Vehicles in Halo® 2 make a difference; vehicles in Battlefield 2: Modern Combat™ are the difference. Some games use vehicles as spice, but in this game they're an integral element of every battle. Certain maps may be more disposed to particular vehicles types than others, but they always need to be used and accounted for. Understand each vehicle's strengths and weaknesses and you'll rule the battlefield.
Take a Test Drive Do yourself an enormous favor and practice what you drive or pilot before hopping online. There's an extensive offline component of the game, so use it. Nothing is more frustrating than watching someone hop into a 'copter and go off into never-never land so they can educate themselves on the nuances of the game's flight mechanics. If you're going to use a vehicle, use it for the betterment of the team.
Get in and drive!
On a similar note, use the vehicles for their intended purpose. Grab an armored personnel carrier (APC) and drive off by your lonesome, and the only thing you win is the aggravation of your teammates.
Squad Vehicles These vehicles' primary purpose is to move squads of soldiers from one point to another as swiftly and safely as possible. They tend to be the most underappreciated of the lot, but use them properly and turn the tide of battle.
Armored Personnel Carrier (APC): Gone are the days of Battlefield 1942 where the personnel carrier was simply for delivery. The APC rides through the roughest of battles and takes immense punishment, but now it deals it out too. The driver has access to a heavy cannon and six missiles. Use this bad boy to penetrate enemy lines, and then park it for cover while the squad hops out. The firepower available from just the driver offers enough suppressive fire to make a safe landing. Also, the APC is an amphibious machine, so it traverses water with no problem. Keep that in mind.
Tanks for the memories.
Transport Helicopters: Choppers don't sport the firepower of the APC, but flight goes a long way to neutralizing the issue. The transport helicopters hold six people (the number of players in a full squad), so it's your best bet for moving a whole squad to an enemy location. Use it to penetrate deep behind enemy lines and steal a Capture Point.
Boats: Not used as often as the APC or transport helicopter, the boat skims across the sea at a rapid pace and caries up to six people (five passengers and a driver). Use the boat often when planning flanking attacks.
Assault Vehicles Carrying troops to and fro is essential, but so is cutting a swathe of destruction in your path. While mindless demolition won't get the job done, intelligent use of the following vehicles will:
Tanks: These slow moving behemoths cause the most panic in the opposing force. With a point and fire cannon, the tank is your ultimate diversion. Roll up in support of your infantry and lighter vehicles, or draw the enemy's attention while you expertly move covert squads to take down Capture Points. Armored vehicles are designed to take a lot of punishment, but they can't withstand a heavy attack from behind. Make sure you watch your flank when driving a tank or APC.
The view from the turret.
Attack Helicopter: Attack helicopters are great for surgical strike operations. With a pilot and one passenger, use the autocannon, rockets, and laser-guided missiles to wreak havoc in a heartbeat. Also, steal enemy Capture Points by hovering directly overhead.
There are other vehicles in the game (like jeeps and trucks), but their purpose is more for instant transportation than anything else (although strapping C4 to a vehicle before letting it plow into an enemy base is a good tactic). Each faction possesses different versions of each vehicle (for example, the Chinese Type 95 tank versus the USMC M6 Bradley), but the differences between them are more aesthetic than functional. Now stop reading about it and get to living it!
