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Battlefield 1943 is more or less a sequel to 2001’s Battlefield 1942 from EA and DICE, but is played exclusively online with other people. The package is an impressive 529MB download for 1200 MS Points ($15) rivaling only another EA published Live Arcade title, Portal: Still Alive. The game has the same basic backbone as any Battlefield title, lots of vehicles; team based combat, and big areas to conquer. 1943 however is a “light snack” compared to the big, bulky, almost intimidating Battlefield titles of the past. Because of this, the game is much easier for newcomers to enjoy and often times you will hear people on your team exclaiming their amazement of the vast islands, and bevy of options. You have three basic maps (including Coral Sea as a bonus), three classes (much like BF Bad Company), four kinds of vehicles to man, and the same engine used to make Bad Company, for a deliciously violent and explosive experience. The game really only seems to be hampered by EA’s servers and the players you will have on your team.
The game is pretty straight forward, with a quick match or Squad play option in the menus. Squad play when it works, lets you team up with your friends, and while playing one of the massive 12 vs 12 games, you can choose to talk to just people in your party, or make the voice chat open to talk with everyone else as well. Either way, you are thrown into Conquest mode. In Conquest mode you have five flags to capture, while at the same time killing people on the other team. The team wins by draining the other teams bar, by either killing more people, grabbing more flags than the other team, or a combination.
You play as either the United States Marines, or the Japanese Imperial Army, as the game is set in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. You don’t get to pick which one you are, but the game lets each team have their time to shine as either nationality. The entire game can be won just by running and gunning, but typically you need to use a little bit more strategy and pick the appropriate class for the right situation. The scout, or sniper class is used best up high, and has a pistol for a secondary weapon. Depending on which side you are you will get a different melee weapon, although the Japanese scout has a sweet katana blade that he can cut enemies down with. The pistol works best right after hitting a enemy with a sniper, then quickly switching to the pistol to finish them off. The controls in the game for the most part should be easy for any first-person shooter gamer to get used to, although the way you melee (pressing Y, and then having to press RB to switch back to a regular weapon) can be a little annoying at times. The rifleman on either side has a decent rifle that they can look down the sights with, a grenade launcher attachment, and can lob grenades at enemies. Overall a pretty well rounded class that can’t quite shoot the furthest out, but is good for mid-range and close combat. The infantry class, possibly the least effective overall but effective nonetheless, has a machine gun, and rocket launcher, making it a great class to take on tanks and run into bunkers and mow down enemies hiding out.
Massive nice looking maps to bomb over and over again!
To make the game flow better, and be easier to get into, all characters have infinite ammo, although certain ammo types (like the rifleman’s grenade launcher) will take a bit to recharge if used a lot. There is a map in the left lower corner indicating where flag points, planes, and other enemy vehicles are, and besides that when closing in on an enemy you will see a red cursor over their head, making it easier to spot them, and make sure you have a chance before the sneak up on you. The game will also alert you when a shot has connected on the screen, although the type can be very hard to read at times, especially on a standard-def TV. Another great feature, is by pressing in the left analog, similar to other war FPS shooters, you will begin to run, except unlike others you have unlimited time to run, as long as you aren’t trying to shoot something or run into a wall. It really does help especially with how big and massive the maps are.
The three maps in the game are all very well designed. Capturing each flag point has it’s own distinct advantage. Wake Island is shaped like the letter "C" with a tanker each to launch your boats and planes from. All the flags are lined up, with a main base in the middle of the island. Guadalcanal has a middle highpoint with a very high sniper perch. In contrast, the lowest flag point on the map has a station where you can call in bombing squads. Each map has a station to do this, and it is a little building with radar on top of it. Once the radar begins spinning you know its time to call in the bombing raid. When you do you are given three massive planes to direct to a point on the map and bomb. Iwo Jima, has a light tower in the middle, a very high point on the end of the map, and on the other end the airfield, complete with planes and a radar station to call in a bomb raid. No one map is built better than the other, and they all come complete with a bevy of vehicles. Jeeps can be drove around with one driving, one passenger, and a gunner in the back. Tanks are very powerful, but slow complete with a top gunner to shoot at planes, and get to enemies the tank driver has a hard time picking off. If you need to get somewhere fast in the tank, you can always cut through some trees, or blow a hole clear through a building, as most everything in the game is destructible. You also can man a boat from your base/tanker. The most interesting vehicles, the fighter plane can be pretty complicated to maneuver, so much so the developers thought it appropriate to add an extra maps and mode. Coral Sea, with mode Air Superiority is essentially 12v12 air dogfights. Coral Sea amounts to little, with a few unlandable islands, and a loop in the middle one. The point is to essentially have your team fly around to floating points, and keep the other team from moving in. You can add a little more tactics by way of going to their tanker and dropping bombs on it, or manning the AA gun of your ship and shooting down oncoming enemy planes. While it servers its purpose of getting you used to the controls of the plane, once you get into it, there really isn’t enough to Coral Sea and Air Superiority to continue playing it a lot.
The biggest problem with BF1943 is the connection/sever errors, and how it reads stats. When the game first was released it was nearly impossible to find a game that would connect. The problems aren’t completely gone, specifically at “peak hours” and it is almost like EA didn’t think it would have done well in a summer game drought. The leaderboards on the game still have numerous errors, and the only way to really get any kind of info on how well you play is by logging in to battlefield1943.com. Even there, you will still find a lot of errors. Connecting shots can be frustrating sometimes thanks to the server errors as well, and if it happens I would just recommend not playing for a little bit. Still, for what you are getting this is a pretty nice little package, and should hold most gamers off in getting their FPS fix until later this year. Visually the game looks good enough that it could be a retail title, and the sound while is great, and has a lot of variety thanks to the echoing of shots in the distance, and such, it will cut out, sometimes completely making it a little glitchy. You will also get a few weird visual glitches here and there, and randomly commit suicide thanks to the “great” connection speed.
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The game is a light package by retail standards, but good and hefty compared to most other Live Arcade games. At 1200 points, or $15 it has better multiplayer and options than a lot of retail games that cost $60. Not only is it the best looking, and best sounding (when it works) XBLA title, but best multiplayer as well. If you have never played a Battlefield title before, or just need a FPS online experience to tide you over until the wave of FPS titles start later this year and you can stomach some connection issues, then BF1943 is right up your alley.
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