Ok, so here is a review:
Unnecessary loading screens. We all know who ****ing made the game and we all know it's best played on Nvidia...it's been crammed down our ****ing throats for a year now....give us a ****ing break already and just load the damn game.
Once we get passed the tedious loading screens, we are presented with a fairly decent job of a menu system.
[NOTE!]================
EA/Dice now sees it as being necessary to invade your ****ing privacy with gamespy account creation. I guess they couldn't think of a better way to do this so they got lazy. To even play the game, you MUST create this stupid account...God help you if it gets hacked or they lose their data or God forbid, you forget your password.=========================
The first time you load up into the menu system, you will go through the shader optimization process which I thought was pretty damn cool. With my X800 Pro w/256MB of DDR3 memory, the process took just about a minute and the game engine saw it fit to put me at a comfy high setting for everything. (1024x768@75Hz for my BenQ LCD) Please make note that AA is NOT enabled by default...or maybe that is an Nvidia optimization. (who ****ing knows....I don't have an Nvidia card). Theother thing that bothers me about this portion is that the max resolution does not correlate to the most popular LCD resolution out there which is 1280x1024. WTF????
Ok...so onward we move. This is where we begin to go downhill. In case you couldn't figure it out, the above are the pros. Here are the cons:
The menu system has issues. Serious issues. It doesn't like YOUR custom settings. The internet gaming forum community is abuzz with joystick related control mapping issues. There are plenty of fixes but this is inexcusable. They had a year to test this game and they couldn't figure out the most user-friendly way to map controls???????? Hello....if it aint broke....don't ****ing fix it! BF1942 had a nice system in the end...they should have just dressed up the GUI and been done with it. IDIOTS.
Next up is LAG....yep, you heard it....LAG!!!!!! As in browser menu LAG. IT seems that when you goto select multiplayer, the system is connecting to gamespy to retrieve all the server info. Last time I checked, there were only 1700 servers out there. Put it this way, if ASE can get something like this right, then why can't DICE? The menu is LAGGY as ****. The sorting by filters is atrocious because it seems that it has to wait for the server info to refresh from Gamespy ALL OVER AGAIN!. Now I have not confirmed this yet but I'm going to check my port sniffers and see what the flying **** is going on here. So this lag is killing everything good about the menu system. I will say one nice thing about it though.....and server admins payt the **** attention here: You can link to clan image which will then show up in the users menu system. I imagine this to be the source of the lag. Trying to ping a server is one thing, but trying to download a graphic which may be linked to a very slow outside source is bad. Why the **** do you think forum admins limit sig sizes and whatnot? Becuase it lags the forum for everybody. Also, you can't select a server and add it to a favorites list because there is none. That sucks big balls. Props for making it easy to see where the PB enable button is lol.
Ok, so let's get past this BS and get into the game:
Load times are right on par with the other two games in the series. This is all gonna be dependent on two things....the amount of memory in your system and the speed of your hard drives. Obviously, bigger, more, faster, say RAID 0 with 2 gigs of memory for best performance.
Once you spawn in, it's time to get it on. Maybe...lol. You see, on this map(Gulf of Oman) in this demo, if you are US, you spawn on the Aircraft Carrier...just like in Wake. The problem here is that topside spawn points are right next to the blackhawk mini-gun lol. So if you are MEC, it pays to sneak over there and just spawncamp the **** out of the US carrier. IT's also nice to spawn into an arty strike on the ship. (thanks EasyMoney you little ****bag!) Once you do get off the ship or out of the MEC main base, there is alot of great combat action.
This game seems more in-balance than any other. The very nature of this balance will force teamwork.
Aircraft and helos no longer own. It's impossible for them because of the physics and nature of the armament. There are no circle straffes of death in a helo anymore. (not enough ammo and not reloading fast enough) The physics of the helo just won't allow for it. (slow rudder control) That's not to say that you can't own with it, but you'll have to figure out new ways...like always having a gunner with you. This feature puts the helo crew right where it belongs....in a support position. This is where one of my most favorite aspects od the game come into play. Depending upon the class of soldier you pick, you can turn any vehicle, or helo into a mobile med unit or wrench crew. This is where clans will rule because of how they configure their teams and their squads. So if you load a vehicle with a medic and an engy....you can fix anyone or any vehicle within a certain radius of your vehicle. AWESOME! As for the planes, you'll have to get a lock on to kill another plane for the most part...which is how they balanced the game. Gone are point and shoot, now it's follow, outmanuever, outfly, get lock-on, maintain, and then fire for the kill. Let me put it to you this way...it aint ****ing DC boys...not by a long shot.
Tanks no longer own. Again, physics both environment and model don't allow for it. Huge reload time for tanks shells and you just can't climb over everything like you used to in 42/DC/POE. Turrets also have a little lag to them by design which makes it more lifelike. Tanks are really designed for long distance battles and for coralling folks into choke points/killzones. Again, they are what they are....support. Now you can help your tanks buddies out in two ways. Wrench him up and have the commander drop resupply/wrench crates in strategic positions so the tankers can camp out in zones. Also one neat thing about being a gunner in the tank is that you can now duck out of the way when ground pounders are firing at you lol. Nice touch.
Misc support vehicles: Very well done. The BMP is awesome, and will prove to be the most versatile weapon. Buggies are nice and fast and armed with the right weapons. Hummers are as well...and they look like real hummers. This is one area where I feel EA/DICE did everything right. AWESOME!
Infantry....well, imho, this is where it's at and always going to be for this game. The relaxed recoil, the weapon variety, the power, the sights, makes this an infantry game. The netcode for this game has been redone from the ground up. When you put your sights on somebody and pull the trigger...you hit them. There is no leading of the hitboxes as we clearly have seen in previous games in the series. Sniper kits are now more fun than ever. But again, you'll need to pick your kit wisely. Snipers don't take flags, they camp them. Assault personnel need to be careful here....some weapons are better designed for playing mid-field...and some, like the shotgun are best for flag capping. But this has always been the case, it's just more evident here due to the physics of the game. One tip, you can't fire on the run and to run, all you have to do is double tap and hold your forward key down.
Speaking of physics...I'm not too impressed with the implementation of the Havoc physics engine here. Too me, it's too rag doll like....I know...I know....that's what it is, rag doll physics, but it looks like a rag doll which imho...looks ****ing gay. I don't mind scripted deaths. The human body doesn't distort like a rag doll...even in death. So legs and arms that flail and wave about like a ****ing doll are dumb looking imho.
LEt's talk a little about the graphics. What can I say but WOW. The game looks as advertised and plays smooth as silk. IT seems form the reports that it also scales well for lower end machines...just like Doom 3. So even on a ****ty system, the game should still be playable. Please not, they are some stringent system requirements and this game will not play on a GEForce 4 series or older GPU. For ATI fanboys, you'll need an Radeon 8500 or better. Surprisingly....ATI wa sallowe dint he game so to speak. IT seems that the ATI bugs of BFV are gone. I have an X800PRo and it loves the ****ing game. This is great work on part of DICE/EA. There are tons of people out there that don't have an Nvidia based GPU's. Nice to see them finally support all games and not just the Nvidia crowd. AWESOME!!!!!
The sound portion of the game is very important. It relays info to the gamer which can help or hurt him. Let's just say that this is really one place where BF2 EXCELLS!!!!!!!!! The soundscape is breathtaking. Being in the military, I know what gun fire sounds like....BF2 has captured that. The environment feels realistic. They also stepped forward with support of the Audigy X-Fi audio processor which in turn is going to lighten the load on the GPU/CPU. Creatives, new X-Fi audio processor is rumored to be the end all solution for gaming and it comes out tomorrow. AWESOME+++
All in all, the game is a huge ****ing hit with a few bugs....but those bugs are located in non-critical areas of the game so it's not really a deal breaker for me nor should it be for you. So buy this ****er and come out and enjoy it with us.
As I think of more **** to say, I edit and add it in to my review.
EDIT!
Commander mode! CRITICAL!!!!! Best new idea for a battlefield game and can make or break your team. From calling in airstrikes or dropping supplies, the commander can do greta things for your team...if he know swhat the hell he is doing.
Last edited by JawZ; 06-13-05 at 09:04 AM.
Awesome review Evan...Originally Posted by UOD
Question about the commander mode....what the hell do you do? Seriously. I haven't been selected as a commander yet, but would like to learn once the time comes. Especially the arty strikes...very deadly!
how is the arty in BF2?
I LOVED manning the MRLS and the Rocket trucks in DC, but it sucked that i almost NEVER had snipers or spec ops calling in targets for me.
heh theres nothing like rumbling a weak-ass MRLS truck halfway across gazala to get in range of the enemy airfield, only to have all 8 sniper on your team refuse to call out a target as THEY camp the airfield.
What I can say about it Jack...is when you hear it raining down....RUN!! Very deadly to say the least! It's awesome!
great reveiw, i just got the demo to work for me, i had to uninstall all video drivers, reforce rate programs and then it worked with the latest nvidia beta drivers.
i was playing single player for a bit and was running @ 1280 x 960 everything at high except some lighting option, looks killer.
now i just have to figure out my controls and joystick
does anyone think the player jumps kinda high ?
pretty easy to change the videocon file to run at any resolution you want.
I'm running at 1680x1050 with all setting maxed, no issues at all.
I'm jsut wondering if I will still be driving around in a missle launcher/artillery vehicle with a bunch of rambo spotters/snipers who are too lazy to call out targets for me.
Or is this what the "commander' does?
I don't think there are a pair of binocs in any of the kits. I believe the commander calls all artillery. Get Evan to do a fraps for you.
Yeah Jack..it's all done with the commander. I have no idea how to do it yet...never had the commander controls yet.I don't think there are a pair of binocs in any of the kits. I believe the commander calls all artillery. Get Evan to do a fraps for you.Can't wait to learn!
The commander is kick ass!!! Until someone takes out the artillery or radar.
As commander you can drop supplies anywhere its called for, strikes.
If you have a microphone hooked up, you can tell your squads where the other troops are as well.
can you point me to the exact files and locations to edit, i want to go to 1280x1024 to match my lcd
DISSIDENTS FOLDING FOR SPEEDGUIDE INCLUDE:
Crabtoes(4 comps), Illini25(2 comps), 2 Unknown Processors
Days turn to minutes
And minutes to memories
Life sweeps away the dreams
That we have planned
You are young and you are the future
So suck it up and tough it out
And be the best you can
Change your shortcut to read like this:
"C:\Program Files\EA Games\Battlefield 2 Demo\BF2.exe" +menu 1 +fullscreen 1 +szx 1280 +szy 1024
Last edited by JawZ; 06-14-05 at 02:12 AM.
rgr thx
If you drop supplies on the damaged artillery it will self repair. No need to send an engineer out. Same with bridges.
..downloaded ...installed ..lets things run then i froze at the menu ... my mouse wouldn't work... er ..couldn't get the pointer to appear to spawn anywhere
uninstalled and deleted
was not impressed with what i saw so far
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