2142 is a worthy first person shooter on most levels, but suffers because it doesn't bring anything new to the table.
2142 is a strictly multiplayer game. You can play with up to 64 people online, so you can expect the battle to be really intense. Intense is a good word for 2142, because that's basically what it it. 2142's battles might not be very original from other games like Halo or Unreal Tournament, but it does do the things to a good level. If your into FPS's, this is one has good gameplay, but it might not be as good as some others.
There is only one thing about 2142's gamelay that I really like above other games. That, is the classes and unlockable items. 2142 has 4 different types of character you can be. My favorite, the Assault class, is able to run into battle and kill lots of things do to it's good weapons. The classes ad lots of diversity in my opinion and really make the game more strategic. As for the unlockable items, 2142 has plenty of guns and bombs to unlock. To unlock these weapons, you simply play online a lot and do special things. This ads to the strategy in the game as well. In fact, there's actually over 1000 ways to customize your soldier.
As far as the controls go, there's really nothing that sets it apart from anything else. They work fine overall. You shoot and aim with the mouse, move with WSAD, and talk to your teammates with Q. Those are the main buttons you'll be using in the game.
The visuals in 2142 look nice, but not great. Yes, it is one of the better looking games on PC, but the graphics are still aging faster than EA would like. The graphics still look good enough so that it doesn't effect the gameplay of the game much, but for everyone who likes really good looking games, you might not be as satisfied by this game.
Overall, 2142 is a solid FPS in almost always. It looks nice, plays good, and controls well. Really, the only reason I don't rate it higher is because it doesn't take anything to the next level like some other games that are out. The game is still a good FPS, but it's not that different from other games. The classes and unlockables are the only thing that really makes it stand out from other games. If you like that stuff, 2142 is probably a good pick up for you, yet still not the best available option.
Overall, Battlefield 2142 gets a solid 7.5 out of 10 from me.