HOME / PRINT
Battlefield 1943
EA announcing Battlefield 1943 (BF1943) did not surprise me. What did surprise me was the fact that they decided to make this game an arcade title as opposed to a full-fledged retail game. What’s worse is that the game’s only available on the PS3 and Xbox360 leaving PC gamers sorely disappointed. Still developer DICE are adept at making addictive multiplayer games and as far as gameplay is concerned Battlefield 1943 does not disappoint.
Being an arcade title the game’s obviously a lot cheaper. On both the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, BF1943 will set you back by $15 (Rs. 750). What you will get for your hard earned dough are three maps and a single game mode called Conquest that has players capturing all the bases in a particular map while they prevent the enemy from doing so as well. All three maps in BF1943 are polished versions of existing Battlefield 1942 maps that were extremely popular back in the day. Using their proprietary Frostbite Engine, DICE has introduced a good amount of environmental destruction into the equation along with visuals that aren’t too gorgeous but at the same time, aren’t too shabby either.
BF1943 is a strictly multiplayer only affair so there’s no single player campaign to be found in here. You can give the tutorial a shot to understand the game’s mechanics but you’ll soon get bored of it thanks to zero bot support. Once you feel you’re ready to tackle the big bad online world you can do so as either the US Marine Corps or the Japanese Imperial Army and on both sides you’ll get to choose from one of three classes - The Scout, The Infantry Man or the Rifle man - each of which have their own strengths and weaknesses.
The scout wields a sniper rifle rendering him useless at close quarter combat. However every map in BF1943 is huge and boasts of tons of foliage against which he can easily camouflage himself making him a dangerously tricky ranged adversary. The Infantry Man is your basic grunt who can go to town on nearby enemies with his automatic sub-machine gun. On the flip side the machine gun’s range isn’t too hot so he can't take out targets at a distance. The Rifleman achieves somewhat of a balance between both classes and can hold his ground during close quarter skirmishes and long ranged combat thanks to a single shot accurate rifle.__STARTQUOTE__Battlefield 1943 has its share of issues but it is an addictive experience.__ENDQUOTE__As I mentioned earlier, all three maps in BF1943 are huge and to make matters easier you have four vehicles to facilitate speedy transport namely a tank, a jeep, a boat and a plane. You’ll probably end up sticking to the jeep since both the tank and the plane are incredibly tough to control. But once you do master them (which I’m sure will take a while), you’ll find out that the rewards were worth the hard work and patience.
For some inane reason there’s no upgrade system in BF1943 so playing really well just grants you bragging rights, medals and stamps as opposed to a concrete reward. You can’t upgrade your weapons nor are there any new weapons to be unlocked in the game. This strikes me as downright stupid since previous Battlefield games especially Battlefield 2142 had an amazing unlock system.
If you can look past all the above mentioned nuisances, Battlefield 1943 is addictive. As with all BF games, team coordination is essential for success. Playing as the Lone Wolf may improve your rankings but it won’t help your team win. You’ll have to coordinate aggressive as well as defensive strategies to turn the tides of war in your favor.
Unfortunately the game’s stripped down avatar currently available on XBL and PSN may put some people off. I mean how long can you play just one mode for? DICE hasn’t mentioned anything about new DLC, so this is the content you’ll be stuck with for a while. If you’re a fan of the Battlefield series, you can go ahead and pick this one up but if you’re new to the series, I suggest you give the demo a shot before you purchase the entire game.
Being an arcade title the game’s obviously a lot cheaper. On both the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, BF1943 will set you back by $15 (Rs. 750). What you will get for your hard earned dough are three maps and a single game mode called Conquest that has players capturing all the bases in a particular map while they prevent the enemy from doing so as well. All three maps in BF1943 are polished versions of existing Battlefield 1942 maps that were extremely popular back in the day. Using their proprietary Frostbite Engine, DICE has introduced a good amount of environmental destruction into the equation along with visuals that aren’t too gorgeous but at the same time, aren’t too shabby either.
BF1943 is a strictly multiplayer only affair so there’s no single player campaign to be found in here. You can give the tutorial a shot to understand the game’s mechanics but you’ll soon get bored of it thanks to zero bot support. Once you feel you’re ready to tackle the big bad online world you can do so as either the US Marine Corps or the Japanese Imperial Army and on both sides you’ll get to choose from one of three classes - The Scout, The Infantry Man or the Rifle man - each of which have their own strengths and weaknesses.
The scout wields a sniper rifle rendering him useless at close quarter combat. However every map in BF1943 is huge and boasts of tons of foliage against which he can easily camouflage himself making him a dangerously tricky ranged adversary. The Infantry Man is your basic grunt who can go to town on nearby enemies with his automatic sub-machine gun. On the flip side the machine gun’s range isn’t too hot so he can't take out targets at a distance. The Rifleman achieves somewhat of a balance between both classes and can hold his ground during close quarter skirmishes and long ranged combat thanks to a single shot accurate rifle.__STARTQUOTE__Battlefield 1943 has its share of issues but it is an addictive experience.__ENDQUOTE__As I mentioned earlier, all three maps in BF1943 are huge and to make matters easier you have four vehicles to facilitate speedy transport namely a tank, a jeep, a boat and a plane. You’ll probably end up sticking to the jeep since both the tank and the plane are incredibly tough to control. But once you do master them (which I’m sure will take a while), you’ll find out that the rewards were worth the hard work and patience.
For some inane reason there’s no upgrade system in BF1943 so playing really well just grants you bragging rights, medals and stamps as opposed to a concrete reward. You can’t upgrade your weapons nor are there any new weapons to be unlocked in the game. This strikes me as downright stupid since previous Battlefield games especially Battlefield 2142 had an amazing unlock system.
If you can look past all the above mentioned nuisances, Battlefield 1943 is addictive. As with all BF games, team coordination is essential for success. Playing as the Lone Wolf may improve your rankings but it won’t help your team win. You’ll have to coordinate aggressive as well as defensive strategies to turn the tides of war in your favor.
Unfortunately the game’s stripped down avatar currently available on XBL and PSN may put some people off. I mean how long can you play just one mode for? DICE hasn’t mentioned anything about new DLC, so this is the content you’ll be stuck with for a while. If you’re a fan of the Battlefield series, you can go ahead and pick this one up but if you’re new to the series, I suggest you give the demo a shot before you purchase the entire game.