User Rating: 9.3 | Battlefield 1942 PC
Back in the era before 2002, vehicular/first-person shooter hybrids were pretty rare. Almost unheard of. It used to be that the only good games that featured this were the Tribes series of games. another game that tried to do this before Tribes was a game called Rock. Never heard of it? Well, of course. It was canned. But, when EA released Battlefield 1942 in 2002, the gaming world was changed. As I already stated, Tribes already was a great game that set the foundation for Battlefield. Battlefield is pretty similar to this game with one huge exeption: It's way easier to play. Tribes breathed strategy, complexity, and complication. Not nessesarily a bad thing, but it was definitely not for pick-up and play gamers, casual gamers, or anyone who wasn't raised to play a game over-and-over again to learn everything featured in the first .0000000001 of a level, and then do it to another .0000000001 of the same level. Battlefield is WAY easier to get into, without losing too much strategy. For one, wheras you needed a good number of players to get a bomber moving smoothly, you only need one in this game (although two gunners are a good idea). Also, although there are five classes rather than three, its easier to become accustomed to the strengths and weaknesses and functions of each class. The assault troop is the best for infantry combat do to their strong weopnry and ammo advantage. Medics are good for keeping troops on the frontlines longer before death, and are also good in mid- to-close-quarters combat because of their SMG's. Engineers aren't incredible fighters, but they can lay traps for unsuspecting vehicles and repair friendly ones. Scouts can snipe and spot for artillery. Anti-tank troops do just what you think they do. The gameplay feels different for each. The vehicles feel different as well. You got tanks, cars, subs, boats, planes, stationary guns,etc. Almost all of it is polished and balanced to a shine (but get a joystick for the planes). The single-play is above-average, but unless you have a patch, the AI seems to hop in and out of machine gun nests and mobile-guns. The multi-play is near perfect in every way. There is some lag, but it is fairly minor, and this can be easily patched. In the end, Battlefield 1942 is a classic. I have no dobt in my mind it will go down in gaming history as an amazing achievement of design, execution, and programming. It also features good visuals for both the models and the environments. The sound effects are also superb, though they occasionally refuse to come up. This is right up there with Counter-Strike, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and Americas Army as one of the greatest multiplayer shooters ever made. Its that good!
