Battlefield 1942 is currently undergoing closed beta testing, and we here at
The Gamers' Temple have been lucky enough to take part in it. While the
game is not in its complete state, the test has given us the opportunity to try
out some of the game's multiplayer modes and get a close look at two of its
maps: Wake Island and Tobruk.
If you haven't heard of Battlefield 1942, here are the basics: it is a multiplayer online first-person shooter
set during World War II that will feature 16 maps representing some of the most
famous battles of the war. Players enter the game as a foot soldier for
one of the major combatants,
and have the opportunity to operate any of the many vehicles, tanks, planes, and
heavy weaponry found on the maps. Furthermore, players can select from one
of five different soldier classes before entering the game: medic, assault,
scout, anti-tank, and engineer. To read more about the basics of the game,
see our E3 preview of the game.
Currently, the game has three modes of play: conquest, team deathmatch, and
capture the flag. Before describing these modes of play, though, we should
explain a little about the flagged locations on the maps. Each map has
several key locations marked by a flagpole which flies the flag of the side that
controls it. Clear the enemy out of the vicinity of the flagpole and you
will capture it for your side. Control of the flagged locations is
critical, as these are the only sites at which players can respawn into the game
once killed.
In conquest games, one side is the attacker and the other the defender.
The defending side begins the game in control of all of the flagged map points,
and it is up to the attacking side to capture them. In addition, each side
is allocated a number of "tickets" which represent the available number of
respawns that can be used. While the defending side holds a flagged
location, it causes a slow drain on the attacking side's tickets. When the
attacking side captures a flagged location, the defender's ticket pool begins to
drain, but at a higher rate. The game continues until one side or the
other's ticket pool is empty.
In team deathmatch, each team's kills are tracked, and the team with the
highest kill total at the end of the game wins. The flagged locations are
still important in team deathmatch, as they still represent respawn points.
To prevent one side from being shut out of the game, in team deathmatch one
flagged location for each side can not be captured by the other. This
guarantees that one side won't be stuck on the sidelines while the other waits
for the timer to run down. Capture and control of flagged locations is
still important in this mode as the less respawn points that a side has, the
more vulnerable it is to the enemy. If a side is just down to its base, it
makes it easier for the other to concentrate its forces on a single location and
to begin to rack up the kills.
In capture the flag, two of the flagged locations are special flag sites.
Moving to the enemy's special flag site, capturing the flag, and returning it to
your own flag site results in a point. At the end of play, the side with
the highest point total wins.
The maps »
