MaximumPC 2006 12

reviewsTes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tized

90 MAXIMUMPC december 2006

B

attlefield games have always offered

fantastic action, as long as you can

get past the bugs, crashes, and

craptacular server browser that makes it

hard to find a game with your pals. And

none of that has changed with the latest

version, Battlefield 2142. The game is still

buggy, the client and servers still crash

frequently, and the server browser still

leaves much to be desired. On top of that,

EA has added a whole host of goofy in-

game ads, which further distract from the

gaming experience. Still, despite the litany

of flaws, the game is a ton of fun to play.

The biggest change, aside from the

near-future setting, is the addition of

a tiered advancement system. Instead

of offering a lot of classes with just a

few unlockable weapons per class, a la

Battlefield 2, 2142 has just four classes.

As you advance through the ranks, you

can unlock specialized gadgets and

weapons for each class, to sculpt your

character to perfectly suit your play style.

Your character can be as specialized or

as general as you want. For example, if

you use all your unlocks in the engineer

class, you’ll not only acquire the default

shoulder-fired anti-armor rocket, but also

mines, mine defusal gear, vehicle detec-

tion gadgets, an anti-armor rifle, and a

shoulder-fired SAM missile. You can even

change your loadout (and armor) from one

spawn to the next.

The devel-

oper also added an

entirely new game

mode that has

you attacking and

defending giant

floating bases,

dubbed Titans. The

gameplay mechanic

is simple: capture

missile silos on the

ground to destroy the enemy

Titan’s shields and hull. Titan

mode becomes complex when

the shield drops and you have

the option of sending soldiers

to the enemy Titan to try to

detonate the airship from inside.

When teams don’t properly bal-

ance between protecting missile

silos, defending their Titan, and

attacking the enemy’s Titan, the

tide of battle can shift.

In addition to fast-paced

interior combat, the Titan also

provides an in-game artillery

platform, a mobile spawn, a

helipad (complete with trans-

port and gunship), and infantry

rocket pods, which will launch

you halfway across the map

from the Titan’s spawn room. The new

mode’s definitely a blast, but even on our

beefy machines we experienced frame rate

issues when transitioning from the outside

areas to the Titan’s interior.

All the weapons and vehicles in the

game are new—we love the new battle

walkers, which stand on two legs and

wreak havoc everywhere they go—and all

fit in with near-future conflict. The weap-

ons, including unlocks, feel pretty well-bal-

anced, and the rock/paper/scissors game

design remains in effect.

That said, for what is essentially a ver-

sion 2.0 of a version 2.0 product, we’re

disappointed by 2142’s unstable nature.

During prerelease tests using final code

being run on EA’s servers, crashes (both

server and client) were alarmingly fre-

quent. Plus, we’re not fans of in-game

advertising, especially in full-price games.

Although BF2142’s ads weren’t enabled as

we went to press, there are literally dozens

of billboards per level, just waiting to hold

ads for everything from razors to soda

pop. If even a fraction of these ubiquitous

billboards are filled, it will be annoying.

We’d really like to like Battlefield 2142,

but given our aforementioned complaints,

we just can’t recommend it.

—Will Smith

Battlefield 2142

The epic battle between consumers and

buggy, greedy software

Giant walkers, hovertanks, and beautiful outdoor battles—this

must be Battlefield.

Welcome to the Alamo, ladies. these soldiers are

the last line of defense between the enemy and

your total annihilation.

battlefield 2142

GiAnt commie robotS

Once you get in the game,

it’s really, really fun; Titan

mode kicks ass.

GiAnt fASci St robotS^7

Unstable servers and clients;

in-game ads; doesn’t support

widescreen.

the new titan mode has you defend-

ing your floating base while you try to

destroy your enemies.

$50,www.battlefield.ea.com, ESRB: T