"A terrific game that nobody with a good PC should be without!"

Introduction
The year is 1942. You are an soldier in the army of one of the many nations involved in World War II. This, is Battlefield 1942.

Gameplay
This is where this game stands out, as do most good First-Person Shooter titles. Controlling is smooth and responsive. You may have to tweak sensitivity a bit, especially for vehicles, but it's still great.

At the beginning of each round, or death, You choose a point to spawn at from those available, as well as a kit. There are scouts/snipers, regular infantry, anti-tank soldiers, medics, and engineers. Each has a knife, pistol, and parachute, as well as other equipment based on the kit you choose. After you're ready, you're thrown into battle. The basic idea is to capture control points and hold them against the other team. By holding control points and scoring kills, you cause the enemies tickets to decrease. Once one side has no tickets left, the round ends. You can also play other modes, like Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag.

In most other FPS games, you're stuck with your own two feet. Not here. You can pilot, or just take a ride in, various planes, jeeps, tanks, ships, as well as mounted guns in your quest to win the match. And winning will not be won easily. Whether you're up against the formidable AI or people from wherever else, it's going to be a challenge to win.

Story
What can you say here? It's World War II. Pick up a history book. The game chronicles many of the epic battles of the war, though the results may differ depending on how good you are.

Graphics/Sound
Visually, this game is extremely impressive. Even running it at 640x480x16, it looks as good as, if not better than, most other titles available. Faces are generally done well; the terrain looks great; explosions and shells, whether being shot or hitting things, look nice as well.

Sound is one of the key elements to this game. You can hear tank treads and engines as they approach. You can use footsteps of soldiers to plan an ambush. You can hear the plane engines, and the screaming of the bombs and missiles as they speed toward you. In short, the sound is top notch.

Play Time/Replayability
the single player by itself can be quite challenging, and may take a while to beat, if you decide to play it. The online multiplayer is the big draw here. You can set up a server or just join another person's game. Playing with other people and working as a team is what will keep you coming back time after time to play again.

Tallying of Scores
Gameplay- 10
Graphics/Sound- 10
Playtime/Replayability- 10
Overall- 10

Final Recommendation
As the title states, if you're even a casual fan of this genre, or war games in general, this game is definitely worth the buy, even if you have to turn it down to 640x480x16 like I did. If you're wavering still, you can always download the demo from the official site or mirror to test it out and see what all the fuss is about.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/03, Updated 01/02/03