Thankfully the effectiveness of individual players isn't hampered by the team-based format.
Battlefield 1942 is full of exactly this kind of enjoyment.
The sense of teamwork and opportunity for cooperation added immeasurably to both games. For me the best parts of HALO or Medal of Honor were when you found yourself side by side with friendly soldiers. It works much the same for your own teammates as you join up with small squads and take the fight to the enemy. You get a real sense of waves of opponents coming at you, but the fact that each new wave is composed of guys killed in the last one, gives the game an intimacy and familiarity that puts a face and name on the conflict. With a group of ten or twelve soldiers on a side, the action expands to seem like part of a much larger battle. This constant but controlled spawning makes the game seem larger than it is. Respawning also deletes your team's tickets thereby making constant suicide attacks ultimately self-defeating.
But the spawns come in windows so you may find yourself sitting out of the action for anywhere from a few seconds to half a minute. Players can respawn at any flag controlled by their own team. Battlefield 1942 also benefits from a relaxed yet sensible spawn system.
While the Shermans are distinct from the Panzers in terms of performance, the basics of their operation are exactly the same. The somewhat sim-heavy aspects of games like World War 2 Online or Operation Flashpoint are done away with here in favor of a more elemental (some would say generic) control system. It's this freedom to jump in and out of roles in the midst of battle and adapt to the ebb and flow of the battle that makes Battlefield 1942 so accessible. Some maps even place a given team in the midst of a flotilla of ships that can be driven and commanded by players. At each team's base of operations (and many of the smaller bases gathered around the flags), there can be a number of tanks, planes or ships that you can jump in and pilot. Various player kits and vehicles let you dictate the role you'll play in the coming battle. Once a team's tickets reach zero, they loose. By holding a certain percentage of flags, you can force your opponents' tickets to decrease. The teams each start with a certain number of tickets (which is apparently what they called "points" back in the forties). Your team is tasked with occupying and defending a few flag points located on each map. Each theater has four missions pitting a pair of opponents against each other. Spread across the four main theaters of the War, the game lets you join up with one of the five major combatants - the Americans, British, Germans, Russians and Japanese. Equal parts Tribes and Medal of Honor, Battlefield 1942 is a team-oriented shooter that puts the emphasis on action and puts the action in the various theaters of World War 2. But while the fun of the multiplayer sessions has us effectively chained to our desks pleading for "just one more match," the single player game leaves much to be desired.įor those of you who don't know, Battlefield 1942 is the latest game from DICE and EA and one that we haven't been able to stop playing.
As Ivan pointed out in his first impressions piece last week, it's gratifying to see so many people who normally just lounge on the fringe of PC gaming become so passionate about this game. Some of us would even say it's one of the most enjoyable games we've played in any year. On the strength of the demo alone, anybody here at IGN would have to name Battlefield 1942 as one of the most enjoyable games we've played so far this year.