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Battlefield 1942

Battlefield 1942
Reviewed by: trog
11:08am 09/08/06
20 member comments

Genre: First Person Shooter
Developer: Digital Illusions
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Classification: M15+
Consumer Advice: Recommended for mature audiences 15 years and over
Release Date: Unknown
Platforms: PC


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8.5
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MEMBER RATING:
Average of 297 Ratings

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The Good bits
- Excellent multiplayer game with massive 64 player battles
- Awesome graphics!
- Unique World War 2 game with a huge variety of weapons and vehicles
- Well-balanced gameplay
- Great in-game communication system
The Bad stuff
- Very average single player experience; basically multiplayer game with bots that have lousy AI
- Many users have reported performance issues
- Poor dedicated server software leads to poor network performance in some cases
- Outstanding bugs and crashes that need fixing
- No support to try and prevent team killing for friendly fire-enabled servers
- Need the CD in the drive to play! Argh!
Battlefield 1942 is the latest in an ever-growing line of World War 2 titles that are hitting the computer gaming world. Following on the heels of other very successful titles, such as Day of Defeat, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Battlefield 1942 promises all the World War 2 action you could possibly want - driving tanks across the African desert, battling the Nazi hordes in the ruins of Stalingrad, shooting down enemy planes over a Pacific Island, and more.

Battlefield 1942 is a significantly different gameplay style than any of its predecessors. The developers, Digital Illusions, chose to follow in the footsteps of one of their earlier titles, Codename Eagle. While not a huge success, it had a strong following of gamers that appreciated its fresh take on first person shooters - the ability to commandeer a variety of vehicles.

And it is no small variety: Battlefield 1942 offers no less than 35 different vehicles, including aircraft, tanks, jeeps, half-tracks, battleships and even submarines. There are five different character classes, each with their own weapon and kit, and each of which is essential to various aspects of the gameplay. As if that wasn't enough already, there are 16 huge, sprawling maps, each set in one of the main theatres of World War 2: North Africa, South Asia Pacific, Western Europe and Eastern Europe. As you can see, the feature list is huge, and it promises a lot - but does it deliver?

The Gameplay:

Battlefield 1942 offers both single player and multiplayer games. However, the single player game is basically the multiplayer maps with bots - no scripted events or storyline. Unfortunately, the bots themselves are very, very simple, and don't really offer much of a challenge, so gamers starting out with the single player aspect of the game might be disappointed. However, the glory shines in multiplayer, which is really what you should be buying this game for anyway. If you're after a World War 2 single player experience, this might not be the game for you - it is still fun, but just not as polished as some of the other available titles.

The general gameplay involves picking one of several classes: scout, assault, anti-tank, medic, or engineer. Each time you spawn, you can select a different class, so you can adapt fairly rapidly to the needs of the battle. Each of the classes comes with their own weapon, as well as some specific items allowing them to perform certain tasks. For example, scouts ship out with a sniper rifle and binoculars, which can be used to call in artillery strikes or shelling from battleships. Engineers carry land mines and dynamite, in addition to their rifle, and have the ability to repair damaged vehicles and gun emplacements.

Even when you just consider the differences in the troops, you're looking at a pretty decent game right there. Add in all the vehicles and other weapons (such as massive fixed artillery guns, anti-aircraft guns, and machine guns) plus huge maps, and everything is starting to get really tasty.

Next: The Gameplay, Graphics and Audio...
Comments
8.8
Game Comment by filthycow

Definately the best game i ever purchased i still find myself going back to it even after purchasing coall of duty 4 and world at war. With so much variety this game is perfect to play. From having huge dogfights in the air over britain to bombarding tanks in africa this game offers so much to the average person. the guns also have the right amount of accuracy so that snipers cant be spammed from 2km away. Great maps include omaha a great classic always fun to hop in the jeep and cap that back flag and smashing the germans. Liberation of cian is another great map where you can become a paratrooper from canada and kill some nazis and a map that tanks dont need to worry about planes. Knife fights are also a definate bonus they are very difficult making it better than the normal auto single stab if u aim close enough. Medics are great fun and cruising around in a jeep clearing out a spawn and buildings and cruising to the next never gets old. overall best game ive ever bought


10
Game Comment by nheyer

one of the best game out still to this day and love the extra mods and maps which makes it interesting


10
Game Comment by MajorShavSki

awesome the only game ea has got right it really does make a gameing experience quite fun and has seen some very epic battles take place also the game being 20 dollars now and bf2 being released i see it dieing of for a while time ppl get ova bf2 just like they did bfv and yes i do believe bf1942 is the best game out..


8.0
Game Comment by Space Ninja

Battlefield 1942 was a game which appeared to take a look at another game from earlier years which was named Codename Eagle - a game which I was introduced to at a LAN and loved playing every minute of it. BF1942 is a great game which introduced new aspects to the common FPS format. With the addition of user pilotable cars, tanks, boats and aircraft and the strong emphasis on teamplay for both online and offline the game proved very fresh and popular.


8.0
Game Comment by -- Bu113t Magn3t --

This game has something for everyone, from infantry combat to tanks and fighter aircraft. It also encorages a theme of cooperation, wher e multiple players control different parts of the same vehicle. This is a very enjoyable game with a very long play life.


9.0
Game Comment by 007

In Battlefield 1942 you have two sides to choose from, the Allies, which consisted of the USA, UK and Russia, or the Axis, which were the Germans and Japanese. From either side you can choose from five classes each having different tools and weapons. Also there are a huge variety of tanks, artilleries, jeeps, planes and ships to choose from. In the Campaign there are four theatres of war that one plays, the Pacific, North Africa, Eastern and Western Europe. There are 16 missions within the Campaign.


9.0
Game Comment by Searcher

A more'ish type game, once completing a battle there is the desire to complete one more battle or to do better in the same battle. There is a good progression of battles in varying locations with different objectives, which require different strategies.


9.0
Game Comment by P3T3R

The first game to encompass maps and landscapes on such a large scale as well as the diverse range of vehicles planes which one can choose from. I can remember with fervour playing the BF1942 demo when it came out, flying a Zero and stalking the American Corsairs from the sky - such fun.


9.0
Game Comment by Prof.AH

Battlefield 1942 is as stated a war game, which was released a few years ago, and if I can remember correctly it was one of the first online games where you could interact totally with the simulated environment. ie: operate any machinery or vehicle.


7.0
Game Comment by menty

This is a great game, endless possibilities for mods, and the BF42 community is great.


10
Game Comment by cataclastic

I like it because funny things happen online


9.0
Game Comment by Gekko

Great game to play with friends and not too bad mods available.


10
Game Comment by Jase

i thought overall the game was awesome


7.0
Game Comment by Undercover_Brother

Battlefield 1942 was indefinitely ea games, game of the year. In 2002 the world of gaming had never seen such a quality game to hit its shelves since such rpg's like morrowind were created. It undoubtidly knocked out most of the competition, becoming VERY popular at most LAN gaming places. The mix of a first person shouter and combining it with a real war time history appealed to the market. Releasing a new meaning to the category of real war time history. many new technology breakthroughs were being created back in 2002 also competing with the ever increasing console market brought gamers back to the pc. This left quality graphics and not to mention compatible with most computer systems. The sound was pretty mediocre to say the least however, from what i heard the voice command system was a hit and simply playing iTunes or Windows Media Player stopped this probolem. But good ambient world sounds. A flaw may have been the swimming sound and the way the players swam. But, what made this game such a quick hit was the ability to revolutionise the use of adsl and cable internet not to mention LAN to connect a seamless unlimited supply of players to join the game. Most with a dial-up connection had no lag probolems connecting to servers with good pings. however, with every video game it is inevitable that a successor will come out in the near future Battlefield 2 also makes advantage of DICE video system which halped the jaggies which anti-aliasing improved.


10
Game Comment by Suicide

Awsome game, i enjoyed that you can jump in any land, air or sea vehicle


1.0
Game Comment by Crazyman

A very Good Game Cannot wait to get number 2


10
Game Comment by Asuka

Ususually a game is doomed to mediocrity when it is released completley devoid of any single player aside from bot matches with what could possibly be the worst AI EVER, I hazard to say the AI is on par with your average toaster. Yet, the multiplayer is so damn good that it destroys this misconception with regular distain. BF42 is without doubt a genre pioneer as it incorporates vehicles and infantry in perfect precision to face off vs enemy players in a battle to the death where map and class balance seem the focus.


8.0
Game Comment by maximus

Generally an enjoyable game with unlimited fun


10
Game Comment by Bigger_H

Well what can i say its the best.


9.0
Game Comment by 4M1dAb|E

a good game. best when playing online or over lan with friends cause of the wide range of choices you can make. a real seller which hundreds of thousands will enjoy.


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