"Average game that could have been something more"

I loved Battlefield 1942. I loved Battlefield Vietnam. However, right now, I don't have much love for battlefield 2. I was very excited when this game was finally released after months of anticipation. However my dreams were shattered when I discovered that this game is highly, highly unstable. The game suffers from severe lag and the ranked servers are extremely laggy. I can only hope EA realizes its mistakes and corrects them in a future patch. Now on with the review.

Graphics
The graphics in this game are sadly, not as well as expected. From the previews it seemed like the game would be light years beyond 1942. However, the graphics are only slightly improved. The environments are rich in detail, but many objects such as grass and trees look relatively weak when compared to things like the water and the buildings.

Gameplay
The gameplay is the most improved part of the game. There are now squads and a new commander mode. Even though the gameplay seems more team oriented, that doesn't mean everyone will act as one team. For example, many people simply refuse to join a squad. Sometimes the commander doesn't listen to requests from the squad leaders. These things can cause some confusion on the battlefield. Having mutiple squads doing their own thing, disobeying orders from the commanding officer, things can quickly become chaotic. When you get right down to it, Battlefield 2 is primarily a single player effort. Each person will usually do whatever they please and not take orders.

Sound
Not much can be said about the sound. I suppose its a little better than Vietnam and 1942, but not much better. The guns and vehicles sound nice, but thats to be expected.

Multiplayer
Obviously Battlefield 2 is a mulitplayer game. The multiplayer in this game is a mixed bag. In order to fully enjoy the online aspect, you need a very powerful computer. My PC is only a few months old and should play this game fine, but it doesn't. The demo ran fine, but there are major problems with online. First of all, the ranked servers are very laggy. Second, the game has a nasty tendency to freeze up for no reason. And finally, the loading times online are slower than molasses in winter. EA should have realized that multiplayer was the most important aspect of this game.

Final Word
I would only recommend this game to those of you who have high end PCs, or would like to take a chance on an unstable game.

7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/05