Battlefield 2: Modern Combat

Written by Glenn Wigmore  on August 24, 2005

Hands-On Preview: More class-based mayhem on the Xbox is a good thing...

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The Battlefield franchise has been thriving on the PC for several years now, with WWII, Vietnam, and contemporary war-themed entries. The consoles have definitely been left out of an extremely fun and varied combat experience, but that will change, at least for the Xbox and Xbox 360, coming this fall. I got a chance to take a look at the Xbox Live multiplayer demo for Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, and I'm definitely impressed by what I've seen.

A big part of the successful formula for the Battlefield franchise has been the organic nature of the battles, and how vehicles and infantry blend so seamlessly to create an epic class-based conflict. This style appears to have migrated over to the Xbox version, as the battles I tried on the single-map multiplayer demo were chaotic, fun, and filled with people. As a quick aside, it is a shame that there will only be support for 24 players (online) for the Xbox version, especially when there was promises of 50, but the clashes with this many people are still going to be lots of fun Ц and are still bigger than almost all other current Live titles.

The closest taste Xbox owners have had to the Battlefield style of conflict came through Star Wars: Battlefront last year. While it was heavily based on the Battlefield style, it provided a good dose of class-based mayhem, and anybody who played that game should feel right at home, as the class system, map, look and feel are all very similar. In Battlefield 2: MC, your team is attempting to control spawn points on a large battlefield (represented by a game map with colored circles that dictate the status of each spawn); the more spawn points your team has, the less options the opposing side has for spawning and strategizing. Additionally, controlling most of the spawns can cause a Уticket bleedФ for the opposition, meaning their side is not only limited in its spawn options, but is also losing reinforcements quickly. Because each team has hundreds of tickets (lives), the conflicts can get quite frenetic, and have many ups and downs Ц you'll be respawning a lot and changing your class to fit certain situations.

The classes in the game are all diverse, and each one will be strong in some instances, but overmatched in others. The five classes available are: assault, special ops, sniper, support, and engineer. Obviously, an assault soldier is a balanced unit that has a decent rifle, sidearm, and some grenades. Then you have other classes that can fulfill specific roles, like healing ability for the support class, and vehicle-repairing skills for the engineer. All of the represented countries in the game (Russia, U.S., Chinese, Middle East Coalition) have the same classes, but the weapons will be different. You might often find yourself switching classes during battles quite often, as it will probably become apparent in certain instances that more of one unit is needed to counteract an incoming wave of vehicles, stop pesky snipers, deal with a helicopter, and so on. This is also what makes Battlefield 2: MC so much fun, as everybody can truly be a role player; each class has enough balance and usefulness to warrant using in the game, and people with a particular disposition to one or two variants will be able to play the way they want.

There will be 13 maps available in the final game, but the multiplayer demo map takes place in Kazakhstan. The conflict between the Middle East Coalition and the U.S. forces runs through dusty city streets, mosques, blown-out buildings, and even a nearby canal. There are plenty of vehicles on the map, including helicopters, tanks, jeeps, and even some local cars. Getting into any vehicle is as easy as pressing the Y button, and multiple people can pile into some vehicles so that one player can worry about driving while the other(s) shoot. The driving of vehicles is done in first-person, and this can be a bit disorienting (especially since the vehicles seem to not move quite right when you drive), but it is still a fun experience behind the wheel. Watch out, though, especially if you're in a helicopter or tank, as you'll likely be the primary target for the opposition's artillery, explosives, and machine-gun fire.

Vehicles will always be popular with these sorts of games, but being on your feet can be quite helpful as well. Since each team has so many reinforcements, it is sometimes beneficial to go into battle as a lone wolf, and to try and take the opposing side's back spawn, snipe people from the edge of the map, or even plant explosives where vehicles will likely be rolling by. Situations like this are what make this style of game entertaining; you can play how you want and get killed, but then you can just get right back out there and try it again.

The controls are a big reason the battles are so much fun. You'll control your soldier in pretty much the same way you've controlled every other action/FPS, with the left thumbstick moving your character around, the right thumbstick aiming, and the R-trigger firing. The D-pad is useful for looking at the map of the battlefield, and this can be adjusted by pressing left, right, up or down on the pad. All of the other face buttons handle basic functions like reloading, jumping (yes, you can do this), weapon switching, and even parachuting (while in freefall). The control scheme is hardly original, but it functions so well Ц and your characters react so fluidly and realistically Ц that you'll feel right at home.

The online performance of the demo was quite good, with support for up to 24 players working well and providing minimal lag. The litmus test for latency issues is sniper fire, which, while not pinpoint, was quite responsive and accurate. As said, many people do like to take vehicles in these sorts of games, and it also seems to be the same jackasses who take the biggest guns that end up being the ones who turn them against their own team. Thankfully, there is a vote function in the game (and there's always feedback) so that you can dispense of whiny 12-year-olds who try to УgriefФ your team into oblivion. The statistics for online battles seem reasonably comprehensive, with medals also being awarded for specific feats and accomplishments. The team list (and ability to switch teams) is also much better than that of Star Wars: Battlefront, which goes a long way in making the battles more enjoyable.

There will be a single-player component for Battlefield 2: MC, but it will be quite similar to the multiplayer mode. The two notable differences are: a) the ability to instantly warp to any A.I. teammate's location and take his place (in a vehicle or on foot), and b) a slight increase in the detail within the environments. The graphical upgrade won't be major, but some slight improvement in framerate and sharper detail on buildings will be likely.

In terms of the game's overall presentation, it is quite good, at this stage, across the board. For an online console game that supports 24 players, the detail on the player models and environments is sharp, and the animations for the soldiers and vehicles create a strong Уepic battleФ feel. Graphics have come a long way since games like Rainbow 6: 3 launched on the Xbox, as now more players can participate in the battles, yet the whole conflict looks so much more believable and real. You won't find players УslidingФ around like in games of Rainbow 6: 3, as there actually is momentum in how you move, and there are good animations for gun recoil and the like. The audio also appears to be shaping up quite well, and anybody who has 5.1 Dolby Surround should be enjoying themselves quite well once this game ships. All of the voices (with some authentic language for each country, which hasn't been done in a while) are solid, and the effects for guns, mortars, helicopters, and vehicles all sound lifelike and believable.

This demo has definitely shown that there will still be one strong game to come along before the Xbox bows out to the Xbox 360 (which will be getting its own version of Battlefield 2: MC). There aren't too many noticeable flaws in the game right now and only a few edges need to be smoothed out. Additionally, making sure the online battles are as free as possible from cheaters, lag, and anything that leads to the download of a patch is something that should be focused on for the remainder of the game's development.