Nov 5 2006
It's the year 2142, and rather than melting down from global warming, Earth is in the cold grip of the next ice age. Two factions, the European Union and the Pan-Asian Coalition, are caught in a bitter, high-tech struggle for the planet's few remaining resources. This is the premise behind the latest in the Battlefield series of shooters, Battlefield 2142. Having so far taken us through WWII, Vietnam, and modern warfare, a short leap into the future is a natural fit for a sequel.
Graphics and Interface
Built on the Battlefield 2 engine, the graphics are excellent. They will push the average PC to its limits, but if BF2 runs okay on your system, you should get similar results from BF2142. Fortunately, it scales down very nicely to medium settings. There is an impressive attention to detail on visuals like the heat distortion coming from the engines of the new aircraft, or the garbling effect created by an EMP explosion. Despite slight improvements over BF2 graphics, there remains no widescreen support, and patience is still needed when loading maps.
BF2 players will slip comfortably into the controls for BF2142, since they're practically identical, including the squad and commander interfaces. The futuristic aircraft are a little easier to operate than the planes of earlier games in the series, but they remain quite crashable.
Choose a Weapon
The classes available have been trimmed down to 4 from BF2's 6. You choose from recon, assault, engineer, or support. The assault class now carries a medipack that can be used for healing, and they can unlock more advanced medical equipment, such as the defibrillator that revives fallen teammates. In a departure from the norm, support players can gain access to a sentry gun rather than engineers, who have been given anti-tank and anti-air weapons to compliment their repair abilities.
The unlock system, by which you earn ranks in battle that give you access to better weapons, is very popular in BF2, so they've expanded on it a great deal in BF2142. The unlock tree has been made deeper, providing lots of rewards to strive for, and you start out with just the basics. Even grenades have to be unlocked, although it doesn't take long to get a few ranks under your belt.
The increased emphasis on unlocks does make things rougher for new players, who are at a definite disadvantage in terms of equipment. It changes the FPS dynamic a bit, but I don't expect it to be a serious problem, because you can always jump into a vehicle or a stationary gun and score a few kills that way. This is Battlefield, after all.
High-Tech Gadgets
I find the low-key sci-fi aspect of BF2142 quite appealing. The semi-believable gadgetry, such as communications helmets, personal forcefields, cloaking devices, and drone bodyguards are a riot to mess around with. Better yet, a lot of the unlockable items are designed to encourage and improve team play. The NetBat helmets, for example, allow you to identify which kits the enemy is carrying and relay this information to other members of your squad. Squad leaders can also unlock a beacon that acts as a deployable spawn point, which can make a big difference in the outcome of the battle.
There is already some complaining going on about the camouflage device available to the recon class. It doesn't make you completely invisible, but it does make you difficult to see, especially when you're not moving. To keep it in check, you can't stay camouflaged constantly because the gizmo heats up and has a long cooldown period. On top of that, it emits a high-pitched noise, and there is an unlock in the support kit that can detect cloaked players. Once people get used to them, the counter-measures available should insure that everyone isn't running around camouflaged.
Vehicles
Vehicles are central to Battlefield, and there are a few interesting additions to the arsenal in 2142. The most obvious are the 2-seat Battlewalkers, which are wonderfully designed and simply ooze coolness. Climbing into one of these beasts and unleashing its firepower is pure fun.
The hover tank has also been invented, although only one faction appears to have the technology as the other side is still using tanks with tracks. The biggest advantage of the hover tank is the ability to strafe. Aircraft in BF2142 are like rotorless helicopters, and they seem to have taken care not to make them overwhelming in combat.
Titan Mode
Battlefield fans that have grown weary of Conquest mode will be happy to see that they've finally introduced a new type of gameplay. Titan mode revolves around two large flying fortresses, and requires your team to destroy the enemy Titan before they do the same to you. On the ground, instead of capturing flags, you capture missile silos, which then automatically begin firing at the opposing Titan.
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