Battlefield 2 (DVD) | 
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| From: Electronic Arts
Category: Video Games
List Price: $49.99
Buy Used: $3.00
You Save: $46.99 (94%)
Used (9) from $3.00
Rating:  61 reviews
Sales Rank: 15825
Format: Dvd-rom
Platforms: Windows Nt, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows Xp
Genre: Online Computer and Video Games
ESRB: Rating Pending
Media: CD-ROM
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Operating System: Windows 2000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 1.1
MPN: battlef2-d
UPC: 014633149302
EAN: 0014633149302
ASIN: B0007D9YT8
Release Date: June 21, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | War simulation, online multiplayer action with 64 players on the PC | | • | Battle as U.S., Chinese, or Middle East Coalition troops | | • | 30+ land, sea, and air vehicles; choose from a variety of solider classes | | • | New state-of-the-art weapon systems, including heat seeking missiles | | • | Increase rank and unlock awards; voice-over IP (VOIP) supported |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Get ready to drop right into the middle of a 21st century shootout! You have everything you need to get the job done - heavy tanks, tactical fighters, assault carriers, you name it. More importantly, you'll be joining a team of tough-as-nails soldiers who are as committed to victory as you are. Work closely with them - your life could depend on it.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 game of the year!!!! June 22, 2005
Janet L. Thompson
137 out of 149 found this review helpful
When I got my first chance to play Battlefield 2, the pace was significantly more intense and quicker than any of the previous Battlefield Series. It took quite some time to get adjusted, roughly about an hour for me. The server that we played on was a sixty-four player server. During this time I experienced no lag and no framerate drops, the game ran as smoothly as it can come.
The first thing I noticed when I spawned was seeing an explosion and fire coming out of the windows of a building, and it looked stunning. The sounds of the game were just simply amazing; it felt as you were actually there as I heard explosions, gunfire going off everywhere, and the sound of a jet engine above me as a plane flew by. The game itself was well balanced as I did not see one class being over used or one weapon dominating.
With Battlefield 2 promoting teamwork the squad system and VOIP works really well, as I experienced a whole new level of teamwork. The VOIP server itself can be run on the server box with your game-server or can be run from a different location as it is a separate application and not tied in with the server program. The 3D map for Battlefield 2 only displays the distance from the flag instead of both the distance from the flag and your teammate like BF: Vietnam this option can be turned off by pressing the left ALT button.
To deploy a smoke screen for the tanks and flares for jets / helicopters you press the `X' key. The maps for Battlefield 2 now feature various effects such as a moving sky, waterfalls, and various other ambient effects. The reload animation has also significantly improved, depending on what kit you have chosen, you view your soldier throwing his ammo magazine from one hand to another to reload his weapon, as well as if you are idle with the knife in your hand, your soldier will play around with the knife by throwing it up and catching it on its tip. There is now a reload indicator for all vehicles and weapons, this will tell you how long it takes to reload your weapon, and is a great addition.
Gameplay:
As I previously mentioned the game pace of Battlefield 2 is more intense and faster. Unfortunately one of the things I did not like in Battlefield 2 was the jump height. A few minutes into a round, all I was seeing was the enemy soldier jumping about five feet into the air, shooting, and killing me. So I re-spawn and guess what same thing happens again. On my screen I view an enemy jumping about five feet in the air and while jumping, the enemy is shooting and kills me. Now you'll think to yourself well when in the air, your aim will not be so good. Well I can tell you it's not that hard to stay on your target while jumping. I extremely disliked the jump height and when asked if it will be changed the answer was no but they are working on to fix the bunny hopping. As well as I saw a lot of dolphin diving. This is where you go into prone mode, start shooting at your target and to make it worse they stand right up after going into prone mode. This was virtually an instant kill, and the only way to really defeat this was to shove it back into their faces. So after awhile I started to jump about five feet in the air while shooting them, and started to dolphin dive and got quite a few kills out of it.
The sprint feature is a new addition to Battlefield 2 to access this feature you would press the `Shift' key. You can also swim faster in the water by pressing the `Shift' key. One of the first kits I got to test out was the Special Forces kit. The primary weapon for this kit is the M4A1 with a scope and inside the scope a red dot representing the crosshairs. While using this gun I ended up being third on my team with about fifty-six kills. I personally loved this gun as it was accurate and precise. This kit also contains the sticky C4, unfortunately you cannot stick this onto an enemy soldier but you can stick it onto any vehicle. I found this to be very useful and fun, and the remote detonator was pretty quick to access unlike BF Vietnam where you had to wait ages.
Another thing I had noticed is that the weapons have a different combination for firing your bullets. One set of combination is a single bullet shot or burst fire. The other combination being burst fire or full automatic. To change these different firing modes you would press the key for that weapon again. For example I would press the `3' key to switch between the firing modes for my main weapon. The way of throwing the grenade has now also changed, to throw a grenade at a farther distance than the original distance throw, you have a range by clicking the right mouse button and holding it. While we are on the subject of the grenades if one is thrown near you, you will experience a shock effect where your screen goes into a shaky mode along with blurriness. This is a new feature added for anything that has an explosion and you are virtually right beside it. The smoke grenades looked absolutely awesome. As you throw one, a gray color cloud comes out of it and covers the target area pretty extensively.
Now onto the destructible bridges, bridges can be destroyed. If it is destroyed, it proves to be a great hassle as it essentially changes the gameplay since you now have to find a new way of getting across the river. I remember in one of the map that if the bridge was destroyed and you could not cross the river unless you swam across. Luckily an engineer can repair the bridge so this provides a nice counter-measure for destroying someone's bridge. The primary weapon for the engineer is the shotgun and I can tell you this weapon packs a punch. With about two good shots into a soldier he will either have very low health or will be dead on the ground. I should also mention the Ironsights were beautifully done, and I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy them.
The next kit I tried was by far my favorite the medic kit. The defibrillator is the best tool you could possible have in the game as the shock paddle kill will replace the knife kill. While being the medic you are equipped with the M16 rifle but who is really going to use that gun when you have shock paddles. After getting one person with the shock paddles I was addicted to it. I could not use any other kit without thinking about getting people with the shock paddles, unfortunately I was gifted with using it and got about ten or so people with it (including Ben Smith, see screenshot below) and this was my first day using it. With the medic you can put down health packs in which anyone (including the enemy) on the battlefield can run over to heal themselves, and within a certain radius you can heal your teammate without dropping any health packs. While someone is critically wounded and they press their left mouse button a lighting bolt type icon will appear on your screen and minimap. This is where the critically wounded person is located and with the defibrillator you can bring him back to life.
The Squad system proved to be very useful as it improves team play and communications with other players on the battlefield. To communicate with your squad you would press the `V' key and to talk to your commander you would press the `B' key. The only issue I have with the squad leader is the mobile-spawn.
The new addition to Battlefield 2 radio commands was the Q button; this essentially eliminates using the F-keys for radio commands. This new system takes awhile to get use to, as soon as I hit the Q button you have move your mouse to the location you want to go to use a radio command. Most of the time I had to stop in my tracks, press the Q and move the mouse button to call out a tank in front of me but after awhile of adjusting to it, I got the hang out of but personally I would still like to use the good ole F-keys for radio commands.
Vehicles:
There are over thirty new vehicles for Battlefield 2 and by setting the map player size to a larger set for example sixty-four you will receive more vehicles on your map. One of the first vehicles I had a chance to try out was the M1A2. The HUD looked pretty impressive with bars showing you how long it takes to reload your weapon along with an indicator showing if there is a missile that is locked on to you. The tank is capable of popping smoke by pressing the `X' button, as this will prevent the anti-tank missile from targeting you (unless you get a lucky shot in). The only issue I had with the tanks was when turning the turret it moved slowly, the only solution to this was to move up the sensitivity for my mouse. The M1A2 main turret gun had a limited supply of ammo (roughly around 50 shots) and took about 5 seconds to reload, while the secondary gun (machine gun) had an unlimited supply of ammo but would overheat quickly.
The next vehicle I had an opportunity to try out was the Wessex-Saker - FAAV this vehicle was quick to get you wherever you wanted to go on the Battlefield but it lacked in armor, basically one shot with a tank you'll be blown out of this world. This vehicle is what the DPV for Desert Combat should have felt like. As well as both of the passengers receive a weapon to fight off oncoming traffic. While you are in a vehicle to switch positions it is now the F-key's (F1, etc) this was changed so now you can in between weapons while in a vehicle such as going from a knife to your gun.
The helicopters were the next thing I had a chance to try out, unlike Desert Combat, you cannot just get into the vehicle press your throttle key and you are in the air, the helicopter must first reach hundred percent throttle then it waits about three more seconds then you are finally in the air. The AH-1z flew beautifully as I was able to maneuver my way out of certain tight spots and go through certain tight spaces. The AH1-z second position is where you got to control the guided missiles. This process worked by selecting the spot you would like to have your missile fired at, once doing so a TV screen will pop up then you select your target and fire away. The HH-60H Seahawk was hard to handle it felt like a floating concrete box but after awhile of adjusting to it, it served well for its purpose. Both planes and helicopters now can lock onto their target but it is heat sensitive meaning that you can have false lock-on. For example in one of the map you had a burning oil well and on top of it was flames coming out, your plane or helicopter will lock onto it since it attracting heat.
The WASP Carrier featured two F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, one HH-60H Seahawk, one anti-air weapon at the back of the ship, and two or four Rib's (Uncertain about number). The F-35 JSF was a fun vehicle to be inside of, to lift off from the WASP you have to press the `S' key for reverse throttle and within a matter of seconds you'll be hover then by pressing the forward key you have transitioned into flying mode. It was easy to go back and forth between these modes. While flying the aircraft you could switch in between the bombs or missiles by pressing the `F' key. This is also for switching between ammo for most of jet planes and helicopter.
The dog fighting was pretty interesting, seeing how I'm not a flyboy, it was a little tough to get a handle on your opponent since the elements of flares have been added. After awhile of chasing a bogey I finally got a lock on him and fire the missile off it went to chase him and blew him out of the sky. You can lock onto air targets as well as if you try to lock onto a friendly vehicle the lock on box will appear with an X in it indicating that it is a friendly vehicle. To access the afterburners you would press the Shift key and this will provide you with a little boost when needed. I liked this feature very well. On the map Songhua Stalemate (I believe it was) if you were inside a RIB at the top of the river and starting moving your way down you would have to go in between the little openings for the dams. I can tell you going through these little openings in the dam was fun, since you flew in the air as the water level dropped below you.
The menu for Battlefield 2 has been reworked, the whole menu is now completely in flash, so if a mod team wants to rework their menu it must be done in a Flash Editor. The new menus added are BFHQ and Community. Inside of BFHQ is sub-menus called Kit Info, Stats, Leaderboards, and Awards. As the name implies Kit Info is information about your kit for US, MEC, and China. This sub-menu will also display information about your current rank for that specific kit, how far you are from reaching your next rank, information about your weapons/kit, global statistics, and the last three medals you have earned. The Awards sub-menu displays all the awards you have earned on the battlefield. You will be able to see all the Medals, Badges, and Ribbons you have earned and a description about it.
The next sub-menu is the Stats section; this is where you can view your overall statistics along with how many points you have earned through the different elements of teamwork. Unlike BF 1942 and Vietnam where you only had the top three players of the round displayed, once the round is finished in Battlefield 2 you can get an in-depth analysis of all the statistics through this stats section. The Leaderboard sub-menu is for displaying the overall leaders in different categories, this is pretty straight forward. Finally, the menu's music sounds like a porno theme. Don't believe me? Well go ask fellow people who have played Battlefield 2 they will agree. There is also a separate menu to configure your helicopter unlike previous Battlefield series games where they were combined with aircraft.
Commander Mode:
To access Commander Mode you first must apply for it then wait a few seconds and a response will be given on your screen asking if you are willing to accept commander by pressing page up for yes and page down for no. Through this wait process the server will determine who is best suited for commander if there is more than one person requesting to be commander. I should note that you are a player on the battlefield even if you are a commander; I was hiding in a building while I was trying out the functions of commander mode. To access the Commander Mode menu you press the Caps Lock key, once inside this menu you can view the battlefield from a top down view with three different view levels. Commander mode features four different elements that it can do to affect the battlefield these four features being UAV Scanner, Artillery, Scan, and Supplies.
First I will talk about Artillery. There is two ways to perform an Artillery Strike either by clicking the Artillery button on the top left menu, or you can right click on the map. Once you have found the precise location to do your strike, the Artillery gun will shoot rounds depending on the number of players in the server, and the number of guns. When you have asked for an artillery strike it will not strike the exact location you have pin pointed, instead it will hit the area around it in a saturation style bombardment.
Secondly, the UAV Scanner performs a full scan on the map for everyone on your team, and the enemy will appear as red dots on your mini map. Thirdly are the supply crates which are crates that parachute to your location that will heal, provide ammo, and after certain amount of energy used it will disappear. Lastly is the Scan which just scans for enemies on the map but this is only for commander and no one else will be able to see it. All of these features can be disabled by destroying the radar station, artillery gun, etc all located around the main base. Most of these features, if not destroyed, take about fifteen to twenty seconds to recharge so you can use them again.
The sections on the left hand said numbered from one to nine are the number of squads in a group. You can select a specific squad and send them orders to this location or you can tell all of your teammates to move to this location, and the squad leader has an option to accept or deny the mission. The bottom is filters where you can see where your team is located for a specific kit or vehicle on your map.
Overall, Battlefield 2 will be a fantastic game to play. I can just see myself spending around 5+ hours a day playing this game during the summer. To really sum up Battlefield 2 all I can really say is, Game of the Year!!!
source:Written by: Paul 'Stealth97' Uppal
Edited by: Phillip 'Fizban30' B., Chris 'Meaty_Bites' Ende and Paul 'Stealth97' Uppal
BF2 - A New Breath June 21, 2005
Patrick Sherman (DuPont)
34 out of 45 found this review helpful
BF2 is by far their best release. The addition of the commander role is a creative approach to organizing your battle. The squads and squad leaders are equally an awesome addition. As the commander of your team you can create waypoints, give orders to attack, defend and more. Drop supplies for your soliders, provide UAV support, perform battlefield satellite scans to show all the enemies on the map and best of art provide artillary(sp?) support. The commander role does take you out of the run and gun shooting initially, until you become more familiar with the role and can also take an active role on the battlefield.
The helicopters seem now to be based on a true rotary type aircraft and they slowed them way down. So now it seems more and more people can keep them in the air.. The harrier type jet is also a blast.
Laser Guided bombs and heat seeking missles are just another wow factor. This of course is just from playing the demo. I pre-ordered this months and months ago..
The only kicker with BF2 is your video card, they list only certain types as minimum requirements, so you may have to upgrade. It's a beast of a game and for some reason my Intel AGP 3Ghz system out performs my extreme amd 64 3700+ system with BF2.. Just some food for thought..
The only thing I would change is probably the vehicles and their damage/power issues. We all know the M1 Abrams cannot be destroyed as easy as it is in BF2. I know they were thinking in fairness with tanks against tanks.. But I would prefer them not to equally match tanks vs tanks but to have advantages of one over the other.
I have been a major Counter-Strike player and with over 200 hours clocked in on Counter-Strike: Source, I don't think I will be playing that anytime soon. I am hooked on BF2 and I have played all the BF games including the Desert Combat Mod.
I do believe that EA/DICE should give some more credit to Trauma Studios for their work on Desert Combat. Because without that awesome AWESOME mod, there probably would be no BF2. They pretty much made this mod and it kicked so much @#$ that EA was able to use it for free as a marketing anaylsis tool. So if your video card can't play BF2 yet, keep on keeping on with Desert Combat..
The only bad thing with these BF series games, is the idiot TK'ers that kill you when you are closer to a vehicle or aircraft. Because they want it or worse when your in it and they attach C4 to your vehicle to take you out..
Battlefield 2 July 23, 2005
Michael J. Chamberlain (California)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Awesome game. Good graphics and nice engine. Pay attention to the minumum PC requirements on this one. They are NOT kidding. It will push your video card and cpu to the limit :) Do a search on BF2 Tweak Guide for optimum game play.
Not a bad thing to say about the game really July 8, 2005
Charleh (UK)
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
People complaining about 'poor load times, sluggishness' get a decent system. Most people don't have the patience to wait the minute or so that the server lobby takes to sometimes get going, and they think the game has locked up on them. I played the demo for about 3 weeks straight and it only crashed on me once (went to desktop).
I was frankly amazed at how smooth and fluid the game plays on my mediocre system. I let the game autodetect my settings and I haven't bothered fiddling so I'm not sure what they are set to, but it runs silky smooth - and I'm one that appreciates high frame rates (can't have less than 100 fps in CS or I get annoyed)
I have an athlon 2500+ radeon 9800 SE and 1 gig of pc2700 ram on a half decent motherboard and I get no problems.
There is hardly any lag even on 64 player servers, occasionally there may be some periods of lag spiking but it happens in any online game.
The game plays so good, I just love the choppers, they are really rewarding to fly if you can fly well.
People that moan about it being 'useless' being on foot need to learn how to play. I see way too many people shooting at me prone with their AKs/M16s whilst I'm driving a tank - bad idea, hide and wait for the tank to go by then shoot the infantry :P
I've taken more flags and killed more infantry than I can remember whilst being on foot, the vehicles are there for support, after all, if a chopper comes over the hill, whos it going to aim for first, the infantry or the huge tank?
Game rocks, I recommend buying it to anyone regardless if they've played BF/Desert Combat/BF Vietnam etc before, it's just a big upgrade.
This is the upgrade to BF that CS:Source should have been to CS
(unfortunately source is terrible!)
Battlefield 2 July 2, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This game is the best Battlefield ever released. I love the maps and online play. The only thing I don't like about this game is on some of the online servers there seems to be lag. Other than that it seems to be a great game. It is worth the $50.00 it cost.
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