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Jun 13th, 2005

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Battlefield 2: Demo Review

I have been a HUGE fan of the Battlefield series since they released the demo of Wake Island for Battlefield 1942. Literally, I have played this game series, more than I have played any other games combined. Kind of sickening when you think about it, but when you see how good the series is, you would understand.

Overview

So, this weekend, EA & DICE released the demo for Battlefield 2, the modern combat sequel to the series (Battlefield 1942 was the WWII edition, and Battlefield Vietnam was the Vietnam edition). In a nutshell, Battlefield is a FPS, but with vehicles. At any time, you can hop in a Tank, Jeep, Plane, Helicopter, etc… and use it any way you please. Hell, this weekend, I took out a line of 3 guys in half a second with a Dune Buggy (if only the Prt Scrn button was closer…).

There are 2 new features that really make this version stand alone from previous Battlefield’s. The new commander mode allows a person to basically “command” the battle from a top down standpoint (execute artillery strikes, give squads orders, etc). The other great feature, is the new command execution. Before, you had to use the F keys to execute a command to your team. Now, you simply point at a target, hit Q and click the appropriate command, and not only does it call out the command to your team, it highlights it on the map. The usability of this feature was REALLY thought out, as the most used command (Enemy Spotted) is selected by default, so you just have to hit Q + click at the same time.

There are some bugs

There are a couple of bugs however. For instance, every once and a while, if you capture a base, some teammates that now spawn there, will show up as enemies, and when you kill them, you will get a Teamkill. I racked up a wopping -27 score in about 30 seconds this weekend before realizing it. How this bug makes it through testing, is beyond me, but what makes me ok with it, is that EA/Dice are usually VERY fast in patching the game to fix these type of bugs. Another annoyance, is the Helicopter controls. Not only do the controls hardly respond while at full speed, they just feel fake overall. Anytime you angle the helo down, it speeds towards the ground at an incredibly fast rate. Sure, this might be realistic, but hardly easy to use in-game.

Overall

Overall, I am extremely impressed with this game. If the full version proves as good as this demo, I would go as far to say that this is the game of the year. Go download the demo, and let me know what server you play on. Great work EA & Dice.

UPDATE: EvilAvatar has a couple good download options for the demo.

21 Responses to 'Battlefield 2: Demo Review'


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  1. I agree with you on the heli controls. I like flying the ones in battlefield vietnam and bf1942 mods much more. I was only able to play on a friends computer since my video card isn’t supported :( so I haven’t had a chance to try out more in the game. So far from what I’ve seen its looking great though. I’m sure they’ll get the bugs worked out.

    Now I have to just go shop for a new card on newegg since I’ve already pre-ordered battlefield 2 and just looking at the box won’t be that much fun…

    Tim Walling

    13 Jun 05 at 9:42 am

  2. Josh,
    BLITZ is a HUUGE BF house. You should join us. We normally play in the evenings from 7-8pm. We’ll rent an EA server.

    Ivan Todorov

    13 Jun 05 at 1:18 pm

  3. Tim: Yeah, Abel had issues with the game not running as well, but he went out and bought a new video card (Radeon 9800 if I am not mistaken) and it ran perfectly after that :)

    Ivan: NICE! Let me know what servers ya’ll play on, and if ya’ll buy an EA server, and I will definitely be there. You can IM me (AIM: jdura99) the info if you want.

    Josh Dura

    13 Jun 05 at 4:41 pm

  4. It definitely looks like a good game, but you can only run it if you have certain graphics cards. I have a GF4 Ti4200 and the game does not run AT ALL. I can’t even get to the menu. That really sucks.

    So just like Tim I have to be trying to buy a new graphics card. The only difference is that I cancelled my order as I definitely won’t be able to get enough money to buy a new graphics card before the game comes out and probably a month or two after.

    Yannick L.

    13 Jun 05 at 9:41 pm

  5. Yannick: I have the same card. I’ve had no problems gaming because I have a great processor and a gig of ram. I just so happens battlefield 2 doesn’t support this card. It sucks, but oh well, I’ve had the card a while.

    Anyone have any recommendations? What cards are you using now? I don’t want to drop too much on a new card. It bugs me that card prices are as much as new consoles.

    Tim Walling

    14 Jun 05 at 11:08 am

  6. Re: . I have the Radeon 9500 Pro in one of my machines, it runs BF2 . I have the Radeon X800 in my Uber Machine™, and it runs even more perfectly. Abel just bought the 9800, and it runs perfectly.

    Radeon 9500 Pro – $101 from Newegg
    Radeon 9800 Pro – $149 from Newegg
    Radeon X800 Pro – $245 from Newegg

    These are all GREAT cards. But, as Tim said, you need to have a good processor, and at LEAST a gig of ram. Such is the price you pay, to play a great game.

    Josh Dura

    14 Jun 05 at 11:33 am

  7. wow this sucks
    i have the GF4 ti4200 and it runs all of my other games great…and i saved up for this bad boy even though it was a really good price

    now i hear about battlefield 2 and i’m super excited.
    download the demo and it crashes to the desktop

    wow EA why couldn’t you add this card? its really popular among gamers…..

    ERRR i’ve had a bad day b/c of this

    kevin

    14 Jun 05 at 8:46 pm

  8. Thanks for the recommendations.

    I ended up going with this:

    GeForce 6600GT – $186 from Newegg

    Read a good review of the card at tomshardware.com. Should arive just in time for Battlefield 2 :)

    Tim Walling

    15 Jun 05 at 3:39 pm

  9. I played the demo briefly last night. I never played the first one though, so I’m not sure exactly what all I should be doing and how (died several times trying to kill a tank :)) Might have to hop on with Josh or someone and learn the ropes—the game seemed to have pretty good potential.

    The game ran ok with my GFX 5900 in default video mode with the “unsupported” drivers. I updated to the drivers EA wanted, and upped the resolution to 1024, but haven’t been back in the game to see if it still runs smoothly. Framerates were fine before, but there were a few texture issues.

    sxates

    16 Jun 05 at 10:20 am

  10. Re: Texture Issues… Try turning down the Lighting and Shadows, a good friend of mine had the same problems, and that seemed to fix it.

    I am usually in the BBR LAX servers… just type BBR into the Server filter, and hit Enter. You will see me in my own squad on one of the sides, just join the squad :) Its usually a happy medium between pushing people off the crane, with the occasional teamwork to whoop ass :D

    Josh Dura

    16 Jun 05 at 10:29 am

  11. I just got my newegg shipping notification. The new card should arrive on Tuesday, the same day I’m picking up the game at EB. Talk about cutting it close…

    Tim Walling

    17 Jun 05 at 9:37 am

  12. I’m looking at getting a 6600GT as well :) Which one did you go with? I’ve enjoyed the Leadtek cards for years, so I’ll probably stick with that one.

    Also, updating my driver fixed the texture issue, and running at 1024 (the highest it will let me) on medium works just fine. Can’t wait to see it with a better video card though, the screenshots look amazing.

    sxates

    17 Jun 05 at 9:29 pm

  13. I picked up the Gigabyte one. I found a review of various 6600 GT cards here:

    http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050404/index.html

    It was more expensive than some of the other 6600 cards but had positive reviews from several places. Including the ones on newegg.

    Tim Walling

    20 Jun 05 at 12:26 pm

  14. hey i just got the game and i cant play the game…i need a new card….i seriously dont want to spend 400 bucks on a new card for this pc since ive been saving to build a new one but i was wondering whats your 9800 running the game on medium high low? also is aliasing and textures on?

    chris

    23 Jun 05 at 11:41 pm

  15. CANT PLAY MULTIPLAYER CRASHES WHEN LOADING AT 46%COLLUSION

    I have all the current ATI drivers, and Service pack 2 for the computer. I even unloaded the game, restarted and re downloaded and reinstalled the game, same issues. Game freezes at 46% at collusion file. sits and blinks modem. Before reinstall, it crashed here at same place.
    Here are my stats:
    ASUS P4C800 Deluxe
    Windows XP pro, with SP2 DirectX 9 game loaded and tested good.
    Zone Alarm off, didnt work with on, same with firewall.
    3.2 oc’d to 3.4
    ATI 9800XT. Catalist 6.something, (current)
    Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum, headphones, sound is good

    Greg

    27 Feb 06 at 4:34 pm

  16. Battlefield 2 is possible the worst game i have ever played. The only good thing about BF2 is the graphics. When you stab someone in the back and they turn around and shoot you in the face oo realistic looking. when you shoot 6 brand new modern age heat seaking missles and a stand still target (like a helicopter) and they all miss or do no damage. Or when you press x to deplay anti missle flares that apparently have ZERO effect. Or how bout when you completly gattle another helicopter only to have it ram you and survive. or how bout putting an anti tank missle meant to pierc armor and explode right underneath a single person just to have it take ehh lets say a third of thier life? Or how bout the fact that a modern age brand new helicoper Handles like a buick and takes over 12 secodns to take off? well… in my opinion. i regret upgrading to even be able to play this game. It was a total waste of money considering there are no other games out there that block out older video cards that are perfectly capable of running the game for no reason what so ever except to make a deal with nvidia. Battlefield 2 is advertized and shown as “realistic modern combat”. when in fact, not one aspect of the game is realistic in any way what so ever. The game is completly fake. Laying down you are an expert shooter who never misses. standing up your a 12 year old asian girl. and running and gunning? might as well shoot yourself. Ive shot real guns, and honestly the way it behaves while you stand shooting is pathetic. nobody shoots that crappy ive seen 11 year olds at the shooting range fire some off better than that. TO sum this one up. DWYM. Dont Waste Your Money. This one was released about 5 months to early and its getting worse with every patch. instead of rather FIXING THE PROBLEMS LIKE THEY SHOULD. ea sees fit to take the aspects out of the game which people are using to win. Such as the support gun. one of the only things that was somewhat realistic has ben nerfed along with many other parts of the game. The problems and glitches remain. and the fun parts of the game are removed. Thanks ea. THanx for another crappy prereleased piece of patched shit you unleashed upon the world. i hope you continue to buy out and ruin every single video game genre out there. Long live ea.

    gfd

    3 Apr 06 at 2:08 pm

  17. BY the way i played both bf1942 and BfV and played them both none stop in thier prime. Ea didnt even Try with battlefield 2. WORST GAME EVER!!!!

    gfd

    3 Apr 06 at 2:16 pm

  18. Was just curious if the demo’s graphics gonna be the same on the full version. Like do the settings go alot higher on the full version than the demo.

    Cam

    6 Apr 06 at 4:47 pm

  19. Agreed. Worst game ever and getting worse with every patch. These things happen when you don’t pay your employees and make them work ridiculous overtime. The latest patch is the worst.

    The progression went something like this.

    1.01 or first patch… BIG MEMORY LEAK
    1.02 ok, was cool. Full of bugs, but thats EA huh?
    1.13 bunch of new promotions real quick. Not too bad, Menu system and network code still worst ever. Renderer, Slower than dead duck in treacle.
    1.2 Things start going downhill. Starts taking 12 seconds to log on. Network code getting worse
    1.21 Quick release patch. Things are getting worse. My rifle doesn’t hit targets. Missiles go through tanks. I stop playing game completely for about 6 months.
    1.3 I see a new patch. I install it. It crashes the game on level init. Waiting for new game series to come out not published by EA && || written by dice.

    EA. You have done well. I paid 100 bucks for it. But you won’t do it to me again.

    Dice, Stop outsourcing.

    Davo

    24 May 06 at 5:45 am

  20. This game is full of cheaters/exploiters/ glitches. people shooting you from inside walls. Unloading a clip into someone just to live long enough to barely see tiher mussle flash. Random exploding of air vehicles… And the 1.2 pixle shading excuse for why Gf ti 4200 and under cant run the game is bullshit. People have made it work once they get around the block ea put on the game. Nvidia/ea = 69ing eachothers cunts. and the game wasnt even really that good. What a flop…

    bhdgf

    18 Jun 06 at 7:37 pm

  21. I have a weird issue is that wheneveer the game starts i get 2 play for exactly 2 sec and it logs me out auto maticly idk y and there is a problem with punkbuster.

    david

    20 Feb 09 at 7:51 am

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