenly backed into be MMMS's tank, then grab a copy and get on the server.

No, I meant SpecOps. The EF SpecOps may contain a submachine gun, but the US/MEC/PLA kits all have assault rifles.

[DaRotor]

I think nuj means Medic not SpecOps. Nice reveiw platty. There are some thing which are technically incorrect, but yeah, good job. If people are thinking about this game, get it. GTAF has a awesome BF2 community, and, as Plat mentioned, we recently started to rent our own server. So if you try to shoot down Datalord, then mowed down by Admiral's (daz) PKM, revived be me only to be mistakenly backed into be MMMS's tank, then grab a copy and get on the server.

No, I meant SpecOps. The EF SpecOps may contain a submachine gun, but the US/MEC/PLA kits all have assault rifles.

They have carbines. The M4, AK74U, whatever the PLA one is, and the G36C are carbines. Subtle difference between assualt rifle snad carbines, but a difference none the less.

[Waste]

I think nuj means Medic not SpecOps. Nice reveiw platty. There are some thing which are technically incorrect, but yeah, good job. If people are thinking about this game, get it. GTAF has a awesome BF2 community, and, as Plat mentioned, we recently started to rent our own server. So if you try to shoot down Datalord, then mowed down by Admiral's (daz) PKM, revived be me only to be mistakenly backed into be MMMS's tank, then grab a copy and get on the server.

No, I meant SpecOps. The EF SpecOps may contain a submachine gun, but the US/MEC/PLA kits all have assault rifles.

They have carbines. The M4, AK74U, whatever the PLA one is, and the G36C are carbines. Subtle difference between assualt rifle snad carbines, but a difference none the less.

But to the uninformed, they are assault rifles.

[Smellton]

I really think it can improve on the offline play, the game is not very exciting unless you play it online.

[Waddy]

Nice guide, maybe speak to Trows and see if he will merge it into the BF2 thread, Im always getting asked about the requirements and stuff of BF2, woulf be good to just direct them to the BF2 topic.

 

Nice work Platty.

[Platinum.]

Thanks for you're comments guys.

 

I'll edit the Spec Ops main weapon to a Carbine and the Medics to an Assualt rifle, yeah?

 

EDIT: Corrected lots of spelling mistakes, such as my spelling of "veichles" etc.

Edited February 18, 2006 by Platinum.

[Rayo Puño]

Great review. If you were to give it any less than a 9.5 I would have to kick you.

[Trows]

Good stuff, and it would be nice if I had permission to grab some of the stuff (kit definitions, specs, some other bits) for the topic.

[MyMothersMySister]

Great review Platty my son. I would have rated it a little lower due to some bugs and glitches but I must admit, Myself and many other members of this forum are hooked.

[Platinum.]

Oh Trows, only just saw you're post, you'd of course got permission to use anything in this review in the official BF2 topic.

[Daz]

Anti tank comes with a sub machine gun. Not a shotgun. Thats an unlock.

 

God palty you are such a nub.

[original gangster]

Great review Platty, set out nice like a Gamespot review. I probably would've given it a slightly lower score due to the Singleplayer mode, but good review .

[Platinum.]

Anti tank comes with a sub machine gun. Not a shotgun. Thats an unlock.

 

God palty you are such a nub.

WHY DONT YOU SHUT UP! I'll edit it in now.

 

OGLoc: Cheers mate.