"Fun but frustrating game"

This is the first Battlefield game I've played (well, sort of, I had 1942 but at the time my PC couldn't run it very well) and I'm somewhat impressed by it. This game has some good potential and should EA release a patch that works, this can be a great game.

Graphics: 8

It's hard for me to say because I can't run this game on very high settings (I have everything on low except for textures) but even then, this game looks pretty decent, incase anyone was wondering, I'm sporting a P4 2.41 gig with a Visiontek Xtasy 9200 (basically, a Radeon 9200 with 256mb of RAM) and 1.25 gigs of RAM and this game runs really well with no slowdown whatsoever unless it's due to lag.

Sound: 6

I'm actually pretty unimpressed by the sounds in this game. All the guns and vehicles sound weak and repetitive. The radio commands are done pretty decent. Over all, very generic.

Controls: 9

The controls are customizable and are pretty responsive. There are also a lot of easy to access radio commands that let others know you need ammo or medical attention as well as contact with the enemy (and what type of enemy as well). The map interface for squad leaders/commanders is pretty user-friendly and can be used to direct your squad (as well as supplies and artillery if you're the commander)

Gameplay: 9

The game is pretty fun to play depending on what servers you go to, a lot of servers are full of idiots who intentionally TK and there is very little to no communication making it very hard to play since team work is the key to winning. But if you do get a good server, you can easily lose track of time because it's a really enjoyable experience. You can play as one of 7 unique classes (Spec Ops, Sniper, Assault, Support, Medic, Engineer, and Anti-Tank), each with its abilities such as healing team mates, giving ammo, repairing vehicles, setting mines, etc . New to this game is the ability to break up into squads to have a more coordinated attack, as well as unlockable weapons based on rank (though from what I've heard, getting to the highest rank will literally take years of playing).

Polishing: 3

I'm not sure where to begin. First off, the in game browser is not pleasant to work with. It takes a long time to load, and if you do certain actions (such as updating server list, typing in a server name) it deletes the server list and you need to exit out of the game to get it back, it also doesn't have a favorites list or buddy list, thankfully, the game is supported by GameSpy Arcade so it isn't really an issue. There are also lag issues as even when it appears everyone has pings between 30-40, the game is also unplayable. The physics are really wacky as touching a moving vehicle at slow speeds (even if you run into it from behind) can result in death, and you can kill team mates simply if they exit the vehicle while it is still moving. Also, it is quite easy to earn team kills for the most ridiculous actions such as shooting down a helicopter and having it land on a teammate, strange enough, sometimes if someone destroys a vehicle you're driving, you get teamkills for everyone else aboard. It also doesn't help that most people punish even if it was their fault they got themselves teamkilled (like if they rammed the side of your tank with a jeep). The ranking system generally takes a few hours to a day to update, and sometimes it doesn't update at all (as in, sometimes you never receive points/awards you should have). I'm not sure of this, but there is some hit detection problems since sometimes, it seems like I've fired 15 rounds from a .50 caliber machine gun with the crosshairs dead center on an opponents chest simply for him to run around the corner. The sniping system is a bit strange since it's hard to hit people you have your crosshairs centered on, even if they're standing still. Also, it is quite possibly to out-snipe a sniper with an assault rifle (and even a pistol, sometimes), though this might have been done on purpose to prevent snipers from dominating the battlefield.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/27/05