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Battlefield 2142
- September 11, 2006 16:39 PM PST
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We go hands on with EA's latest PC shooter. But is it more like Battlefield 2.142 than a true sequel?
The future looks bleak. A sudden ice age has covered the Earth in permafrost, rendering much of it uninhabitable. Two key groups squabble over the last scraps of dirt: the European Union and the Pan-Asian Coalition.
Hallways. More fun than a barrel full of exploding barrels
This grim struggle is the premise for Battlefield 2142, the latest squad-based shooter to come out of EA and DICE. Built upon the same core technology as last year's smash hit Battlefield 2, 2142 pushes the series far into the future....but in some cases, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Class Warfare
When starting a game, you'll choose from usual classes of high-powered Assault, stealthy Recon, ammo-loaded Support, and helpful Engineer -- a pretty typical selection, given Battlefield's pedigree. Despite the futuristic theme, the weapons we saw were nothing terribly special; machine guns gave off a blue muzzle flash, but otherwise acted as typical machine guns. Ditto for the sniper rifles and rocket launchers: high-tech look, fairly conventional operation. There are some cool customization options, such as the ability to wear light or heavy armor (for stamina versus protection, respectively). And we also saw some nifty unlockable weapon options, such as mini-rocket attachments, flechette-firing shotguns, smoke grenades, optical camouflage packs, and heat-seeking mines.
Tanks for the memories...
In terms of raw graphics horsepower, 2142 shows few signs of pushing past Battlefield 2. The tech is clearly one and the same, so you'll still see dazzlingly large levels, clean gun models, and superior water effects. The visual theme is desolation; most of the levels show signs of encroaching sub-arctic conditions, and bomb-blasted streets, shattered terrain, and abandoned skyscrapers are a few of the visual flourishes you'll see in the yawning, cavernous battlefields.
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