Battlefield 2: Modern Combat

"There aren’t enough heroes in this battle…"

I'll get straight to the point. Battlefield 2's online multiplayer is right up there with some of the best on the 360, but like Perfect Dark Zero, it relies too heavily on it and not enough on the single player. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is a one dimensional shooter that seems reflective of many shooters today.

Being a squad base shooter and military type game, the story revolves around events that coincide with escort missions, target destruction, and other tactical missions. There are a total of 20 missions, and each one has certain objectives that must be completed. Some mission may require snipers to take down enemy snipers. While some require you to hold the line and wait for rescue, others require plenty of high tech machinery to finish the mission. Tanks, helicopters, and armored vehicles are all fair game.

In campaign mode, you will be thrown into a huge firefight in the very beginning. Your divisions of soldiers accompany you in your parachutes, while you descend from your helicopter. From this point of view, you can immediately see the scope of the battles. That is one thing about Battlefield that feels authentic. From this perspective, you notice the massive battle capabilities. It feels like a war zone. Unlike shooters like PDZ, BF2 relies on strategic tactics. It has the whole “war” atmosphere down with precision.

As you descend onto the battle grounds in the opening moments of the game, you hear the heart pounding explosions from grenades and gunfire in the distance. The atmosphere was involving, as much as it felt like a complete war zone. The problem however, is the repetitive single player mode. Once you complete a few missions, the campaign gets repetitive and boring.

The first few missions were fast and furious. With raucous action in your first “defense” mission, you immediately see the war torn environment and the hectic action of a huge firefight. Placing you in a torn up city, where you and your squad must survive enemy bombardment. As snipers pound away at you from a distance to heavy gunners thrashing you from up close, you feel the intense combat situation. At this point, strategy plays an important role. By strategically planning, you can become more efficient, which is necessary considering BF2's unusually difficult campaign. Shooters are usually not difficult in its campaigns, and it's typically the multiplayer that skill and strategy come into play.

BF2's difficulty feels much harder. So much so, it makes the A.I feel overly cheap. After the first few missions, the difficulty and lack of variety in level development, makes it repetitive and a chore to play through. To make matters worst, the A.I for your troops make questionable decisions at best. This is probably due to EA's hot swap feature that allows the player to switch between troops on the fly. The problem however, is with all the action going on, it becomes a hassle to find the right guy you want to swap to. That and the concept itself is flaw to some extent. On many occasions, it is hard to swap to the right character. This is frustrating because your troops lack any coordination, and you are required to help them on many occasions. If you don't swap, your troops will be picked off like flies. This further adds to the problem of the artificial intelligence. In the end, this feature makes the game more frustrating than fun.

The vehicle controls aren't all that great either. With feisty landscapes, it makes it hard to maneuver when the controls feel rigid. Making sharp turns are also a hassle. This leaves you vulnerable to enemy fire, as you try to maneuver. Even with that said though, the vehicles play an important role in online play. The vehicles make the game better, but in a sense also makes it worst. The single player magnifies the situation due to the lack of competition from real life competitors. With online, this flaw floats to the back of your mind because you're too busy trying to blow your opponents' brains out.

The online multiplayer is where Battlefield 2 truly shines. With up to 24 players and a variety of huge maps, it makes for games like capture the flag to be fast and action packed. Each map is packed with different bases. Equipment is spread across the battle grounds. Vehicles however, take a while to respawn and are only located in isolated areas. This makes the beginning of a match a bit unbearable, as you have to trek far distances to get to your destination. But by allowing multiple spawn points that your team captures, it makes it more bearable.

During multiplayer, it especially feels like a war, as both sides have commands of vehicles and rockets. During this battle, high-tech weaponry will be used to its maximum capabilities. The sound generated from it is an awesome feat. Playing online is fast pace and action pack. There are definite skills required. There will be tanks pounding you with shells, rockets flying at you, and gunfire all over the place. In a sense, it brings out the feeling of uneasiness, as the explosions go off.

One thing that I particularly liked was the balance of the game's online modes. Tanks and vehicles may seem overpowered at first, but once you get the hang of things, you will notice that with the right set of weaponry, tanks will fall with ease. 2 good rocket shots will split the tank right in half. That is why it's so important to play BF2 cohesively. If you work together with your teammates, it would make things more fun and successful. Helicopters are a different story though. Being that helicopters move so fast, it makes it hard to target it with a rocket and blow it out of the sky. Other than that, the online portion feels balance and fair.

Graphically speaking, Battlefield sports some amazing texture, with a gorgeous environment to match. Trekking through the vast regions of the desert plains or snow filled compounds, the appurtenant of features adds to the beautifully crafted environment. Not to mention, the destruction of helicopters and tanks from your rocket propelled grenade makes the experience and event all that much better. The character models though, could have used a bit of work, but overall it's acceptable.

Playing as a Chinese soldier online can have its benefits. The voiceovers of Chinese players will have lines like “they stole our flag” or “artillery strike is coming”. Being fluent in Cantonese, I felt the lines were delivered with great fluency and accuracy. Other soldiers from other countries all have their own lines in their native languages, which add to the experience. The musical soundtrack was also nicely done. Referencing China again – You will notice that playing on the Chinese squad will allow for some melodic rhythms that are reminiscent of old school Chinese music.

BF2 is a fairly lengthy game. Usually, I would prefer the single player of an fps to be a bit shorter, as the extra content made it feel like it was dragging on for too long. Despite that, there is plenty of value contained with the online portion. But if you don't have Xbox Live, then you're out of luck. Without Xbox Live, the game's campaign mode simply does not hold up. You would be missing out on not only the best part of the game, but you would be stuck with a very mediocre campaign experience. If you have online, then it has hundreds of hour's worth of fun waiting for you to conquer.

Battle on two fronts

Despite my detestation for the single player, the Xbox Live enabled game is more than worthy of your time. Unfortunately, it's only worth the time for those that have Xbox Live. This seems to be the sad truth lately with fps type games. Halo had an amazing single player to match its multiplayer capabilities. Although Riddick was only a single player game, it focused on that and excelled on it in many facets. From there on out, it was all downhill, as most fps I have played focuses on multiplayer and multiplayer alone. From recent memories, fps are simply lacking a solid campaign mode. Having a blast online is important, but for those that don't play online and craving for a good single player fps, they would be disheartened to find out that they have been neglected by developers. Simply put, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat's campaign mode is mediocre and repetitive. I would not recommend it to anyone who does not have Xbox Live.

Pros
The multiplayer is one of the most intense and action packed experiences found on the 360. The voiceovers and soundtrack enhance the experience. Matching the sound department is the beautifully crafted atmosphere of Battlefield 2.

Cons
Vehicle controls are a bit sluggish. The campaign mode gets repetitive very fast. Campaign takes a backseat to the online multiplayer. A.I is questionable at best. The hot swap feature doesn't work that entire well, which made the game more difficult than it should have been.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/23/06