Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Hands-on and on-line with EA and Dice's multiplayer juggernaut.
Published: July 10, 2005
We've lost track of the number of hours of productivity sacrificed before the altar of multiplayer goodness that was the Battlefield 2 PC demo released a few weeks back. The game is just too freakin' good, and the number of stories we've not only traded but created rivals that of the venerable GTA games.
So you can understand the kind of enthusiastic girly screams (and subsequent hair-pulling and slap-fighting) that squeaked out of us when we discovered the very same Battlefield 2: Modern Combat demo disk likely sitting in your local games store resting on our office doorstep when we arrived last week. Eeeeek!!
We've spent the better part of the weekend playing around with the single map (dubbed "BackStab" for those interested) provided in the demo and we've done the whole compare/contrast thing between the PC and console versions of the game. For starters, both feel like their own entities, completely self-contained and boasting their own plusses and minuses. We're not going to go too deep into those differences right now, but sprinkled throughout this preview, you'll find at least a few references to how the PS2 version of BF2 was console-ized.
We'll start with the controls, which work wonderfully with the DualShock 2. Holding R2 and using the right analog stick allows for quick selection of your primary weapon, pistol, grenades, explosives and melee weapons and R1 will fire/throw/swing the selected weapon. L1 will let you jump and L2 lets you switch between standing, kneeling and prone positions. Holding Square will kick on the headset to allow for easy communication, and Triangle lets you change positions in vehicles (a nice touch) or open your parachute when bailing out of air vehicles.
Tapping right on the d-pad will pull up or minimize the map, tapping left brings up distance markers for the flag capture points, and pressing up and down will let you zoom in or out on the mini-map when it's minimized. Why the run-down on every little button? We want to make it perfectly clear for those that have tackled the PC version that everything maps incredibly well to the PS2's controller, and after a minute or two, things become completely natural. Aiming isn't quite a mouse, of course, but the flow and pacing of the game from what we played suited console controls perfectly.
At least on the map we played, it was possible for anyone to call in an airstrike by simply beating the team to a mobile uplink pack tucked into some rubble in the middle of the map. Once the strike is ready, a player merely needs to tap the X button when near to bring up a real-time map that shows all units, pick a spot, and then watch with glee as fire rains down from the sky through a grainy camera. This same open system for things like medikits and ammo caches works the same, where anyone can basically refill health or ammo by finding a crate and simply standing near them or hitting X.
BackStab was a simple Conquest map similar to the PC version of Battlefield 2 where the objective is to capture and hold as many points on the map as possible to lower the opposing team's tickets until eventually the time limit lapses or one team's tickets reach zero. While holding the control points will drain the other team's tickets quickly enough, actually offing enemy players will do the same thing, so gunning down other players isn't exactly a bad idea, and in a fun little console addition a point score pops up after offing an enemy or capturing a control point, giving immediate visual feedback for an accomplishment.
The Middle East Coalition forces definitely have the upper hand, as they have immediate access to the two choppers on the map (though if you can make it over as the Marines, like all vehicles in the game, you can steal a chopper if both haven't been taken). Speaking of vehicles, the choppers take a bit of getting used to, and never really give you the same sense of control that the PC version's odd ASWD + mouse controls do, but they certainly work well.
We never got all that good at it, but teammates were able to circle around enemies to rain down death pretty effectively, while controlling tanks, Humvees and even a couple of random civilian cars was as easy as holding up on the left analog stick to go forward and back to brake. What's cool about the vehicles is how solid the physics seemed. It was possible to powerslide a bit by just messing around with varying levels of gas and brake, and believe us when we say there's nothing cooler than kicking out your tail end as your round a corner only to have a rocket whiz by where the back of your Hummer used to be. The sound effects of the tires loosing grip are perfect here, too.
In fact, all of the audio is solid. There's little in the way of solider chatter, but the explosions and vehicle effects are great, as well as solid weapon recordings. We never got a chance to play on a map with a lot of action, so it's hard to know how or even if the sound will carry, but the general ambience even when playing with 10 or so players is fantastic.
We're supposed to stay objective during previews, but it's hard to not get way too excited about the prospects that us console gamers have ahead of us. Rather than getting some kind of stripped-down, bastardized version of the PC game, EA and Dice are instead treating us to a game that's at once familiar yet tweaked (at least from what we can tell) perfectly for the console audience. The controls are perfect, the interface nicely weighted towards smaller TVs while still delivering a simple and pick-up-and-play way of interacting with stationary turrets or ammo crates.
Aw screw it, this game is going to be freakin' awesome if the experience we walked away with on just one map holds up. The framerate can take a dip during busier moments, and the headset-driven VoIP support can make some low-bandwidth players sound like a bad MP3 with all the compression, but those are literally the only complaints we have right now. Well, that and the fact that we can't play the final version against some other editors in some kind of office-on-office multiplayer killfest. Mmmm... killfest....
So you can understand the kind of enthusiastic girly screams (and subsequent hair-pulling and slap-fighting) that squeaked out of us when we discovered the very same Battlefield 2: Modern Combat demo disk likely sitting in your local games store resting on our office doorstep when we arrived last week. Eeeeek!!
We've spent the better part of the weekend playing around with the single map (dubbed "BackStab" for those interested) provided in the demo and we've done the whole compare/contrast thing between the PC and console versions of the game. For starters, both feel like their own entities, completely self-contained and boasting their own plusses and minuses. We're not going to go too deep into those differences right now, but sprinkled throughout this preview, you'll find at least a few references to how the PS2 version of BF2 was console-ized.
We'll start with the controls, which work wonderfully with the DualShock 2. Holding R2 and using the right analog stick allows for quick selection of your primary weapon, pistol, grenades, explosives and melee weapons and R1 will fire/throw/swing the selected weapon. L1 will let you jump and L2 lets you switch between standing, kneeling and prone positions. Holding Square will kick on the headset to allow for easy communication, and Triangle lets you change positions in vehicles (a nice touch) or open your parachute when bailing out of air vehicles.
Tapping right on the d-pad will pull up or minimize the map, tapping left brings up distance markers for the flag capture points, and pressing up and down will let you zoom in or out on the mini-map when it's minimized. Why the run-down on every little button? We want to make it perfectly clear for those that have tackled the PC version that everything maps incredibly well to the PS2's controller, and after a minute or two, things become completely natural. Aiming isn't quite a mouse, of course, but the flow and pacing of the game from what we played suited console controls perfectly.
At least on the map we played, it was possible for anyone to call in an airstrike by simply beating the team to a mobile uplink pack tucked into some rubble in the middle of the map. Once the strike is ready, a player merely needs to tap the X button when near to bring up a real-time map that shows all units, pick a spot, and then watch with glee as fire rains down from the sky through a grainy camera. This same open system for things like medikits and ammo caches works the same, where anyone can basically refill health or ammo by finding a crate and simply standing near them or hitting X.
BackStab was a simple Conquest map similar to the PC version of Battlefield 2 where the objective is to capture and hold as many points on the map as possible to lower the opposing team's tickets until eventually the time limit lapses or one team's tickets reach zero. While holding the control points will drain the other team's tickets quickly enough, actually offing enemy players will do the same thing, so gunning down other players isn't exactly a bad idea, and in a fun little console addition a point score pops up after offing an enemy or capturing a control point, giving immediate visual feedback for an accomplishment.
The Middle East Coalition forces definitely have the upper hand, as they have immediate access to the two choppers on the map (though if you can make it over as the Marines, like all vehicles in the game, you can steal a chopper if both haven't been taken). Speaking of vehicles, the choppers take a bit of getting used to, and never really give you the same sense of control that the PC version's odd ASWD + mouse controls do, but they certainly work well.
We never got all that good at it, but teammates were able to circle around enemies to rain down death pretty effectively, while controlling tanks, Humvees and even a couple of random civilian cars was as easy as holding up on the left analog stick to go forward and back to brake. What's cool about the vehicles is how solid the physics seemed. It was possible to powerslide a bit by just messing around with varying levels of gas and brake, and believe us when we say there's nothing cooler than kicking out your tail end as your round a corner only to have a rocket whiz by where the back of your Hummer used to be. The sound effects of the tires loosing grip are perfect here, too.
In fact, all of the audio is solid. There's little in the way of solider chatter, but the explosions and vehicle effects are great, as well as solid weapon recordings. We never got a chance to play on a map with a lot of action, so it's hard to know how or even if the sound will carry, but the general ambience even when playing with 10 or so players is fantastic.
We're supposed to stay objective during previews, but it's hard to not get way too excited about the prospects that us console gamers have ahead of us. Rather than getting some kind of stripped-down, bastardized version of the PC game, EA and Dice are instead treating us to a game that's at once familiar yet tweaked (at least from what we can tell) perfectly for the console audience. The controls are perfect, the interface nicely weighted towards smaller TVs while still delivering a simple and pick-up-and-play way of interacting with stationary turrets or ammo crates.
Aw screw it, this game is going to be freakin' awesome if the experience we walked away with on just one map holds up. The framerate can take a dip during busier moments, and the headset-driven VoIP support can make some low-bandwidth players sound like a bad MP3 with all the compression, but those are literally the only complaints we have right now. Well, that and the fact that we can't play the final version against some other editors in some kind of office-on-office multiplayer killfest. Mmmm... killfest....
