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Battlefield 2

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Battlefield 2 (commonly abbreviated to BF2) is a computer game, developed by Digital Illusions CE (DICE) and published by Electronic Arts, in which up to 64 players, over the Internet, fight in a modern battlefield using contemporary firearms and vehicles. Although the game was made primarily for Internet play, it also includes a singleplayer mode using the same internet maps, with three difficulty levels but only 16 computer controlled players (also known as a bot) . It is a sequel in the Battlefield series, and was released in late June of 2005 to both critical and popular success. With a mixture of strategy and FPS elements, it utilizes a new engine for gameplay, physics, and graphics, as well as other functions.

The game received an average score of 90% from reviewers and topped the PC game sales charts from June to August 2005. Battlefield 2 is often compared with the popular Desert Combat mod for Battlefield 1942. Both games take place in modern times and, after the acquisition of Desert Combat developer Trauma Studios by Digital Illusions CE, developers that worked on Desert Combat went to work on Battlefield 2.

A console branded version also exists (for Xbox, Xbox 360 and PS2), named , although the game differs quite considerably in execution, content, and gameplay from the PC version.

Story and background

The game portrays a hypothetical war in the near future between three powerful factions: the United States Marines Corps (USMC), China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition (MEC). The battles, however, only feature USMC versus MEC and USMC versus China; the MEC and China are presumably allied or neutral, as they are never seen attacking each other. There is little background to the war aside from what can be gleaned from map briefings, and certain questions, such as why mutually assured destruction did not prevent the countries from attacking each other and if any of the countries retaliated using weapons of mass destruction, remain unanswered.

Unlike Battlefield 1942, the armies use modern weaponry: the Marines use well-known American weaponry such as the M1 Abrams tank and the M4 Carbine assault rifle, the Chinese use a mixture of Chinese-made copies of Soviet weapons like the Type 56, and their own latest modern weaponry, such as the QBZ-95, while the Middle Eastern Coalition uses a mix of old Soviet weapons and newer, more advanced arms from the Russian Federation, like the AK-101.

Battlefield 2 was originally scheduled to be released on March 20, 2005, but was delayed until June 21, 2005 for North America, and June 24, 2005 for Europe and Australia.

Gameplay

The ultimate objective of "Conquest" (which until the release of patch 1.3 was Battlefield 2's only game mode) is to reduce the opposing team's "tickets", an indicator of how many respawns are available to that team. Once a team's ticket count reaches zero, the other team wins the round. Teams can speed up the loss of the other team's tickets by capturing objectives, depicted as flags in the game. Tickets will decline at a steady rate, but if more than half of the flags are captured, then the opposing teams tickets will decline more than usual.

The various infantry classes and vehicles provide a variety of methods to attack and counter the opposing team's forces, and in this way, the gameplay resembles a complex game of rock, paper, scissors.

Infantry classes

Battlefield 2 screenshot, showing, from left to right, the Medic, Support, Spec Ops, and Anti-Tank classes.
Enlarge
Battlefield 2 screenshot, showing, from left to right, the Medic, Support, Spec Ops, and Anti-Tank classes.

Battlefield 2 has seven classes per team, up from Battlefield 1942's five, and Battlefield Vietnam's four. The classes are:

Weapons

Battlefield 2 uses a number of different real-world weapons, however, they do not always perform the same as their real-world counterparts. Weapons are organized according to country and kit, and special unlockable weapons can be used by any country - however, the player must obtain a certain rank to spawn one or more of them. It is possible for a player of any rank to use unlocks by picking them up off dead soldiers.

All classes carry a basic pistol (the pistols of Spec Ops and Sniper classes are suppressed), combat knife and hand grenades, with the exception of Anti-Tank, which forgoes the grenades in order to accommodate a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher, and Assault, which is equipped with a grenade launcher on their default kit weapons. After enough points are earned, players can unlock alternate weapons for each class. For instance, snipers may choose the bulletproof glass-piercing M95 sniper rifle (firing .50 BMG ammunition), and Spec Ops can use a H&K G36C carbine.

Different classes are able to sprint for different lengths of time than others, and have different amounts of body armour. Support and Assault classes have heavy body armour and can sprint for 8 seconds. The Anti-Tank class has heavy body armour as well and can sprint for 9 seconds. All other classes can sprint for 10 seconds, but have no armor protection.

Locational damage is a returning feature of the game, meaning that certain bodyparts on infantry classes (like the head) are weaker than others. Infantry classes can also be momentarily stunned by nearby explosions (by flashbang, grenade, a tank firing, or artillery), temporarily resulting in blurred vision, hearing loss, and slower movement.

Vehicles

An M1 Abrams in Battlefield 2.
Enlarge
An M1 Abrams in Battlefield 2.

The various forces still use the trademark feature of the Battlefield series - the large stable of vehicles that any player, regardless of faction, specialty or experience, can climb into and control. There are many different types of vehicles playable in Battlefield 2. They are all based on real-life vehicles used by the militaries of different countries. However, certain vehicles are incorrectly portrayed. For example, in reality the USMC Desert Patrol Vehicle (DPV) is only used by the Navy SEALs.

All pilotable vehicles take damage from guns, missiles, rough terrain and crashes, and catch fire and explode when they become submerged in water (with the exception of the APCs and RIBs). All vehicles have a damage meter which is lowered with successive damage, and can be replenished by a supply crate or Engineer kit. Helicopters and jets can also be repaired by returning to a friendly helipad or airstrip. Once a vehicle reaches a certain damage level (1 or 2 bars), it catches on fire and its damage meter automatically lowers until it explodes or is repaired to a safe level (if a hit lowers the damage meter to zero before this, the vehicle explodes instantly). Unlike Battlefield 1942, there are no ground vehicle repair pads. This means that the only methods of repair are via engineer, or the comparatively slow supply drop. This is to necessitate a stronger, more urgent team dynamic, and in a way breaks the sense of dominance tanks had in previous games in the series. All aircraft and helicopters explode or are severely damaged if they crash into any terrain object at a high enough speed, even trees or poles. Being damaged does not affect the vehicles' performance, albeit making them more vulnerable to destruction and causing them to spout black or grey smoke. If a player is standing close enough to a vehicle when it explodes, they will take damage or be killed by the explosion, depending on the size of the vehicle and type of projectile used. Standing next to its charred wreckage when it disappears will also cause some damage, and even kill other players, in which case the player who destroyed the vehicle, either an enemy or from the same team, will be given credit for the kill.

Features

Even though Battlefield 2 is a sequel to Battlefield 1942, there are many changes to the popular gameplay of the original. Many of these new gameplay features were added to the game with teamwork and collaboration in mind. The upgraded game engine includes realistic physics, dynamic lighting, and realistic material penetration.

Squads

Players are able to form themselves into six-man squads, for better versatility and survivability on the battlefield. Members of a squad have the added ability to communicate to players within their squad via Voice-over IP (VoIP), a method of voice communication integrated into BF2.

The squad leader is tasked with providing objectives to his squad members (such as moving, attacking, defending, repairing an objective) which will appear on their interface as waypoints or coloured smoke markers. The squad leader is also the only person in the team that has full access to the T menu, which consists of the ability to request orders, artillery, UAV support, and supply/vehicle drops from the commander, as well as the only player that is able to communicate directly to the commander via VoIP.

A maximum of nine squads per side is allowed. Players may be invited to join a squad, and if they accept, they are then moved into that squad. Squads can be locked so that people can only join if they have been invited. Squad members, not leaders, have a minimal T key menu for requesting orders, artillery, and a supply drop.

The most recent 1.3 patch has elmininated squad-hopping, a method which earned many players a quick way to reach the front lines by joining squads while dead and spawning on their squad leader. Now a player must die and respawn at a conventional Control Point spawn before they may change squads, and then must naturally die again before spawning next to their new squad leader. This change, and the complete lack of a serverside option to disable it, has earned DICE and EA the ire of many different clans and individual players who used this exploit to great effect.

Commo rose

An activated commo rose replaces the crosshair in the center of the screen.
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An activated commo rose replaces the crosshair in the center of the screen.

Players can send preset messages to their teams by way of an ingame popup menu (called a "Commo Rose"). By pressing the Q or T keys, the crosshair is replaced with a "rose" with radio commands arranged in a circle. There are two radio sections; global radio, controlled by the Q key (spotted, need medic, need backup, follow me, etc.) and squad radio, controlled by the T key, which allows squad members to send requests to their squad leader. The squad leader receives an expanded list of squad radio commands, and can give orders to their squad or make requests to the commander.

If a menu is activated while aiming at an object such as a tank and "spotted" is clicked, it recognizes the tank and sends out an "enemy armor spotted" radio message. Units spotted this way are displayed on teammates' mini-maps for several seconds. This function can be overridden by holding the right mouse button, which shows a list of the types of enemies that can be spotted.

Commanders

The Team Commander position is an exclusive role in the team that is assigned via player application according to online rankings. The Commander plays the strategic role of a battlefield commander, assigning objectives to squad leaders and providing artillery, satellite scan, RQ-1 Predator (with no armaments) UAV reconnaissance, supply and vehicle drops (often used to squash enemy infantry and keep attack choppers on the ground). The Team Commander is like any other soldier on the battlefield in that he chooses a kit, spawns in, can die, etc. The Commander can resign at any time and become a regular soldier, letting others apply for the commander position. If players feel that their current commander is not doing a good job of commanding, there is an option to vote for a mutiny. If an overwhelming majority of teammates vote "yes," the mutiny succeeds and the Commander will be forced to retire.

Commanders do not gain points from flag captures, kills or teamwork. Scoring is calculated on the average points accrued by allied team members.

Minimap

The minimap shows a white triangle at its centerpoint, representing the player's field of view. It will show the location of nearby friendly units, as well as any spotted enemies. Minimap also displays the kit of nearby players if that kit is requested (i.e. if a medic is requested, a red cross will appear as an icon for nearby medics). Commander abilities (artillery, UAV, and supply drop) are displayed on the minimap.

Global ranking

A log of all players' activities, kills, weapon usage, and other achievements on "official" ranked servers is kept, and organised into a ranking system. Rankings are based on USMC military ranks, ranging from Private all the way to General. Once a player's global points reach a certain level they will gain a rank, giving them precedence when applying for the team commander position. These ranks become harder to achieve the higher up the hierarchy.

Awards and unlockable weapons

One can earn awards (ribbons, badges, and medals) for certain tasks accomplished. Badges and ribbons are the easiest to obtain, and medals are much harder, requiring dedication and prolonged play. As players ascend through the ranks, an additional 7 weapons. There is one weapon unlock for each kit. Another 7 weapons can be unlocked by playing on an official ranked Special Forces expansion pack server.

The ranking system and unlockables can be used on all servers which allow them, but only "official" (ranked) servers record and send back stats.

A detailed list of the awards can be found at Battlefield 2 Awards.

Battlefield recorder

A built-in game recorder records battles for subsequent replay. These files can be downloaded off a server which supports BattleRecorder directly after their respective game. Recorded battle files are around 1MB in size and are played within the Battlefield 2 engine. Camera angles can be changed (free roaming & selected player), as well as the speed, though it cannot be rewound. Files can be exported to AVI format. The Battlefield Recorder has enabled the creation of various machinima films.

Maps

Main article: List of maps in Battlefield 2
BF2 originally shipped with 12 maps, with Wake Island 2007 being added from the 1.03 patch onwards, and Road to Jalalabad being added from the 1.4 patch onward. Depending on the number of people the server is configured to accommodate, the scope and objectives of maps change. However, servers can be set up support more or less than the map is designed for(EX. 40 players on a 32-man map or 56 on a 64-man map)

Single-player mode only allows access to a selection of the 16 player version maps, and several maps are not available at all for single-player, such as the "Kubra Dam" map.

Battlefield 2 Euro Force / Armored Fury
  • Sharqi Peninsula
  • Strike at Karkand
  • Zatar Wetlands
  • Devil's Perch
  • Ghost Town
  • Iron Gator
  • Leviathan
  • Mass Destruction
  • Night Flight
  • Surge
  • Warlord
  • Operation Smoke Screen
  • Taraba Quarry
  • Great Wall
  • Midnight Sun
  • Operation Harvest
  • Operation Road Rage

Reception

Battlefield 2 has sold 2,090,000 copies worldwide, as of March 2006.

The game gained widespread approval from critics, receiving an aggregate score of 91% from 55 reviews, including five stars out of five from large reviewing organizations Yahoo! Games, Gamespy, and Computer Gaming World. PC Gamer awarded it 94%, stating, "Its finely tuned maps and balanced gameplay prove that you CAN improve on perfection", later on PC Gamer gave it its Game of the Year award.

Some of the lower scores were reactions to the large amount of bugs and glitches in the initial release. For example, Gaming Nexus (who awarded the game an 8.7 out of 10) reported, "I’ve had many cool experiences playing it and a lot of 'did I just see that' moments but all of that is crapped on by the bugs and quirks in the game." (These problems have been mostly addressed in the post-release patches; however, new, sometimes more severe problems have materialized in their place.) Games Radar approved of the game, awarding a 90%, but added a disclaimer that the gaming experience is best "if your machine is up to it". (See System requirements)

Awards

E3 2005 Game Critics Awards: Best Online Multiplayer

Demo

A demo is available for download from major game sites featuring a single map (Gulf of Oman) for both single-player and multi-player. The 16-person version of the map has a time limit of 10 minutes; the 32-person version has a time limit of 12 minutes. The 64-person version is unavailable in the demo, though up to 64 players can still play on the 32-person map. EA Games shut down all demo servers on November 28th, 2005.

Some aspects of gameplay, such as jet combat, are markedly different in the demo compared with the current game. This is due to changes made in recent patches. The demo does not feature rankings.

Official system requirements

Patches

There have been a number of patches made available since the release of Battlefield 2.

Official expansion packs

Battlefield 2: Special Forces

Battlefield 2: Special Forces is an official expansion pack for the computer game Battlefield 2. It includes six new armies (compared to just three in Battlefield 2): U.S. Navy SEALs, British SAS, Russian Spetsnaz and MEC Special Forces, a Russian Rebel group and a Middle-Eastern Insurgent faction. These last two armies are apparently inspired by, respectively, Chechen rebels and insurgents in Iraq, but not named as such in the game. There are ten new vehicles, twelve new weapons, and eight new maps.

This expansion pack is available for purchase via EA's content delivery service, known as EA Downloader, in addition to retail copies. The expansion pack also includes new awards that players can earn, such as badges, ribbons and medals. The day of release of the expansion pack, EA/Dice released a new patch (version 1.12) which fixed a few bugs but mostly added art assets for the original Battlefield 2 game to support the new weapons from the expansion.

New features

Booster packs

Booster packs are additional content released for Battlefield 2 that can be downloaded via the EA Downloader for US$10 or 10. Booster packs do add a significant amount of content to the game, but are different from expansion packs because they are intended to add to the original gameplay and not stand on their own (such as Special Forces does). The booster packs include new maps, vehicles, and a new European Union faction.

Euro Force

Battlefield 2: Euro Force is the first booster pack, and was released on March 14, 2006. The booster pack allows players to play as a new European Union Army, armed with new weapons and vehicles from the various countries of the EU. It is only available for purchase online at the Electronic Arts download service. It was scheduled for release in February, but was delayed due to a substantial amount of new bugs caused by the release of patch 1.2. Euro Force is available to purchase and download (370 MB). It features a whole new army and more than 2 new maps, including; 'The Great Wall of China', against the People's Liberation Army of China.

Armored Fury

Battlefield 2: Armored Fury is the second booster pack released for Battlefield 2 and was released on June 6 2006. It added 3 new maps, as well as two new vehicle classes: attack jets for close air support and reconnaissance helicopters that automatically locate enemies. Operation Midnight Sun features the Chinese landing at the Alaskan port Valdez where they are trying to secure much needed fuel from the pipeline. Operation Road Rage is an MEC vs. USMC map, where the MEC are using US Highways to transport units to industrial areas. Operation Harvest sees the United States trying to stall the MEC on route to the capital from northwest, being blocked in a Pennsylvania Dutch farm, whilst waiting for reinforcements. New vehicles include the A-10 Thunderbolt II (part of the Attack Jet class) and the OH-6 Little Bird (as part of the recon helicopter class). However, the proposed AV-8B Harrier was cut from the addon due to balancing issues..

Easter eggs

Battlefield 2 includes a number of easter eggs:

Fish boxes: Seen on the Songhua Stalemate and FuShe Pass levels, these boxes appear as any other normal box, with illegible writing on the sides. If explosives such as C4 or Grenades are used on the box, the box will explode and fish will land in the surrounding couple of metres.

Bear boxes: Similar to the fish boxes, these are seen on the Strike at Karkand, Songhua Stalemate and Sharqi Peninsula levels. Unlike the fish boxes, these boxes are plain, with no writing on them. When destroyed with explosives, teddy bears with hearts on their stomachs fly out.

Crop circles: In the Zatar Wetlands level the player can fly in a helicopter and can clearly see four small and one large crop circles in a field.

Coins: On maps, such as Strike at Karkand, there are parking meters on sidewalks. When run over, or destroyed with explosives, coins will occasionally scatter across the area. These coins cannot be picked up. The coins cannot be seen with video quality on the "low" setting.

References to Battlefield 1942: In some levels, like Ghost Town of the Special Forces Expansion Pack, there are posters for the Arabic version of Battlefield 1942. On the Wake Island 2007 map, three old crashed Japanese aircraft, WW2 Zero fighters, can be seen covered in plant growth, and another underwater.

Warning sticker: In the driver's seat of an FAV, there is a warning sticker on the dashboard, the bottom line of which states "DRINK MORE COLA."

Blueprint: In the map Gulf of Oman, there is a blueprint of a jet sticking to the side of a crate near the UAV trailer. The blueprint shows the Swedish JAS-39 Gripen.

Dice Cream: On billboards scattered throughout maps like Mashtuur City and Sharqui Peninsula, there are advertisements for $0.99 "Dice Cream," a type of ice cream, based on the developers (DICE).

T-shirts: Hanging up on clotheslines are t-shirts with the DICE logo on them.

Headset: The US Spec Ops kit's headsets have the DICE logo on them.

Dock tires: Tires on the dock at the River Outpost in Gulf of Oman have Swedish sayings on them.

Leaping Frog: In Mashtuur City when walking under the small bridge on the west side, a tiny frog will leap into the river causing a small ripple.

Muscle Car: In the Armored Fury Booster Pack map Midnight Sun, there is a driveable muscle car with the license plate number 2142, a reference to the upcoming game Battlefield 2142.

Newspaper: In the semi truck in the Armored Fury Booster Pack map Operation Road Rage, if a player looks around the interior of the semi-trailer truck there is a newspaper with a headline that gives a warning about an upcomming ice age, presumably this is the ice age that causes the war in Battlefield 2142

Billboard: In the Armored Fury Booster Pack map Operation Harvest, as well as Operation Road Rage, there is an billboard with the slogan 'Watch for the future' and a picture of a watch showing the time as '21:42', a reference to Battlefield 2142, as well as a mushroom cloud, hinting that nuclear warfare may have caused the ice age in Battlefield 2142.

Bumper: On the front bumper of the DPV, there is a painted message saying "Father Oblivion."

Claymore mines: On the front of the mine the "This side toward the enemy" text is in Swedish, saying "Denna sida mot fienden."

Stalin: Painted on building walls in maps such as Sharqui Penninsula and Ghost Town is a large likeness of Joseph Stalin.

Easter egg gallery

Image:Cropcirclesbf2.jpg|The crop circles in the Zatar Wetlands map Image:Bf2blueprint.JPG|The blueprint in the Gulf of Oman map Image:Bf2boxeasteregg.JPG|The Arabic BF1942 box cover in the Gulf of Oman map Image:Bf2sticker.jpg|The sticker on the MEC FAV Image:Bf2stickerlocation.JPG|The location of the sticker Image:Bf2af-musclecar2142.gif|The muscle car and its license plate Image:BF2 billboard.png|The billboard ad with the watch, and mushroom cloud. The time on the watch is 2142, which is the next game in the battelfeild series. Image:BF2Dicetshirt.png|The T-shirt with the DICE logo on it.

References

See also

External links

Official
Other
  • [Planet Battlefield]
  • [Total Battlefield 2]
  • [Battlefield Files]
  • [Battlefield 2 Demo]
  • [BF2Combat Tour of Duty]
  • Battlefield 2 Stats
  • [Battlefield 2 ranked Stats]
  • [Formitron Battlefield 2 Stats]
  • [Battlefied 2 Online Stats]
  • [Gameslave Battlefield 2 Stats]
  •  


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