Battlefield 2: Modern Combat

If you’ve never heard of the Battlefield series you’ve never lost nights of sleep to the online multiplayer heaven that was Battlefield 1942 on the PC. It is this series that has introduced a playground filled with an impressive number of gamers on the screen at once with two sides fighting against each another. Now the series has come to the PlayStation 2 with Battlefield 2 and while it’s not quite like its PC counterpart the multiplayer action will hook you immediately.

Battlefield 2 is best played online and with a whopping 24 players on screen at the same time it will assure PS2 gamers a real party. Unfortunately there are only two online multiplayer modes: Conquest and Capture the Flag. It’s not quite SOCOM, but then again the real beauty lies with the game’s action that moves along at a steady framerate thanks to the Broadband-only connection and the real sense of teamwork that goes into each match. Conquest has you and your selected teammates attempting to take control of certain points throughout the selected map so the remaining players that manage to survive and take control of a majority of the area wins. Capture the Flag is self explanatory, really.

It wouldn’t be a Battlefield without the use of vehicles and there are plenty of land, sea and air vehicles in the game that you and your teammates can pilot. The best part is that while one player drives the other can man the guns. There are even boats to use in the maps with large bodies of water and you can even pilot a helicopter. Players can even call in an artillery strike when really needed. There are also over a dozen maps that are pretty massive in scope and there are weapons aplenty to use. Play well and the game even rewards you with medals that will inevitably earn you higher ranks for bragging rights. There are five different troop types that have their own distinct specialty. There’s the sniper, the assault trooper, the special ops specialist, the engineer (to repair vehicles) and the support soldiers. Making good use of each troop type will certainly prove valuable on the battlefield.

Control-wise the game is not hard to figure out and that’s not a bad thing at all. Simplicity just allows more time to concentrate on the action and it works well in a game that’s fast paced. It might not feel like the PC game but the action is still just as addictive. Aside from the online multiplayer mode there’s also a single-player campaign mode complete with its own story and a healthy number of missions. Like the multiplayer mode you play the role of NATO troops as well as Chinese soldiers. Taking a page from SOCOM or Rainbow Six, the campaign mode concentrates on a future conflict that takes place in the volatile region of Kazakhstan. The situation becomes critical when the Chinese comes to the aid of the Kazakhstan people and thus setting in motion a battle between NATO and China.

The missions themselves are both addictive and rather ho-hum. One mission has you covering a hacker while another has you playing the role of sniper as you attempt to defend a school. The best missions have you in the middle of chaotic battles such as an early mission that has you defending an oil platform against a large number of enemy forces. Completing missions earns you medals and you can unlock a number of weapons you can use in other missions. One of the single-player’s best features is HotSwapping that allows you to take control of any soldier within your line of sight. With the press of the square button you’ll instantly take control of the soldier you were looking at.

Visually the game isn’t bad but it isn’t great either. The environments, for instance, are wonderfully detailed and you’ll be fighting through a nice variety of locales. What doesn’t work is the lighting, which casts a soft appearance on each location. There’s some great visual effects, though, although watching a jeep explode and then disappear just doesn’t give the game a sense of realism. The Battlefield theme music is present throughout the game and it fits well with the game’s militaristic theme. The voice acting is also pretty good in the game’s campaign mode but the sound effects don’t quite capture the genuine sounds of battle. Then again the explosions sound great.

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for the PS2 is a massive online playground with just the right amount of toys to keep the action nicely addictive. While it does not resemble the PC games exactly, the action fits right at home on the consoles. The best part is that the single-player mode is also a nice distraction when you’re not battling it out online. Buy or rent, this is a game you might want to check out when you want to give SOCOM 3 a break.

Gameplay: 8.0
The game controls smoothly enough offline as well as online and HotSwapping is a wonderful feature you’ll make use of quite often. The single-player campaign is a great distraction with some rather plain objectives and a number of interesting ones as well.

Graphics: 7.5
The backgrounds and environmental detail stands out but the PS2 sees some soft lighting that gives the game a dreamy look … not quite the feel that will make one think “battlefield.” The character models aren’t bad and the gunfire and explosions look good.

Sound: 7.5
The game’s soundtrack isn’t bad at all and the voice acting in the game’s campaign mode is not bad at all. The sound effects don’t pack a punch, especially when it comes to gunfire, but the explosions sound really good.

Difficulty: Medium
Offline you’ll go up against some pretty bright enemies as well as some truly dull-witted ones. The missions in the single-player game offer a variety of different challenges that range from easy to quite tough.

Concept: 8.5
The attention is clearly placed on the excellent online multiplayer action but the single-player mode is quite meaty and filled with interesting missions scenarios. There’s a great multitude of weapons and vehicles to use and HotSwapping will put a smile on any gamers face.

Multiplayer: 9.0
Despite the lack of a variety of multiplayer game modes, this is still a more than decent online multiplayer that wonderfully accommodates up to 24 players on screen at once. With vehicles and great playable maps, it’s hard to stop playing this one.

Overall: 8.2
The Battlefield series has delighted PC gamers with its amazing multiplayer action but on the PS2 Battlefield 2 will not disappoint in the very least. While there’s isn’t a great variety of modes to choose from the game still offers a nice amount of features worth the price of admission.