If there’s one thing that PC
gamers have gotten a lot of lately, it’s WWII games. One of these which has
always stood out ever since its release is EA’s Battlefield 1942 series, which
is an addictive FPS style experience which can be played either online or off.
When I went to E3 this past year, one thing I was particularly excited to see
was the newest talked about expansion for EA’s Battlefield 1942 lineup called
Secret Weapons of World War II. Well, it’s now out and available in stores … and
I can honestly say that it continues the fun and quality that us BF1942 gamers
have come to expect.
For anyone who hasn’t picked up or played Battlefield
1942 yet, the concept of the game was a simple but very effective one. Become a
part of one of two teams (axis or allies) in multiple different WWII locations,
like Berlin or Stalingrad just to name a couple, and battle it out either with
bots or with live opponents online in an FPS style game through deathmatch,
capture the flag, or conquest modes of play. The unique thing about BF1942 that
sets it apart though is it’s use of vehicles, so if you get tired of walking
around shooting at people … you can grab multiple different things like tanks,
jeeps, APC’s, battleships, or even aircraft carriers and use them to help turn
the tide of the battle.
Secret Weapons of WWII comes
in and adds a new and interesting element to the mix … over 7 new weapons and 16
vehicles, the latter still being researched during the WWII era but never fully
making it all the way out of the gate. Things like the Wasserfall Guided Rocket
(a manned missile), McDonnell F-85 Goblin (a small jet fighter that only
measures 15 feet across), LVT-2 Water Buffalo (a troop carrier that is
amphibious and contains two .50 caliber guns for taking out aircraft), and even
German back mounted jet packs add a new and dangerous element into the mix for
your opponents, and really help with new strategy planning through the 8 new
maps that have been added like Kbely Airfield, Telemark, and Mimoyecques.
One of the coolest new
additions to the BF1942 gameplay element is the addition of “Objective Mode” on
these new maps, similar to the style that is found in Wolfenstein:
Enemy
Territory. Basically,
6 of these new maps can be played in a more structured fashion than just one
side trying to kill the other or capture all of the waypoints, and this
objective mode has the allies trying to achieve certain objectives. If the
Allies do it, they win. If the Axis powers stop them, then the Axis powers win.
Not only was this a fun new way to play, but they included some really
interesting objectives on top of more “normal” ones like destroying U.F.O.
prototypes or blowing up fuel silos and getting back out.
Another neat thing that I
noticed in this new BF expansion is that air vehicles seemed to more attention
this time around. They of course were used in the original game, and high air
superiority played a major role in winning a lot of the time, but most of these
new prototype aircraft are based on jet fuel technology rather than the standard
prop planes found in the original game, which adds in a lot more speed and
handling. In addition, they have also added in the C-47 Cargo plane which plays
as a mobile spawn point and allows soldiers to come into battle in the back end
of it while one player can be the pilot and organize parachute drops over enemy
territory.
Really, the only thing that
I noticed for the expansion pack that I was scratching my head about is the same
thing that anyone who has played BF1942 has probably seen. The online game
usually runs smooth as silk, depending on your ping of course, but the offline
game still seems to be laggy at times when high resolutions are set … even with
an NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti and a 1.9G Pentium. While this sounds like it can be a
major headache, setting the sound options down a bit and taking out detailed
shadowing helps with this problem … and the real fun of this game is online
anyway not just in the new expansion, but BF1942 as a whole. Also, this is
something that the majority of BF players have experienced since day one, and
really isn’t a major deal. I just found it strange that it still hasn’t been
fixed.
Graphically, BF1942 still
retains it’s great graphics elements from the original … complete with
reflective metal on some vehicles and good animation. The newer maps are still
large maps to play on, and are well detailed with houses, ruins, buildings, and
concrete bunkers to hide in. Secret Weapons also has added some more maps that
are played in the middle of the night under darkness, while most of the maps
from the original and the expansion seemed to be in the early morning,
afternoon, or evening. Explosions are still detailed and look good, vehicles
will still catch fire before blowing up many times, and the soldiers still do
some silly little facial expressions like rolling their eyes or gritting their
teeth. The sounds are still there as well in all their glory, from machine gun
fire to the distant popping sounds of bombs or grenades going off in the
distance.
Overall, BF1942 was always a
unique gaming experience for me since it never really seemed to get old even
after months and months of playing. Secret Weapons of WWII just adds to that
factor, and now adds a lot of new elements to keep you hooked in to it and
continue it’s addictive hold on the masses that still play it. If you are an FPS
fan who hasn’t tried the BF game yet, I would highly recommend picking it up,
and trust me … it’s a good investment of $50.00. If you have BF and haven’t
gotten the expansion yet, then you should be in the car and on the way to the
store to buy it here shortly. This is definitely another quality expansion for
BF1942 by EA.
Gameplay: 8.5
The things that
made BF1942 so much fun to begin with are of course found in the new expansion.
The new vehicles fit well into planning new strategies for assault and defense,
and the addition of jet based planes made air combat a lot faster paced.
The addition of
objective mode also added in a fun new way to play which is found in some other
titles like Enemy Territory, and made it seem like a little more of a structured
way to play. The other modes found in the original are still intact though, so
you can play however you see fit. There are still some lag issues offline, but
anyone who has played BF offline has probably seen these and turning the sound
option down a notch usually helps to fix this.
Graphics: 8.9
The graphics to
Secret Weapons retain all of the quality that we’ve come to expect from the
series, including good sized and well detailed maps to play on and lots of good
explosions to set the tone. Some of the vehicles have reflective style armor or
metal, and the environments are still littered with bunkers, buildings, trees,
and whatnot for a good environment setting and lots of potential hiding places.
There are more night missions added in with Secret Weapons too, and still some
great animation in the different soldiers and weapons to be found.
Sound: 9.0
The original
music from the BF series is in Secret Weapons, and all of the sound quality to
be found in the original game can be found here as well. There is tons of
machine gun reporting to be heard and explosions going off in the background,
and the vehicles sound just as good as they always have. It still helps to set
the environment that you are playing in.
Difficulty: Easy
Basically, the
series has always been an easy one to pick up and just get into. The ability to
use so many different vehicles also adds to the simplicity of getting into the
game as well, since just about everyone who plays can find something that they
are good at whether it be the new jets, AA guns or tanks, or even playing as an
engineer and just running around helping everyone. Playing the opposing team and
winning is usually the only challenge that is found here.
Concept: 9.4
This was
definitely a fantastic idea, since a lot of games do expansions or add ons which
pretty much just give you more of the same thing that you were using to begin
with. Secret Weapons instead adds things that sometimes look a little weird, and
allow you to see some of the contraptions that they were messing around with
back in WWII during the war … some of which were models for things that we have
today. The execution though stayed true to the original that makes it easy to
just jump in and start playing.
Multiplayer: 9.1
This has always
been the highlight of the BF1942 gaming experience, and the new expansion just
follows right along in its footsteps. The online play is smooth, and with the
ability to play with upwards of 32 people on one game the action remains hectic
and fast paced. Secret Weapons also adds in some great new strategy
possibilities for team play to help turn the tables on your enemy and win the
online war.
Overall: 9.1
Again, if you are
an FPS fan who hasn’t picked up BF1942 yet … I strongly suggest that you do so
immediately, since it offers a ton of gameplay and enjoyment for the $50. Now,
for you current BF players out there, Secret Weapons of WWII offers a lot of new
vehicles, weapons, and maps to give you even more of what you’ve been playing
this game for all this time. It is a solid and enjoyable addition to the BF
series that just makes that game even more addictive and gives you some new ways
to play and new toys to play with. I recommend picking it up if you have not
already done so by now.
