Scully ON THE GAME

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat

I have a confession to make. I've been putting off writing this in the hope that it will go away. But like all things in life that you try you avoid, you end up having to do them anyway. Even if it's just out of a sense of guilt. As an experiment, I'm going to avoid having beer for a week and see if I can make myself feel guilty about that. The results could be interesting.

Thing is, I just can't make my mind up about this game. It has all the right elements, looks good, sounds good and is getting rave reviews across the board. Yet every time I sit down and play it, within half an hour I want to play something else instead and I can't work out why. It's a little frustrating.

The game can be played both offline and online; the much-touted "200 missions" applies to the online version only (19 missions offline). But for those without the capability or desire to game online there is still a fair amount to do here. B2:MC is a first person shooter set, as the title suggests, in various theatres of conflict in the present day. You play as a UN soldier, the object being to successfully complete the missions, earn medals and improve your rank. Sounds good so far.

Dropped into a Nato combat zone the first problem is to decipher the convoluted screen icons and information thrown at you, while the commander starts to hurl instructions your way. After a few short moments to get yourself together, the bullets begin coming your way. Thankfully the control system is fairly intuitive and it doesn't take long to get immersed in the action.

Follow the map to your objectives, keep an eye on the time remaining, watch the balance of power, secure the sector, improve your score to earn stars and medals. You can enhance your weapons temporarily with a rapid succession of kills. Time taken, style and accuracy all count towards advancement. There's no doubt that this is a good, well thought out game.

At this point, it's time to mention the innovative 'hotswap' feature. Essentially, you can swap bodies with any of your team mates in the game. You find yourself fighting along an alley and the enemy is closing in. There is a soldier in the tower with a sniper rifle. So hotswap bodies and you now play as that soldier. Change to be the guy in the tank, or the bloke with the big machine gun in the bunker, or the fella with the C4. It's a real nice feature that adds an extra dimension to most of the game.

Each level offers a diverse set of locations and objectives, dotted around the globe. The Oil Rig level, however, is tedious beyond belief. I mean, "defend the rig", "defend the island", "defend the rig", "defend the island", on and on it goes without mercy, clearly demonstrating the downside of 'hotswap'. You can't die. Or at least, it's hard to die. Simply swapping bodies from soldier to soldier takes everything away from what should be a survival level and takes something from the game in terms of having an identity. Even if the body you are in gets killed, the game simply puts you in another and lets you carry on. Suddenly you aren't a soldier in a combat situation, you are a group of soldiers and the individual is gone, detaching the player somewhat from the action. It can also sometimes lead to a sense of not knowing what exactly is going on. Twice I've completed a level and received hearty thanks from the CO, without ever knowing what it was I did to deserve it. Mind you, I've been doing that in my day job for years.

Conclusion

I must admit that once I start playing the game, I quite enjoyed it. The graphics and sound are excellent, if not stunning but they can become a little cluttered. The Missus described it as looking "a bit silly" and "not as good as the other one", so who am I to argue?

The game play is well balanced and well thought out, with good progression from level to level, and should be a leader in it's genre. There's nothing really bad about it. My problem is that it just doesn't grab me. To give this game a low rank would be unjust, yet I can't bring myself to give it the score it probably deserves. I feel that I ought to be more enthusiastic in my praise of it's positive features but to be frank, I got bored with it really quickly. It's a game that needs to be played online to get the most out of it, and as an offline single player, I feel a little short changed.

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Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Summary text.
Overall Rating:	7 out of 10
ESRB Rating:	Teen (Language, Violence)
Publisher:	Electronic Arts
Available for:	PlayStation 2, Xbox