Battlefield
1942 is a game unlike any other World War II action game that has come before
it. It recreates some of the action from the major battles of the war, on
the Pacific, North African, Western, and Eastern Fronts. As a soldier in
these battles you can drive a Jeep, man a tank, fly a plane, or fire the big
guns of a battleship. You have an unprecedented amount of freedom to fight
the battles on the land, sea, and air.
Before we go any further, I should point out that Battlefield 1942 is first
and foremost a multiplayer game. The game does come with a single-player
campaign, but it's really just a series of battles played out on the game's
different maps and not much different than playing the standalone single player
matches. The bot AI in single player play is inconsistent, and even when
the difficulty is cranked to its maximum settings will not provide a significant
challenge to action gaming veterans. While the game has its moments when
played alone, to really enjoy it in all its glory you need to go online.
If you're strictly a single player kind of person, then Battlefield 1942 will
probably not have the same degree of appeal as other action games with
full-blooded campaigns.
That being said, those of you multiplayer fans who have stuck around will be
in for a real treat. The number of weapons and vehicles in the game alone
would make it stand out from other action games. Tanks, half-tracks, SP
guns, Jeeps ... there are a lot of ways to get around. All of the vehicles
can be manned by more than one player, so you can have a gunner and driver,
and
even ferry a group of allies to the front lines. Control of all of these
vehicles is mouse-based and quite simple. If you can drive one vehicle,
then you can drive them all. The game stresses action over simulation, so
you never have to worry about starting vehicles up, changing gears, or mastering
the nuances of a two-track drive system. Just hop in and go!
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| The Americans move out. |
In addition to the vehicles, the maps feature a number of static gun
emplacements that include machine guns behind sandbags, in towers, or in
bunkers. You'll also find heavier weapons such as anti-tank and anti-air
guns, and even large shore battery canons. With a press of a key you can
man any of these weapons, and quickly disengage from them if things start to get
too hot.
The game also allows you to fly aircraft including both fighters and bombers.
Flying is not as easy as driving, though. The mouse-based flight control
takes some getting used to and there is not an easy way to practice it other
than creating a game without bots or other players and crashing a lot.
Everything else is so easy to control that it's disappointing that flying is so
tough to master. Some players may just find it too frustrating and just
keep their feet on the ground.
The game features ships on the invasion battle maps, but the only ones you
can take control of are the landing ships. Sorry, you can't beach a
battleship. You can however man the gun stations on the ships, which
include machine guns, AA guns, and the main battery guns of a battleship.
There are also aircraft carriers to launch planes at the enemy.
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