Battlefield 2142: Northern Strike is the first booster pack for Battlefield 2142 and gives the game’s fans three new maps to battle on, as well as an entirely new gameplay mode. Since you’re reading this review, I’ll assume that you own and enjoy Battlefield 2142 and are trying to determine if it’s worth the time and expense of purchase and download. The short answer is “yes”, especially since the just shy of $10 price is pretty easy to swallow, but let’s take a look at what your ten bucks gets you.

As the title implies, Northern Strike’s maps are set in Northern Europe which is in the grasp of the new Ice Age. This means that you get maps covered with snow and plenty of it. Each of the new maps has more character than simply being covered with a bunch of the white fluffy stuff, and in fact each provides a different experience. Port Bavaria is dominated by a mountaintop fortress that sits above a high cliff wall. You can try to work your way up the cliff although the going won’t be easy or opt for an assault pod ride to the top. The Bridge at Remagen is dominated by the titular bridge which funnels the opposing sides into a nice little chokepoint. Completing the trio of new maps is Liberation of Leipzig, which takes the fighting to the streets and alleyways of the city itself. All three maps are well-designed and each gives you a different experience by providing venues for different kinds of fights.

Speaking of different kinds of fights, there’s a new game mode included with the pack, assault lines. If you’ve played the previous incarnations of the Battlefield series, then this mode will feel a little familiar. Both sides are fighting to capture and hold special control points like in conquest mode, but in this case one side is designated as the defender and the other the attacker. The defender’s home base is a special control point that can only be captured once the attacker holds all of the other control points on the map.

Each faction gets a new vehicle in Northern Strike. For the EU it’s the Goliath, and it’s as big as its name implies. Slow, ponderous, and armed to the teeth, it has the ability to regenerate its armor which can make it quite formidable. Its weakness is that it’s armor regenerator it itself is vulnerable to enemy fire. The new PAC vehicle, the Hachimoto, is on the opposite end of the speed spectrum. It’s so fast that it will take you a little time to figure out how to drive it – at first you’ll feel like you’re riding on a hockey puck sliding across the ice.

In addition to all this, you get some new medals and unlockables, but the map load times don’t get any better. Sometimes it took so long to load a map that I was almost certain that the game had locked up. There seem to be plenty of Northern Strike servers up and running, so you’ll be able to find a game pretty easily once you download the expansion. And if you enjoy playing Battlefield 2142, then download it you should. You’ll get plenty of enjoyment out of it for just over $3 a map, a gaming bargain these days.

In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated: 88%. Northern Strike makes for a nice addition to Battlefield 2142 and should be snapped up by fans of the game.