Battlefield 2: Modern Combat Preview

The original Battlefield game released on PC was a modern classic that took the online shooting experience to a higher plateau than imagined by some gamers.  The point of the game online was to pit players against each other on two sides (axis or allies) in a gigantic game of king of the hill/capture the flag.  There were multiple flags or points on a map that each team would try to take over from the other team.  So the game was a never ending struggle that was a huge success and most importantly a fun game that still has players playing today.

A console version of the game was announced some time ago but finding out new information about the game was limited.  Thankfully at E3 2005 EA was showing off a playable version of the game.  At the Microsoft booth multiple units of the game were available for the press to play.  But the exciting part of the game was the fact that the game was connected to the EA booth and to the EA offices as well.  So the playable demo allowed gamers the opportunity to play the game just as the final release will be, online and connected to Xbox Live. 

The previous Battlefield game on PC was based on events and locations in World War II.  Battlefield 2: Modern Combat (B2MC) is based on modern events and has up to date weapons and vehicles used by the military today.  The game at E3 played great with tight controls when firing weapons and driving vehicles.  I was able to switch between weapons and fire off shots without any problems.  I even had five sniper shots in a row which is a personal best for me.  The map we played on had several vehicles available for solo drive or team play.  One person can drive a Hummer while another player controls the gun on the Hummer.  I did see a tank and a helicopter during the game while I was playing it.  But the guy in the helicopter wouldn’t wait for me!  One cool moment that everyone was playing around with was driving a Hummer over a broken bridge to create a Dukes of Hazzard moment.  Very cool.

The graphics for the game looked great even for the game being a demo.   The frame rate was steady and I never noticed any slow down even with a ton of action happening on the screen at one time.  There was a very cool heat effect that would appear when someone would fire a heavy artillery weapon such as a tank or drop a bomb from a helicopter.  The effect would warp the appearance of the location of the explosion to let you know to stay far away from that location.  The city locations were nicely detailed as well with large buildings and other structures throughout the level.

The game is scheduled for release later this year and will support up to 24 players in a battle.  There will be 30 vehicles and up to 50 different weapons in the game.  If you’ve ever played a Battlefield game before then you won’t be disappointed with B2MC.  It should be another online classic but this time for PS2 and Xbox. 

For All E3 2005 Previews