There are few games that become an instant phenomenon, and within the first-person shooter (FPS) genre, the list is even smaller. Halo®: Combat Evolved, Goldeneye, and Battlefield 1942 can all lay claim to the "all time classic" title. With Battlefield 2: Modern Combat™(the true sequel to Battlefield 1942) arriving on everyone's favorite console, the Xbox® is now home to another FPS landmark. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is a game anyone can play, but very few can master; it offers impeccable FPS gameplay, assorted classes to choose from, well balanced maps, more vehicles than even Halo® 2 can shake an energy sword at, and a Conquest game mode that defines elegant game design.
Time to recapture the flag.
Multiplayer Conquest Battlefield 2: Modern Combat has a distinctive multiplayer game mode known as Conquest with three sub-types to choose from. It includes enough varied FPS gameplay and tactics that it feels like several games rolled into one. Let me break it down:
Each team begins with a set amount of tickets. These tickets represent reinforcements, so when a team member dies, you lose a ticket. Essentially, this makes staying alive much more important than most first person shooters (where kills are more important than deaths).
Two teams spawn at the beginning of the match, with the focus on depleting the other team's tickets or capturing all of the Capture Points.
Capture Points are essentially bases or spawn points. Control a Capture Point and members from your faction will spawn there (selecting their class as they do so). Moreover, holding more than half the Capture Points available on the map causes the opposing team to lose tickets faster than normal.
Move, move, move!
Choosing a Kit Call them classes, call them Kits, but either way, call them welcome. The army employs specialists of all kinds—not everyone is a grunt toting an M-16. Each man has his purpose, and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat gives you ample opportunity to play any number of roles during battle. You can wade into infantry battles as an Assault soldier, sneak into enemy installations with the Special Forces folks, pick enemies off from afar with the Sniper, heal your fellow men with the Support class, or repair your vehicles with the Engineer. Also, you're not locked into any one Kit. You can select a new class after you die or grab a different Kit from a fallen soldier (the idea being that you're swapping out your gear for theirs to play a different role). Plus any Kit can pilot any vehicle—no special training required.
Defibrillator time.
Treads, Tires, Wings, and Rotors Battlefield 2: Modern Combat isn't simulating just infantry battle, it's simulating modern combat! As such, vehicles of all kinds are required, and this game does vehicle combat as well as other games dedicated to just that. You've got jeeps, armored personnel carriers (APCs), trucks, tanks, boats, and even helicopters. In other words, land, air, and sea, and each vehicle fits a role and serves a purpose. Load up a whole squad in a transport helicopter and drop them behind enemy lines, support an infantry assault with cannon fire from a tank, or transport squads of soldiers quickly with the APCs. The handling and depth of strategy for just one vehicle is startling, let alone the whole stable Battlefield 2: Modern Combat offers.
That's just a taste of what to expect. Pick this game up for the first time and feel the thrill settle into your veins as you witness the quality of its design. From the smooth and believable animation of the players, to the tight and varied control of all the vehicles, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is a marriage of great design and flawless execution. It's a rare breed—enjoy it!
