Saturday, July 23, 2005
Some time ago I discussed America's Army as an addictive diversion. One of my more recent diversions has been EA's Battlefield 2, another modern combat oriented online game. Unlike America's Army, this one isn't free from the government, but that's OK, it looks to be well worth the price of admission -- around $50 depending on where you buy it with online play being free. 
I like 32 player servers -- 16 to a side. It's basically a flag-capture game. The idea is to take and hold ground while causing casualties to the enemy. The side that makes the other run out of "lives" first wins. You can fly and drive various vehicles as well as take on different infantry roles, call in artillery strikes and communicate via voice with a microphone.
As with every new game, you'll need a decent rig to get satisfying results. I play on an AMD-64 3000+ with 1gig of RAM and an ATI 9800Pro video card and get pretty good performance. Remember, with today's games, CPU, memory and video card all play into the performance package. If you're lacking in any of those you'll have a performance bottleneck. One thing's for sure, you don't want to be trying to aim a rifle in close combat while watching a slide-show on your screen. 
Here's CNN's review which got me going on writing this:
CNN: 'Battlefield 2' has the best combat short of enlisting
While not flawless, the game is so exhilarating and addictive it should include a crowbar in the box so your friends and family can pry you away from your computer screen.
Despite having a "2" in its name, "Battlefield 2" is actually the third game in the award-winning series that began with the World War II epic, "Battlefield 1942" (2002) and its two expansion packs, followed by last year's "Battlefield: Vietnam." The new title, however, takes place in the near future with the latest, most technologically advanced weaponry and vehicles.
Players must choose to fight on the side of the United States, China or the fictional Middle East Coalition, each side with its own attributes and arsenal. 
Similar to its predecessor, "Battlefield 2" is first and foremost a multiplayer game -- via the Internet or local area network (LAN) -- that supports 16, 32 or 64 players on a single map.
However, "Battlefield 2" also includes a single-player campaign that uses artificial intelligence to let you fight with and against computer-controlled characters so you can practice tactics before going online to tackle human opponents.
Selectable soldier classes include Sniper, Assault, Special Ops and Anti-Tank units, to name a few.
Imagine running through the world's most intense urban and rural hot spots with bullets and grenades whizzing by your head and F-16s and helicopters soaring through the sky.
You can parachute into enemy territory, swim or pilot boats between islands or call in an airstrike to destroy an opponent's radar tower. With the game's real-time VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) feature, you may find yourself yelling into your headset at your teammate to find better cover or to pick you up in a Jeep. And a new mode allows players to become the commander of an army so you can give orders to your troops to attack, defend or destroy.
And there's a payoff for playing well over the Net: "Battlefield 2" includes a new online character ranking system and unlockable rewards, such as medals, new weapons and more...
