Raze's BF2 review.

It was a year and a half ago that I bought my copy of BF1942. This was my first game to purchace since quake2. I'd been out of the gaming arena for quite a while. After purchasing my copy of BF42 I was getting hooked on the game. Not only could you play your buds, but you had a wonderful singleplayer module where you could fight the battles of WW2. It was wonderful.

On top of that, you have a half way decent mapping utility, I tried my hand and created my first custom map. Ghost Front using Atomm's inspiration. It wasn't the greatest but It was still fun.

Not quite a year ago, I purchased my copy of BFVietnam. Again I was having a blast. It didn't have quite the singleplayer aspect as 42 but it was still fun. The visual's weren't quite as crisp but it had some cool new features like Over/Undergrowth and that addicting 3d map so I would quit killing my own guys by shooting them in the back. Many people grunted about the game, but it ran decent on my pc.

Again we had a mapping utility, just an upgrade of the 42 version it appeared. It was cool enough to put out some cool maps. I even got one that was picked up by a gaming tournament league, TWL. Eboney Eyes. Although my coolest map was corrupted by the editor I still had much fun with BFV.

Last month. I purchased my copy of BF2. Excited about the hype I had heard of the game and the cool mapping utilities to make your custom maps.

We'll in just a month I have been able to make my opinion of the game. The singleplayer aspect of the game does not exist. There is no campain or mission to follow in the game. The singleplayer aspect is just a map by map load of a bot enabled co-op. Online is much better than singleplayer but the physics are all off. 2 pouches of C4 can blow up a command trailer but a tank can empty it's full load on it and doesn't even dent it. A tank can shoot another tank, and take 2-3 shots to blow it up. A guy with a sholder mounted missile could take out the same tank with one shot. What is up with that. Don't get me wrong there are many new cool features in BF2, but they are not enough to impress me that much.

It has been a month now after the release of BF2. Where are these cool mapping tools so we can create our own custom maps?

The first patch for BF2 came out last week. It screwed up the game so much that EA recommends uninstalling the game and reinstalling it. What is up with that?

I think I wasted my $50 on purchasing this game. I have already warned my friends that do not have the game to not buy it.

EA/Dice I think you dropped a rotten egg this time.

I disagree with you Raze. Ghost Front was the Greatest! 😛

I haven't been able to take out a tank in a single shot with the anti tank missle, but I could take out a tank with 1 shot from a bazooka in BF42.

Wait until you get your broadband bro. Trust me, playing with your bud's online is more fun than it has ever been. There are some killer 16 player maps.

As for the way EA is handling the release, you are correct. It blows. However, BF2 is no different than the release of BF42 or BFV. The map editor from BF42? It was made by a player, then EA bought it, hired him and started having him release updates. The mod tools for BF42? Once again, made by the community and not EA.

I encourage you not to judge the game by the way EA does business or the lack of EA provided tools. The patch situation is the same as it was for both previous versions of Battlefield. Heck, it took over a year to get BF42 squared away.

Don't get me wrong. I am not defending EA. Personally, I think it is pure crap that they take so long in QA to only release a terrible patch. I also think a company that is run by the Marketing department should really take a long hard look at themselves today because the future may not be so bright. After a while, you realize anything EA says about a game before it's released is pretty much BS. Once you get past that, the squad based tactics for BF2 are some of the best I have ever had the pleasure of playing.

Oh and when those tools are released, I will lay money that you change your mind. At the very least, when the first WWII mod comes out, you will think twice about this game.

Raze, great review but you forgot to end it with
EA = Rat bastards.

Main Battle Tank 899 health points. A tank v. tank battle breaks down like this:

Hit to the front of the tank does 260 points damage = 4 hits
Hit to the sides of the tank does 350 points damage = 3 hits
Hit to the rear/top of the tank does 450 points damage = 2 hits

C4 does 700 points damage at the point of impact = 2 hits

Haven't been able to find the info for an anti-tank rocket, but I am working on the assumption that it does damage somewhat less than the MBT 120mm gun. We should test it out.

Let's put this short, the fix for their patch is to uninstall the game and reinstall. I haven't reinstalled yet. :twisted:

Wanna sell your game?

I've wasted a little over 24+ hours of my life playing it and aprox 3-4 fixing the damage the patch did and the reinstall of game, vid and sound card drivers. I dig it. I have more than a few issues with it but overall I'll take it. The POE guys claim the mod tools will be released by the end of the month. I can't wait for the mods, they're gonna be awesome.

EasyJesus wrote:I've wasted a little over 24+ hours of my life playing it and aprox 3-4 fixing the damage the patch did and the reinstall of game, vid and sound card drivers. I dig it. I have more than a few issues with it but overall I'll take it. The POE guys claim the mod tools will be released by the end of the month. I can't wait for the mods, they're gonna be awesome.

I've wasted a bit more than EJ, And have found Cox communications to be pissing me off. But yeah, I dig it. And Raze... where were you Saturday (reference: OKGG LAN)?? I'd have paid your way if I'd known you didn't have broadband to even try this thing online.

Otherwise, I feel your pain on the EA aspects. They do need to take a look at running their company from their marketing department. Another couple flops like this and they will be utterly despised by the gaming world, en mass.

As for the single player campaigns, seems they're saving that for the Playstation 2 and XBOX versions.... BASTARDS.

FPS is meant for a keyboard and mouse, EA! What on earth were you thinking giving the consoles exclusive content?!!.

I really think you are missing out Raze.

I don't think the BF series has ever had a very strong single player component. I would recommend Call Of Duty or Even MOH:Allied Assualt over it for a single player game.

What the battlefield games have done though is make you feel like you a single cog in a bigger war machine. I always feel like I'm controlling a single unit in an RTS game like Command and Conquer when I'm playing BF games.

BF2 release has been rocky, but so was BF42 when it first came out. That game was released with some of the worst netcode I've erver seen. It was impossible to find a server without serious lag. Once EA released the first patch a lot of those issues were fixed. I'm sure BF2 will be the same. But I'm really looking foward to the mods that come out. Especially with the EA putting so many restrictions on unranked servers and then charging an arm and a leg for the official server hosting.

I do agree though that currently the game has some serious balance and physics issues.

1) Helos are way over armored. I'm sorry but a blackhawk should not be able to withstand direct hits from shoulder fired rockets, let alone 2 or 3. The attack helos, are also overpowered. I've seen them get hit by 2 stinger missles and still keep on trucking.

2) Flags should not be able to be captured by hovering helos. I think creates lots of balancing issues and leads to endless flaghopping.

3) It's too easy to accidently kill teammates with vehicles. I have lost so many points because my teammates jump from a spec ops raft or buggy I was driving a second too soon.

4) No points are awared for destroying enemy arty, radar, etc. Why can't spec ops earn special ability ponts like medics, support, or engineers?

5) commanders should not be able to drop a resupply container next to their arty, UAV trailer, etc. to auto-repair them. This is really lame and eliminates the impact of a successfull spec ops mission deep behind enemy lines. A team should be forced to get an engineer on the ground to fix them.

There are plenty of other issues as well that will hopefully be addressed with mods or patches.