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Battlefield 2

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Battlefield 2 is a newly-released computer game based on the Electronic Arts Battlefield franchise. Battlefield 2 was announced in the Spring of 2004. It utilizes a new engine for gameplay, physics, and graphics, as well as other functions. Battlefield 2 is often compared to the popular Desert Combat mod for Battlefield 1942 as both games take place in modern times and, after the acquisition of Desert Combat developer Trauma Studios by DICE, developers that worked on Desert Combat went to work on Battlefield 2. However, The Trauma team has since been let go.

Battlefield 2
Battlefield 2 box cover
Battlefield 2 box cover
Developer(s)Digital Illusions CE
Publisher(s)EA Games
Platform(s)PC
ReleaseJune 22 2005 (NA) June 24 2005 (EU, Australia)
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

The game is about a hypothetical war in the near future between three powerful factions: the United States, China, and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition (MEC). The battles, however, only feature U.S. vs. MEC and U.S. vs. China. The armies use modern weaponry: The Americans use well-known American weaponry such as the Abrams tank, the Chinese mostly use Chinese-made copies of Soviet weapons (such as the Type 56 Assault rifle, though the game calls it an AK-47), and the Middle Eastern Coalition use mostly Russian weapons. The various forces still use the trademark feature of the Battlefield series, the spawning vehicles that any player can hop into.

Battlefield 2 was originally scheduled to be released on March 21, 2005, but was delayed until June 22, 2005 for North America, and June 24, 2005 for Europe and Australia.

Since its release, Battlefield 2 has proven to be one of the most demanding games ever made on user hardware. Users who have 1 GB of RAM, normally a huge number, have reported slowdowns and stuttering problems. It may well be that the next generation of games make 1 GB of RAM the minimum for smooth play, and 2 GB the recommended. Only time will tell if future developers will follow suit in listing high system requirements in exchange for the best special effects.

An expansion pack is being planned for the game, named Battlefield 2: Special Forces, allowing to play as an additional six armies, such as US Navy SEALs, British SAS, Russian Spetsnaz and MEC Special Forces.

New Features

File:Bf2.jpg
Battlefield 2 Screenshot
  • New gameplay engine, realistic physics and dynamic lighting, material penetration feature, destructible environments.
  • Server admins can set maps to use 16, 32 or 64 player versions to provide the ideal vehicle-to-player ratio, custom maps can be made to scale to fit any number of players.
  • Ingame Squads:
    • The squad leader can use the T key to issue commands or right click on the ingame map.
    • Squads can be password protected.
    • A max of 6 players can be a squad (including the leader).
    • There can be as many as 9 squads per team.
    • The squad leader can set waypoints.
    • The squad leader is a mobile spawn point.
  • Commander Mode - strategic role of a battlefield commander directing his forces:
    • Players must "apply" before the round. The highest rank gets the position, ties go to a vote.
    • The commander is like any other soldier on the battlefield in that he choses a kit, spawns in, can die, etc.
    • He can communicate over VOIP to squads.
    • Commanders cannot do a radar scan of every battlefield player if the team's radar is destroyed
    • Commanders can be voted out by team.
    • There are four abilities: Artillery Strike, Satellite Scan, Predator UAV and Supply Drop.
  • Online profiles:
    • Ranking from Recruit all the way to General, one's online profile can track kills, weapon usage, medic stats, engineering stats, etc.
    • One can have multiple profiles per account (stunt, clan, public, etc.)
    • One can unlock medals, special weapon functions, decals, etc.
    • There is a special access to forums/download servers.
    • Ranking is only available on "official" (EA and EA leased) BF2 servers.
    • Ranking/unlockables can be on all servers, but only EA servers record and send back stats.
    • EA plans to offer more servers worldwide sponsered by ISP's, etc, provided they meet requirements.
  • Battlefield Recorder - will allow the ability to record ingame videos:
    • Files are around 1Mb in size and are played within the Battlefield 2 engine.
    • Camera angles can be changed, as well as the speed.
    • Files can be exported to AVI format.
  • Radio commands are now displayed on an ingame menu brought up using the Q key:
    • In this mode, the crosshair is replaced with gray circle with radio commands around the circle.
    • If menu is activated while aiming at at an object such as a tank and "Spotted" is clicked, it recognizes the tank and sends out an "enemy armor spotted" radio command.
  • Voice-over IP (VOIP) is supported, which allows players to communicate via audio ingame without the need for third-party programs.
  • The minimap now shows a white triangle simulating your field of view.
  • Custom shortcuts can load up a server with parameters set in your profile.
  • Admin tools ship with the game.

Ranked Servers and Recent Exploits

The Battlefield 2 Ranked Server System allows for a means of comparing yourself to other "hardcore" players. According to EA Games ...

Ranked servers will be where the hardcore bump heads and clash knives. All Ranked Servers will be configured to provide the definitive competitive Battlefield experience. Friendly Fire is on, and TK will be punished by default, so all players will need to use their tools wisely and watch out for the tools that have been deployed by their teammates. If, for example, you have a hankering to be the best sniper to ever stare down the sights of an SVD in Battlefield 2, these are the servers on which you will have to walk the walk. If you’d rather not spend your time trying to figure out where the world’s #1 sniper is popping your melon from, see below.

Ranked servers will be heavily administrated and have Punkbuster on. The integrity of the stats system is of paramount importance to EA Games (and of course to those participating in it) and so we will be monitoring things constantly. At the end of the day, Ranked servers will be a safe, regulated environment on which the most competitive players will be spending their time. If this environment doesn’t sound right for you, that’s great. That’s what Unranked servers are for.

Recent exploits have arisen within the community, however, regarding exploits of this ranking system. Because EA Games allows for users to rent and moderate these supposedly standardized servers, users have been known to use a "medic exploit" where they will simply kill a person, revive him, and then kill him again, thus gaining an extraordinary amount of global points. The Battlefield 2 Community has been crying out to EA Games regarding these exploits. Sean Decker, the Executive Producer, has recently responded to an email about this, and mentions deleting scores and awards ("or have more drastic actions taken") of exploiting players.

See the 'Team - Warchild' incident if you wish to know more about exploiting and its concequences!

Maps

Main article: Battlefield 2 Maps

BF2 shipped with 12 maps. Depending on the number of people the server is configured accomodate, the scope and objectives of maps change. For example, when "Gulf of Oman" is played with only 16 people, it is an infantry and armor combat scenario with 4 objectives to capture. With more players, 2 new bases open up, spawning fighter jets and helicopters.

Infantry Classes

BF2 players can pick from seven basic classes:

  • Assault troops carry an assault rifle with attached grenade launcher good for close infantry combat, and can throw smoke grenades to cover friendly forces.
  • Snipers pick enemies off from long range with a sniper rifle, and can plant Claymore anti-personnel mines.
  • Spec Ops can destroy structures and vehicles with C4 explosive charges, and also carry an automatic carbine.
  • Engineers have the wrench, which allows them to repair vehicles (including transports they are riding on), can deploy anti-vehicle mines, and defend themselves with a pump-action shotgun.
  • Medics are armed with a standard assault rifle, but also have the ability to heal teammates with medpacks and revive them with a defibrillator, which works like the adrenaline syringe in Enemy Territory. The defibrillator can also be used to zap enemy soldiers, although the knife is more effective because it does not need to charge up after attacks.
  • Support troops wield a light machine gun that can provide heavy covering fire, and replenish allies' supplies with ammunition packs.
  • Anti-Tank soldiers have both a submachine gun and short-range anti-tank rockets, which destroy lighter vehicles easily and can damage even heavily armored tanks and APCs with careful targetting.

In addition, all classes carry a basic pistol, all classes have a combat knife, and Spec Ops, Engineer, Medic, and Assault (with unlocked weapon) classes spawn with hand grenades. Experienced players can unlock alternate weapons for each class. For instance, snipers may choose a .50 caliber bolt-action rifle, which has better penetration but slower firing than standard the rifles. These unlockable weapons can be enabled to all players by default, server side, but only on non-ranked servers. On ranked servers, the players must earn points and become promoted to a higher rank in order to unlock specific weapons if they wish to use them.

Different classes also are able to sprint for different lengths of time than others, and have different amounts of body armour. Support and Assault classes can sprint for 8 seconds. The Anti-Tank class can sprint for 9 seconds. All other classes can sprint for 10 seconds.

For the specific kits assigned to forces on each side, see Battlefield 2 Infantry Classes.

Vehicles

There are about 35 different vehicles in the game. Some types include:

For a full list, see Battlefield 2 Vehicles

Demo

A demo is available for download from major game sites featuring a single map ("Gulf of Oman") for single-player and multiplayer. The 16-person version of the map has a time limit of 10 minutes. the 32-person version have 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.

Mods For Battlefield 2

Mods that are known to be in development for Battlefield 2 include:

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