Battlefield Modern Call of Warfare Duty 1943Battlefield 1943 is yet another one of those games most people flock to like a fat man to a chicken pot pie sale. Or like paparazzi whenever Lindsay Lohan decides to attempt to come out in public again. Yes, friends, it is another first person shooter taking a classic war as its backdrop and then putting in the thick of things with a trusty potato gun and some spuds. Those are potato guns in Modern Warfare right?
As much as I hate to subscribe to these types of games eg. Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 1, 2, 2.5 and 3, I can't help but love this particular title, mostly because, though it bares a striking resemblance to its forefathers, it has somehow managed to escape the heavy influence of its fathers and managed to blaze its own trail in the explosion filled, racially insensitive world that is modern first person shooters. They have fallen prey to the allure of one more syndrome, also known as sequel syndrome, in that they, instead of growing upon the previous installment, they instead give gamers more of what made the first game popular without adding anything new, thus we see a problem of quantity vs. quality. The new games take everything that was rich about the games previous and heap them on heavy in the next, until every gamer out there is filled to bursting with shooter "goodness" without really getting anything substantial to feast upon. Enter Battlefield 1943, a surprisingly filling title that, despite its apparent lack of what makes up the conventional modern day shooter, brings new life to an increasingly bland genre.
The core mechanics are the same as other shooters. You have a shooty stick, your enemies have shooty sticks, and you are trying to make your shooty stick hit before your opponents' shooty sticks. What I admire is that they don't shove a massive amount of weapons at you. Each class has their standard weapon, along with a secondary weapon and other weapon options. You cannot change simply one weapon, if you want you can pick up an entire class's outfit off the ground, but there is no picking up two primary weapons, or swapping weapons from one class into another. Oh, you don't understand what classes are? Yes, yes, dear children, class based combat returns in this game, as opposed to the ever popular "customize everything" approach of Modern Warfare, and I for one appreciate this as it makes the playing field a little more level (no one has overpowered guns simply for playing longer) and less chaotic (you only have to learn and watch out for a few different weapon types). There's the standard grunt, the sniper, the anti-armor. Every class has a role to play, and each role is important in the game overall.
Because gone are the days of the camping lone wolf. In Modern Warfare, among others, one extremely skilled player could win the match for his team by holing up somewhere and killing everyone who passed by. However, seeing as how Battlefield 1943 is a game about capturing control points, sitting is never an option. Also, the idea of teamplay is very strong. Most vehicles in the game can only be driven by one player and a second has to man the weapons. Or one infantry member provides defense while an anti-armor unit takes down a tank. These moments hinge on quick teamwork. If you don't work together with your team in this game, you will not win; it's that simple. It is not so in Modern Warfare, and I for one welcome the distinction, because when I play a shooter online, I am doing it for the team play.
Which brings me to one of the lacking aspects of this game: it is only playable online. There is no single player at all for this game, which is a bummer, but an understandable bummer, if that makes sense. Recall how I said teamwork is at the core of the game? Capturing points, backing each other up, etc? That level of coordination would not be possible with just an AI. If you've played any of the single player of similar games like Star Wars Battlefront, you will know how atrocious the AI becomes, running into walls, each other, and the feet of ATAT's.
Another small detriment to the game is how deep the rabbit hole goes, which in this case is not very. As I said before, there are no massive quantities of guns to unlock, no perks to utilize. You have three classes with their set weapons, which, though it makes for a more predictable gaming experience, does take something away the more you play. You wish for more spice. And there are not very many maps to play on, just a small handful. These maps are, however, quite large and you really do feel the sheer size of the battle as you take a boat from your carrier over to the island, grab a jeep, drive some more, before you finally reach the battle.
What really keeps me coming back though is the total immersion you feel when you play this game. Instead of spawning you at the site of the action, you spawn away from it, and have to traverse to it, usually through some sort of vehicle. This long trek, followed (usually) by a very quick death, offer a very realistic view of warfare. Also, the Frostbite Engine used to make the game allows for environmental damage. There is nothing quite like mowing down trees with the machine gun turret on a tank. And the sound that accompanies every bullet, every explosion, is top notch. I especially enjoy when an explosion goes off nearby, though not near enough to kill you, your ears ring, and you lose the rest of the game sounds for a second. Those small touches really give you the idea that you are in the middle of a very real war.
And all of this came about, not through a AAA title with such productions values as Modern Warfare or Battlefield 3, but through a downloadable arcade title on XBLA. Yes, all of this wonderful package, which is comparable in quality to the best shooters on the market, is just a downloadable title on XBLA. This game was not only a solid endeavor in the FPS genre, but it set a new standard for what downloadable titles could and should be.
Graphics
10 Sound
10 Addictive
8 Depth
6 Story
5 Difficulty
5
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