Rating: 
Summary: How did this get past QA?
Review: Ahh, Battlefield 1942. What postive things have been said about this game that have not already been said? It has already won high praise from many gaming magazines as well as several "Game of the Year" awards. With all those accolades, you'd be right in assuming that BF1942 is fine piece of code, right?Wrong. Now, don't get me wrong, Battlefield 1942 IS fun to play, on the rare occasions that you can find a good server with players who genuinely play together as a team. Most of the time, however, you'll be simply frustrated at the horrendous graphics bugs, sound bugs, input bugs, display bugs, connection bugs, menu bugs, CD-key bugs, copy protection bugs, etc. How, exactly, such an awful display of computer science-gone-wrong managed to win "Game of the Year" from so many magazines is beyond me. While I can definately see the appeal of being able to jump in a plane, tank, or battleship you come across, BF9142 suffers from the classic downfalls of "great concept, terrible execution." When I first installed BF1942 and the requisite patches, I loaded up the game with eager anticipation at the fun that was in store for me. I mean, this was the game of the year, right? Well, no sooner had I started the game did it dump me back to the desktop with no explanation. It turns out that BF1942, by default, will not run if you have overridden the display refresh rate. (something that is a must if you don't want to play at the eye-watering 60Hz refresh rate) So, making the necessary adjustments, I loaded up the game once more, only to be struck by what is possibly the worst menu system I have ever encountered. The server browser, in particular, takes ages to sort the servers and will not remember your filter settings. If you want to search for games to play, be sure to use an external app like All Seeing Eye. To make matters worse, the whole menu is apparently flushed from memory once the game begins, so if you want to go back an make changes while playing, you'll sometimes have to wait nearly a minute while the hard drive grinds away to page the menu back in. With 512MB RAM, I've never had this problem with any other game. After laboriously finding a server and waiting through the agonizingly long loading times, you'll be greeted by some the blandest graphics ever to grace an FPS. Despite their simplicity, however, the renderer runs quite poorly, even though games with graphics an order of magnitude better than BF1942 (like Unreal Tournament 2003 or Call of Duty) run smooth as silk of my machine. The explosion and pyrotechnic effects are passable, but the player and weapons models, as well as the texturing, are downright ugly. Oh, and did I mention that there is an omnipresent haze on every level that so close it makes it nearly impossible to hit these in the distance with artillery? As for the sound, it's yet another notoriously buggy area of the game. Sounds will mysteriously cut in and out when more than three our four were played at once, and sometimes they would not play at all. Even when the sounds play correctly, BF1942 is aurally bland, which gives the game a very sterile atmosphere. But nothing, absolutely nothing, compares the sheer awful-ness of the networking code. You'd think that, with a game where multiplayer plays such a big part (the single player is utterly forgettable), the developers would focus on making online play as smooth and lag-free as possible, but BF1942 once again defies all expectations. Even with seven patches (and an eighth on the way at the time of writing), it's still frustratingly bad. Often, it's necessary to lead your target a distance of several feet in order to hit them, but since the amount you must lead them is directly proportional to the amount of lag at that moment, trying to hit someone at a distance is often a matter of luck. In addition to all this, BF1942 does one of the most boneheaded things imaginable: Make the impact prediction server-side predicted, but have the impact effects client-side predicted. What this all means is, that even if you see your shell hit the enemy tank, or see your bullets hit an airplane and takes pieces off of it, none of your hits will register if the server doesn't say so. To top it all off, BF1942 might be the first game I've played where lag manifests itself as horrible framerates. Even on 32 player servers, the moment any number of players are gathered in one spot, the game will often become a literal slideshow. With a broadband connection, I can't imagine how people with a 56K could ever hope to play this game. Even when everything goes right, (technically) Battlefield 1942 will still find ways of annoying the hell out of you. Planes are ridiculously overpowered, being able to carry 15 or 30 bombs; add to that the complete lack of spawn protection, and you can look forward to being haplessly bombed from above with infuriating frequency. Of course, the power of the planes also means that half your time will usually be camped near the airfield while the rest of the team fights off the enemy. You can also look forward to being sniped regularly by unseen foes with rifles that fire as straight as an arrow at distances of over 1000 yards. What it all adds up to are some of the most frustrating deaths you'll ever experience in an FPS, often made worse by an inexplicable bug that makes the camera jump the very corner of the map when you die, making you wonder how exactly you got killed. "How did I die?" is a question you will be asking yourself, A LOT! I could go on about the myriad of bugs and gameplay issues, but I will simply conclude things by saying that no amount of patching will ever fix this game. Save your money for a real WWII FPS, like Call of Duty or Day of Defeat.
Rating: 
Summary: Quickly Approaching Half-Life as the #1 Online Shooter
Review: Battlefield 1942 has seen extroardinary growth in its short time on the PC. Already, it's online numbers have passed up other popular WWII first-person shooters such as Medal of Honor. While it's nowhere close to Half-Life's online population yet, it probably resembles Half-Life's early life more so than other shooters. The game is quickly building a large custom mod community just like Half-Life did and popular themes such as modern desert combat that were never part of the original WWII theme have already built a life of their own. First off, this game is online multiplayer only. You can play the game offline by yourself but it's boring with a capital B. And if you truly want to experience the best maps and servers in BF1942, you'll need a high-speed connection such as DSL or cable. If you don't have this connection, don't even bother buying the game because it's not worth it. It doesn't have a typical single player campaign like most shooters, it's basically a vehicle for large maps and epic WWII shoot 'em outs. Epic as in 64+ player maps, all-out vehicle combat including fighter planes, battleships, submarines, infantry, tanks and jeeps ALL in the SAME battle! The game has never flowed as smooth as other online shooters for me, and I found more lag issues with BF1942 than other recent games, but I hear EA has been busy patching up most of the frequent problems. One unfortunate selling practice with EA though is that they tend to release plenty of expansions for any popular title. So you're in luck now that you can purchase the bargain Deluxe Edition because frankly, the expansion by itself isn't worth it. You may even want to wait for the second expansion, Secret Weapons of WWII, to be packaged in a new Deluxe Edition. There are already plans for official Vietnam and Star Wars themed games that use the BF1942 engine. This game will be around for a while and if you enjoy the system of play, you'll definitely get your money's worth.
Rating: 
Summary: SWEET GAME!!!
Review: YO PEOPLE IN TARGET AND STUFF. I THOUGHT THAT DIS GAME KIKED ALL ASS AND IT WUZ SWEET. THE A.I. SUX THO NICE JOB E.A.
Rating:
Summary: Great Game!!!!
Review: This game is great no questions asked, single player gets much more difficult from easy to hard and multiplayer is outstanding. If u find a vehicle or plane u can drive it, if in single player and AI is in it u can kick them out. I also recommend getting Battlecraft 42, look for a download online, its a great mapmaking addition to the game, make your own maps then play them.
Rating:
Summary: Best friggin game
Review: Awesome game. The vehicles just keep getting cooler and cooler. This game would be great for any newbie to FPSing online.
Rating:
Summary: one of the best WW2 games ever
Review: okay, you want a great WW2 game, well here it is. just forget all the medal of honnor stuff, and go to this. it blows it out of the water. its so realistic. the game play is great. it takes a bit to get use to the controls, but after a while you will have it mastered. The bots on the game are pretty easy to beat, they even sometimes run right by you not even paying attention to you. but over all they can give you a challenge. but the high light of this game, the multiplayer. you get to go online and play with up to 60 other people. its great and a lot of fun. so if you are looking for a great game, well here it is. and the expansion pack makes it even better.
Rating:
Summary: WW2 Action At Its Best!
Review: Lately, I find my gaming collection containing more EA Games software than any other brand! Battlefield 1942 is a wonderful WW2 simulation. You can play on either the Axis or the Allied teams! Different missions represent different countries from these two sides, and each country has their own, unique weapons! You can choose to be a scout (sniper rifle/handgun/grenades), an assault soldier (assault rifle/handgun/grenades), an anti-tank soldier (anti tank rockets/handgun/grenades), a medic (short range, fast shooting carbine/handgun/grenades/ability to heal), or an engineer (single shot rifle, open sights/handgun/demolition bombs/anti-tank mines/ability to repair vehicles). There are enough maps here to keep you busy for a very, very long time! I got the game about 6 months ago, along with the Secret Weapons and Road to Rome expansion packs, and I still haven't stopped playing! Fight on land using your basic weapons, or drive a tank/APC/Jeep/artillery vehicle! You can even pick up your dead buddy's or enemy's weapon configurations! Planes dive bombing you and your buddies? Jump into the seat of an anti-aircraft cannon! Aircraft carriers or battleships giving you grief? Grab ahold of those fixed artillery cannon controls and lob some high-caliber, high-impact rounds their way! You sunk my battleship! :) Fighting on land not your style? Take to the skies in fighter planes and bombers! Most games that combine air/sea/land combat focus more on the land combat, and tend to have horrible air physics! (For example, Operation Flashpoint -- which is another great game, though the air fighting is lacking greatly) Not BF1942, though. The air fighting is almost as realistic as some WWII flying games like European Airwar! The Secret Weapons expansion pack adds a few new, futuristic aircraft such as something resembling a stealth bomber, and some "midget" rocket-fueled fighter planes. This game also provides you with some sea combat options. Some missions give you aircraft carriers to launch your air attacks from. Some give you battleships with massive artillery cannons! Some missions require you to start on one of these ships, and blaze toward land in .50 machine gun wielding personnel carrier boats! All in all, this is an excellent game. I ran it previously on a 1 ghz AMD Athlon w/ 256 mb of ram and a GeForce 5600 256mb graphics card with a Logitech Wingman Force FBK USB joystick under Windows 98 2nd Ed. Using this set up, I was able to run it on 1024x768x16 graphics mode at medium-high detail with no problem. Now, I run it on a Pentium 4 2.8ghz 800mhz FSB processor w/ 1 gig of dual channel DDR400 memory and the same 256 mb GeForce5600 graphics card, on a 21" monitor under Windows XP. I am now able to run 1600x1200x32 resolution @ 80hz refresh rate (when you run this game under XP, it lets you choose the refresh rate you want to use!) and absolute full, maximum detail, and the game doesn't even bog the computer down in the slightest at these outrageous settings! The graphics in the game are excellent, you can even get up close and look at the characters, and they have unique faces! The game play is excellent, I haven't found any noticable bugs or errors! The boats handle like boats, the tanks handle like tanks, the aircraft handle like aircraft, and the firearms handle as close to real life as possible (coming from one who has collected over 35 firearms including A-Bolt .308 sniper rifle, 7.62x39mm AK-47, .223 AR-15, .45 1911 handgun, and many more!). The firearms even have kick that throws off your aim like in real life! The in-game audio gets a four out of five rating. It is quite realistic, but could have been made better with the use of THX or a similiar audio standard. Listen to bombs falling right at you from planes, and try to outrun them, if you can! Explosions all around you, .50 machine guns whizzing hundreds of rounds per minute past your head, your buddies screaming out with their last breath as they pass on from this world.... EXCELLENT realism! You and your men even speak in their native tongue, with english subtitles! The maps are quite large, as well, and give you plenty of freedom in your attack movements. The AI is great as well. I never feel like I am being cheated! The AI suffers from the same advantages/disadvantages as you, they even have to stop and reload, or run out of ammunition, just like you do! While the idea behind all the maps is the same (checkpoint control), there are several types of checkpoint control offered. Assault maps give you fast-paced, in-your-face combat action that's not for the light hearted! Dive in and out of buildings and behind debris and other objects as you are rained upon by tank mortars and a hail of gunfire. Conquest maps tend to be much larger, and require a little less immediate tact, but put more emphasis on using stealth, concealment, and a well thought out path of attack to achieve your goals. If you are into war simulators as much as I am, then this is a must have game! It deserves every bit of the 5 star rating I gave it. Battlefield Vietnam is even better, providing modern weaponry and improved fighting physics/terrain, but I haven't played it long enough to go write a review on it! Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT GAME
Review: This is a GREAT game. I mean, who wouldn't love flying high above a tank on a rocket pack and chucking grenades at tanks and soldiers below. IF YOU HAVE BATTLEFIELD 1942, SECRET WEAPONS OF WWII and DESERT COMBAT are must haves. go to http://www.desertcombat.com to get desert combat. its based on the gulf War. Anywho- PROS-
JETPACK!!!
New planes
new weapons
great levels CONS-
causes game to run a little slower
you have to search for jetpack
a few glitches bottom Line- BUY IT. the pros outweight the cons, and the jetpack is the shiznit. my friends and i spent 5 hours at a Net cafe from midnight to 5 am playing this game. WE all then went out and bought it. BUY IT
Rating:
Summary: EA is hot with this series.
Review: If you find yourself worrying about the fact the game has been out only a year, and there are already two expansions, just cancel that. And I'll tell you why: First off, secret weapons of WWII although an expansion, feels at times like I whole new game. It brings things to the multiplayer mega-seller that were missing from the previous two releases, the game feels more complete with this add-on. (as opposed to the last expansion, Road to Rome, which left me wondering why I bought it.) Secret weapons brings not only a slew of new and cool weapons like, jetpacks, AA tanks, shotguns, Motercycles, and others, but also new gameplay modes. There are now objectives to certain maps, which makes the battles seem more meaningfull. I personally enjoy this game simply for the shotguns, jets, and aa tanks, but everyone has their personal favorite addition to the battlefield world. If your looking for improved graphics, no luck there, its just an expansion, but if your getting bored with the old maps, and weapons this game is for you. PROS:
More in depth maps.
More weapons including: 2 different kinds of jets, a cargo plane that is a spawn point, a tank with a naval gun attached to it, an aa tank, motercycle with a gun turret on the passanger carriage, shotguns, and more.
Objective based maps. (sweet) CONS:
Not enough additions, I thought there might be more.
Too many glitches left untouched
Maps sometimes too small for the fast moving jet planes, making it hard to concentrate on firing, and watching the map limits at first. Personally, Id say this game is worth your money.
Rating: 
Summary: I'd like to give it a little more, 3.5 stars
Review: Ok, I got this game for christmas, and i am not a big fan of FPS games, but i am very happy and impressed with the game and its play. I'll list the good points first:
1: Lots of different ways of playing. I.e. Tanks, PLanes, Artillery, battleship, infantry, etc.
2: Lots of different ways to change the difficulty level, tailoring it to your strengths and weaknesses to change how challanging it is.
3: Fun to play and just enjoy the simplicity of it.
4: multiplayer capabilities allow for lots of fun and enjoyment for neverending scenarios.
5: not bad for the money.
Ok, now for the cons:
1: a massive slothful, gargantuan program that has, i am sure, shortened the life of my poor hard drive considerably. The reason being, the program sucks up memory like crazy, and causes real problems with the amount of information the poor computer has to process. Many users have complained about it in gross detail about how slow it makes their computer, and i cant help but think that they probably could have made it a more efficient program, however, one does have to consider the tasks that the program has to perform, namely: the physics for a flight simulator for a myriad of different planes, each with their own unique trim, attitude, and speed characteristics, tanks and artillery all with their own physics laws, eveyr weapon has a different sound, zoom range, reload method, etc, also various ships, including carriers, battleships, and more, and each one fo these has certain physics attatched and i gotta admit, they did a very good jopb with all of thiks in terms of getting it as realistic as possible. But, that does suck up a lot of memory and processor. also, the computer has to deal with the AI for up to 60 odd some characters all at the same time, and some of them are also flying, driving, shooting, etc.
2: I cant help but think that EA wanted to get this out at a certain time, as it is quite a buggy program. I didnt have very many major issues myself, but i do know that i am well above the minimum system and recommended requirements and yet, it still runs slow and choppy, and i had a very difficult time with some maps keeping the framerate smooth. I have heard of problems with a manually set refresh rate on monitors, but mine has been manually reset and i have had no issues. i had to download a ptach that was 143 MB, and i see on EA's site that the next one is much bigger (above 200 MB if i'm not mistaken), not too bad for me, i have a cable line and it only took me about 20 mins to download, but if you have a slower connection you're gonna be a while, pack a lunch. also, i had to scale down some video and sound settings to get it to run smooth.
3: In continuing my theme of a fast production date, the manual just downright sux. it has no help whatsoever for technical issues, and gives you no information than basically what button does what and what some features of the game are. There is NOTHING telling you about basic gameplay, or how the spawning delay works, or even why its there(i still dont know)and nothing that explains how to perform certain tasks. Also, they would have done well to have had tutorials to allow you to get used to the basic operation of many of the vehicles. there is nothing that tells you how to control a ship, or what to do to get your team to help you. nothing explains really how the radio controls work, and no legend of what button is what.
4: Multiplayer can be summed uop in one word. horrific. This could have been designd and executed a lot better. my brother and i spent hours trying to create our own game, to no avail, and the manual is useless in telling you anything otehr than "click here, there, put in a name, and you're done". No support on the website either, telling you what to do. or if there is, neither my brother or myself could find it. it's diffivult to co-ordinate efforts team wise, and to push forward sometimes becasue it's hard and time consuming in a fast paced arena like this to type and not get killed.
5: infantry play is quite simplistic. I can understand somewhat, it' a very complex game, and maybe sacrifices had to be made somewhere, but you should at least be able to control how far you throw a grenade, but nope, it's point, shoot, let go. and hope it lands where you want it to. Though i am told jumping at the point of release helps go further. also, there's no running at all. Your guy walks semi fast, but there's no button to hit to get hime to make a dash for it if you need him to, making him a great target for snipers and guys who are good enough to shoot ahead of the point to nail you with bazookas. There are some cplaints of having to lead your target in distances, but i believe that was buil;t into the game as iun real life to shoot a moving target, especially a fast one, you do have to lead it. I have heard of audio complaints, but i have none, when it is at 44 Hz quality level, and the sounds is very realistic and very authentic if you were actually there, i doubt there's be much difference.
i could go into farther detail, but suffice it to say, i like the game, it's fun to play, but difficult due to its size, and it's inability to use system resources wisely. i pity anyone that tries to play the game with less than 1.5 Ghz, 512 MB RAM, a 32 MB video card, and one amazing sound card. also, if you have less than DSL, forget multiplayer, there's just too much information to be transferred to really play it well. thats my 2 cents worth, if you buy it, enjoy it, but dont expect eveything to operate smoothly, but it is a very realistic, authentic, and reality based combat game, that really was well thought out, and many parts evry well executed, but also very unfinished and untested.
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