Best Action Adventure Game
Best Adventure Game
Best Driving Game
Best Fighting Game
Best Massively Multiplayer Game
Best Platformer
Best Puzzle/Rhythm Game
Best Role-Playing Game
Best Shooter
Best Sports Game
Best Strategy Game

Battlefield 2 (PC)

Developer: Digital Illusions
Publisher: EA
Release Date: June 2005

We got the first inkling of just how utterly cool Battlefield 2 is last month when EA held a press event at its Redwood Shores campus to show off its E3 lineup. After sitting through demo after demo of various games with varying reactions, we got to see Battlefield 2 running in all its glory. It was so awesome that even console editors walked out of the demo muttering that they had to play the game.

The actual E3 demo of Battlefield 2 was even better, mainly because EA let the game speak for itself by letting us play it. Sure, there were some awesome shooters at the show (there always are), from the brilliant F.E.A.R., the cinematic Black, the innovative Prey, and the cutting-edge Unreal Tournament 2007. However, none of them showed the polish and the potential of Battlefield 2. Of course, EA had a huge advantage over everyone else, in that Battlefield 2 was nearly finished, while most of the other games at the show were still stuck in mid-development. But even if it weren't 99 percent complete, Battlefield 2 would remain the game to beat.

Official Trailer

Check out the latest action-packed trailer for Battlefield 2.

Watch It »

Simply put, Battlefield 2 looks fantastic, no matter what angle you look at it. As a shooter, it possesses a gorgeous graphics engine that's visually stunning. Imagine the richness of Half-Life 2, but then expand the gameplay world so that it can accommodate 64 players running, driving, and flying around in a variety of beautifully rendered military vehicles. As a multiplayer game, it has the perfect rock-paper-scissors formula that guarantees wild and unpredictable matches. Light vehicles trump infantry. Tanks trump the light vehicles. Gunships trump the tanks. Jets trump the gunships, and so on. And at the same time, Battlefield 2 will have built-in team tools, such as real-time voice chat and the commander screen, to allow you to coordinate and work with your teammates like never before.

It's rock-paper-scissors, only with infantry, tanks, and helicopters.

But at the heart of Battlefield 2 is the fact that you create your own epic moments in the game. There is no story or plot in Battlefield 2, nor are there any politics. Battlefield 2 simply puts you in a gigantic virtual battle alongside other players. Moreover, this is a game of countless cinematic moments, like when you strafe an armored column while sitting in a helicopter gunship, or battle house-to-house in gritty urban warfare, or when you scream in low over a dynamic battlefield while strapped to an F-18. When you get down to it, no other shooter at E3 could match the combination of graphics, gameplay, and dynamism that is Battlefield 2.

Finalists