Video Review Battlefield 1943
Let's cut to the chase, this is one of the best packages for your hard earned cash and is definitely worth a download for any FPS fan. With that said I can continue with my reasons. This is down to the fact of how DICE has managed to create a big game for a small asking price, creating a somewhat mini version of Bad Company whilst bringing fond memories back to fans of Battlefield 1942.
This is a multiplayer title only offering 24 players to duke it out across three maps, and a fourth to be added in the future. The maps all offer land, sea and air vehicles and are all a manageable size for you to navigate around. Wake Island is my personal favourite starting both teams on air craft carriers, where some will take the planes and the rest either have to swim or take the landing boats. Guadalcanal is more of a mountainous map offering great sniping battles. Finally Iwo Jima is slightly more open in the centre, with a lighthouse looking over it. Each map has a similar feel, but at the same time play differently. You can go into these games in a squad of four, similar to Bad Company and once in a squad you can spawn with your squad making it easier to get into the action faster. It's a shame they didn't up the number of people in a squad but I'm guessing they had their reasons.
There is only one game mode as of right now, though a mode called Air Superiority will be added along with the forth map once the community challenge is completed. The game mode given is the classic Battlefield game mode where you must capture territories to lower the enemy’s tickets to spawn, as well as this you can just kill them to lower it so it becomes a classic attack and defend. Add to this, dogfights above the battlefield, airstrikes, tanks wrecking the bunkers and good old fashioned infantry and the battles can become very intense, though it never feels unbalanced.
This is probably thanks to only having three classes. The Rifleman has a rifle, bayonet and a grenade launcher, the Infantry class gets a sub-machine gun, a wrench and a rocket launcher. Finally the Scout is your sniper class with obviously a sniper, demo charges, a pistol and a samurai sword. Each have their own benefits such as the Infantries wrench can repair vehicles, whilst the Scout could lay down a trap with his charges.
The biggest feature of any Battlefield game is the ability to jump into any vehicle you see and
this is true of 1943, offering jeeps, tanks, boats and planes. On top of this you can call in airstrikes from the one radio tower on the map, usual near the airfield. This then puts you in control of three bombers but you cannot change the altitude they are flying at so you must choose your target and wait until the right moment to let loose your bombs and destroy the area below.
Like I said earlier this is like a smaller version of Bad Company and this is true in the sense that they are using a more advanced version of the FrostBite engine, as building can be totally levelled, this is especially noticeable after an airstrike as the destruction is very apparent. As for the graphics of the game, they look fantastic as remember this is an 'arcade' title. I especially like the colour they have and instead of gray battlefields you get lush tropical islands. I also have to add they have some of the nicest water; in fact I haven’t had this feeling since the water in Ocarina of Time. It doesn’t have to be believable but the fact that I want to jump into the water is proving something.
The one thing missing from 1943 is a point to ranking up. They have a solid ranking system but at the end of the day if you aren’t working towards something it feels like something is missing. This is probably thanks to CoD 4 but nowadays it seems like a necessity. The only thing I can say that puts this right is that it is an 'arcade' title so it doesn't really need it, as this game thrives on the jump in, jump out style of matches. However you will always be saying to have just one more match.
Finally, I just wanted to leave you with this. Think of some of the games that have come out in the past that you may have bought for 1200 Microsoft Points or £10 and then weight it with this game and really see which was worth it. Three maps may not sound a lot but they are brilliantly designed to be played again and again. So if you just want to have that Battlefield experience at the press of a button this is the game for you.
This is a multiplayer title only offering 24 players to duke it out across three maps, and a fourth to be added in the future. The maps all offer land, sea and air vehicles and are all a manageable size for you to navigate around. Wake Island is my personal favourite starting both teams on air craft carriers, where some will take the planes and the rest either have to swim or take the landing boats. Guadalcanal is more of a mountainous map offering great sniping battles. Finally Iwo Jima is slightly more open in the centre, with a lighthouse looking over it. Each map has a similar feel, but at the same time play differently. You can go into these games in a squad of four, similar to Bad Company and once in a squad you can spawn with your squad making it easier to get into the action faster. It's a shame they didn't up the number of people in a squad but I'm guessing they had their reasons.There is only one game mode as of right now, though a mode called Air Superiority will be added along with the forth map once the community challenge is completed. The game mode given is the classic Battlefield game mode where you must capture territories to lower the enemy’s tickets to spawn, as well as this you can just kill them to lower it so it becomes a classic attack and defend. Add to this, dogfights above the battlefield, airstrikes, tanks wrecking the bunkers and good old fashioned infantry and the battles can become very intense, though it never feels unbalanced.
This is probably thanks to only having three classes. The Rifleman has a rifle, bayonet and a grenade launcher, the Infantry class gets a sub-machine gun, a wrench and a rocket launcher. Finally the Scout is your sniper class with obviously a sniper, demo charges, a pistol and a samurai sword. Each have their own benefits such as the Infantries wrench can repair vehicles, whilst the Scout could lay down a trap with his charges.
The biggest feature of any Battlefield game is the ability to jump into any vehicle you see and
this is true of 1943, offering jeeps, tanks, boats and planes. On top of this you can call in airstrikes from the one radio tower on the map, usual near the airfield. This then puts you in control of three bombers but you cannot change the altitude they are flying at so you must choose your target and wait until the right moment to let loose your bombs and destroy the area below.Like I said earlier this is like a smaller version of Bad Company and this is true in the sense that they are using a more advanced version of the FrostBite engine, as building can be totally levelled, this is especially noticeable after an airstrike as the destruction is very apparent. As for the graphics of the game, they look fantastic as remember this is an 'arcade' title. I especially like the colour they have and instead of gray battlefields you get lush tropical islands. I also have to add they have some of the nicest water; in fact I haven’t had this feeling since the water in Ocarina of Time. It doesn’t have to be believable but the fact that I want to jump into the water is proving something.
The one thing missing from 1943 is a point to ranking up. They have a solid ranking system but at the end of the day if you aren’t working towards something it feels like something is missing. This is probably thanks to CoD 4 but nowadays it seems like a necessity. The only thing I can say that puts this right is that it is an 'arcade' title so it doesn't really need it, as this game thrives on the jump in, jump out style of matches. However you will always be saying to have just one more match.
Finally, I just wanted to leave you with this. Think of some of the games that have come out in the past that you may have bought for 1200 Microsoft Points or £10 and then weight it with this game and really see which was worth it. Three maps may not sound a lot but they are brilliantly designed to be played again and again. So if you just want to have that Battlefield experience at the press of a button this is the game for you.
