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Battlefield 2142, PC (2006)[/SIZE]
BF2142 is a great addition to the highly acclaimed Battlefield series. This game is based on the Battlefield 2 game engine and goes for a more futuristic, sci-fi look. You could say, it’s just a futuristic version of the very popular Battlefield 2 game, but I think it’s so much more than that. Here’s why:
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Backstory[/SIZE]
The game is quite obviously set in the year 2142, when Earth is in turmoil as mankind is thrown into the ice age. The superpowers of the world have joined together to form two coalitions (EU and PAC) and battle it out for the remaining resources that have been untouched by the ever spreading ice.
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Gameplay[/SIZE]
This is quite basically an online multiplayer first person shooter. Much like its predecessor, this game supports up to 64 players in the same battle for crazy online multiplayer fun.
You play as a soldier from either of the two sides: EU (European Union) or the PAC (Pan Asian Coalition). You’re probably thinking “What?! There’s no America side this time!” Well, you’re right, but who’s to complain? - unless you’re a patriotic American.
BF2142 features 3 game modes, two of which are new to the series. The first is the classic conquest mode, where you battle it out (pointlessly!) for control of flag points. The aim of the game is to reduce the other sides “tickets” to 0 before they do the same to your team. Then there’s the new Titan mode which showcases cool new Titans, which are floating battle-carriers in the sky. You have to fight for command of strategic missile silos which regularly launch missiles at the enemy Titan to take down their shields, whilst defending your team’s own Titan.
Above image: futuristic air transport being blown up by a camping noob in a colossal TitanThe third game mode is similar to conquest, except there are attackers and defenders. As attacker, you have to capture some specific flag-points first before you can capture the final enemy “home-base”, which rarely happens, unless the defending team is really rubbish.
[SIZE="3"]Weapons[/SIZE]You get a variety of weapons ranging from pistols and grenades, to uber-tastic-looking assault rifles and rocket launchers. Each weapon has its advantages and disadvantages so you have to learn to exploit each to its full potential depending on your surroundings and situation.
Above image: Two EU soldiers using their uber-tastic-looking guns![SIZE="3"]Ranking System[/SIZE]There is a ranking system in BF2142 much like military ranks. You gain ranks by scoring points. Points aren’t just earned by killing enemy players, they can be earned by healing or resupplying a team member, or capturing strategic command flags.
As you gain a rank, you get to unlock weapons as they’re not all available to you at the start. One of these unlockable weapons is the frag grenade which is a bit silly.
There is also an award system, where you get medals for completing arduous tasks such as getting 30 kills with the assault class in one match. The ranking and award systems are perfect, it isn’t too hard to gain ranks and the awards give you something to keep on shooting for, even after you’ve got all the ranks up to general, which isn’t too hard at all, just takes time.
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Classes[/SIZE]
There are four classes to choose from. Assault/medic, engineer/anti-vehicle, support and recon/sniper. All four classes have different weapons and special abilities, which encourage players to work as a team. For example, the assault class can dish out medic hubs to heal others, while the support class can give out ammo hubs to replenish supplies for weapons. Therefore, sticking together as a team can improve chances of victory.
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Vehicles[/SIZE]
A great thing about the Battlefield series is the vehicles. These range from simple jeeps and tanks to futuristic gunships and walkers/mechs which strike fear in the heart of any enemy player.
Although not encouraged, one of my favourite things to do in Battlefield 2142, is to load a jeep with many remotely detonated explosives, drive rapidly into a walker, get out just before the jeep and walker collide and detonate all the explosives right next to the poor soldier controlling the walker. In the BF2142 gaming community, this has been labelled “Jihad jeeping”! Which is funny, but a bit offensive to some Muslims out there.
Here is a link to a YouTube video demonstrating the hilarity of the so-called "Jihad Jeeping": [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpuAk46rqyw"]
[SIZE="2"]>>Jihad Jeeping!<<[/SIZE][/URL]
(Sorry about this previously incorrect link, I've fixed it now)
Above image: two soldiers standing beneath a walker. Looks like the guy standing directly beneath the walker is about to be pwned by the other guy from behind![SIZE="3"]
Presentation[/SIZE]
Although based on the old Battlefield 2 game engine, this game still looks good by 2008 standards. Vehicles are great to looks at, especially when you see them get destroyed and blown up into pieces. Soldiers’ movements can look a tad bit jerky and unrealistic at times, but nonetheless character models and weapons still look cool.
This game doesn’t require a behemoth of a machine to play with graphics turned up to high or medium settings which is still satisfying to the eye, unlike the infamous Crysis’s system requirements.
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Sound[/SIZE]
Sound is awesome. If you turn up the sound settings to high, the sounds of gunships’ thrusters and weapons firing constantly sound great. You can also use the in-game voice commands, such as calling for a “Medic!” or “Need ammo!” or “enemy spotted!” which is very useful indeed when you want to work effectively as a team. Plus you can always plug in a mic if you want to get serious with teamwork or play in a clan.
My only complaint with the sound in this game is that soldiers are supposed from the EU and PAC, but there are only two accents in the game: stereo-typical British and Russian. The PAC side actually speak Russian anyway, but I expected more of a range of accents from the EU side. I’m pretty sure that not all EU soldiers are from England. Sometimes, I feel like I wouldn’t be surprised if the EU soldiers started to say “Oh deary me, I seem to have been shot in the tummy… Medic!” Or, “Frag out! Oh, and could you pour us a cup of tea, there’s a good lad – Jolly ho’ mate!” or “Tally-ho!” whenever you eject from an air vehicle.
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System Requirements[/SIZE]
Battlefield 2142 Minimum System Requirements:* 1.7 Ghz CPU
* 512 MB RAM
* 128 MB video card supporting 1.4 shaders (ATI Radeon 8500 / NVIDIA FX 5700 or above)
* Windows XP Operating System (does not work on Windows 2000/Me)
Battlefield 2142 Recommended System Requirements* 2.66 Ghz CPU
* 1024 MB RAM
* 256 MB video card supporting 1.4 shaders (ATI Radeon X700 / NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT
or above) * Windows XP Operating System (does not work on Windows 2000/Me)
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Overall Score: 8/10[/SIZE]
BF2142 doesn’t introduce anything amazingly new to the multiplayer shooter genre, but it’s a decent online shooter nonetheless. There are still patch updates being released for this game, and many people still play on the servers, although there were never as many servers as there still are for Battlefield 2.
You can get this game for about £20 new in the shops or a used one for very cheap online off Amazon or Ebay, so I recommend playing this game if you have a half-decent PC and want to have some multiplayer-fun-action-gaming mayhem. This game is a blast.
Above image: a recon class soldier seemingly using a sniper rifle to cause a gunship in the far distance to explode![/QUOTE]
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