Beyond the MMORPG: Battlefield 2142
Today, MMORPG.com debuts a new column that will see our writers give their opinions on some of the games that don't fit into the MMORPG genre. In this week's column, Jon Wood talks a little bit about Battlefield 2142 and the franchise behind it.
Today, we kick off a new column here at MMORPG.com. In this column, our writers will be asked to look beyond the MMORPGs that normally fill this site and talk about games from other genres. What they’ve liked, what they haven’t liked and what’s new. After all, man can not survive on bread alone, and neither can gamers survive on MMORPGs alone.
Today, I wanted to talk about my current non-MMO obsession: Battlefield 2142. Made by Dice and aptly published by Electronic Arts, this game fills a fair amount of my computer time.
The Battlefield series has been, in this writer’s opinion, relatively solid in terms of a franchise. War games have always been popular, and the Battlefield games have always done a stellar job of putting players into the action, stripping away most of the pretense of story to create a PvP lover’s dreamland where player skill makes the difference between life and death, and player kits take the place of classes, allowing for more specialized soldiering on the field of battle.
;)
The game itself functions almost exclusively using “capture the flag” scenario. By employing a variety of different settings in the form of maps, and with the human element thrown in, no two games of BF are ever the same.
Still, before we get to the meat of 2142, there’s a little bit of history to this franchise that has to be mentioned:
Battlefield 1942, the first in the series, focused on the Second World War and allowed players to experience terrains and battles from the history books. This first game in the series was, for its time, one of the most entertaining games that I had ever played online. For me, it offered up that feeling of competition, of hunting (or in my case generally being hunted by) human opponents.
Notable Information: It was the addition of expansion packs to this game that really made it shine.
Battlefield Vietnam came next. I’ll let you guys piece together which war this game chose as its model. For the most part, this game played much like its predecessor, but looked a whole lot better. I never really truly enjoyed this version of the game. It felt a little bit to me like the ugly-stepchild of the Battlefield family. It’s that game that just doesn’t really fit in, and it seemed as though it was used by the developers as a stepping stone between 1942 and Vietnam’s successor.
;)
Notable Information: The soundtrack was the stand-out feature of Battlefield: Vietnam, consisting of popular songs from the era, recognizable to everyone and always entertaining. Hush from Deep Purple, Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane and War by Edwin Star are just three examples. Unfortunately, this game, Good Gawd Y’all, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing.
The next game in the series was titled. Battlefield 2. This lends credence to my theory that Vietnam was the game that EA would rather forget as technically, this is the third game in the series and not the second. Still, who lets facts get in the way of a catchy title? Not I.
Battlefield 2 is really where I came back into the franchise. Battlefield Vietnam had bored me almost immediately after install, but when I heard about a new game that would bring Modern Warfare to the table, how could I resist. Blowing people up with the newest and shiniest stuff? I’m there.
;)
BF2 introduced the Commander into the fray, and squads really came into their own with this launch as well. The game’s graphics were stunning at the time, and the gameplay was great. The really interesting aspect of BF2 though, is the fact that it really made the first solid steps toward incorporating persistent elements into your soldier by providing unlocks. Play long enough and unlock new and more powerful weapons for your soldier.
Notable Information: With this game, the groundwork has been laid for a more persistent form of Battlefield gameplay that allows players to feel more pride and prestige through their characters, significantly upping the ante for players and creating a more enjoyable gaming experience.
This brings us up to the focus of this article. Battlefield 2142, which takes place in… well, the year 2142. In that not-too-distant future, the world is in the grips of a new ice age, and livable space on the globe is limited. That’s what sends the Pan-Asian Coalition into battle against the European Union for dominance of what’s left of the livable world.
That’s the back story (in an extreme nutshell), but it’s really the gameplay that sets this game apart for me. The pacing, which had been steadily improving throughout the evolution of the franchise, is finally as fast and action-packed as you might expect in a war zone.
War aficionados and historians may enjoy this game a little bit less, as the futuristic setting of the game really removes it from the feeling of “being there” that the other games provided.
The futuristic setting also allows for a new kind of map. No longer are soldiers confined to obtaining control points on the ground, but now the battle takes to the air in the form of massive Titans, essentially flying aircraft carriers, that serve as the goal in these “Titan Maps”. While the capture-the-flag element is still present in the form of missile silos that will ire at the opposing team’s titan, the real battle is for the defense and destruction of the titans themselves, leading to some incredible pitched battles in relatively close quarters.
Now, the reason that I wanted to use our first Beyond MMORPGs column to talk about this game in particular is because, to my mind, it’s one of those games that makes use of conventions that might be familiar to MMORPG players:
;)
Character levels: Your character (soldier) advances as players earn points through game play. When a player earns enough points to advance in level (disguised nicely by the lore as being promoted), he/she earns an unlock. These unlocks range from equipment upgrade (better guns, more ammo, cool gadgets [becoming invisible is awesome!], etc.) to personal upgrades (faster run speed, more endurance, etc.).
Customizable classes: There are four kits in Battlefield 2142: Recon, Assault, Support and Engineer. Each of these kits has two trees that can be followed to customize your character for a certain task. The Recon kit, for example, allows players to follow unlock paths that lead to becoming a sniper (a really kick-butt sniper rifle comes at the top of one of the trees), or a more combat-oriented fighter (an automatic weapon comes at the top of that tree). Players aren’t stuck on one tree or the other though, as you can choose to advance quickly in one, and ignore the other, or choose a more balanced approach. Heck, you aren’t even limited by kit, as, at any time, you can advance another tree in another kit. In the game, kits are chosen by the player at the beginning of the map, with the option of changing or customizing before each re-spawn.
Lewt: While Battlefield doesn’t provide players with drops, there is still phat lewt to be had as players earn medals, badges, ribbons and pins. Players can earn these during gameplay by accomplishing certain tasks. The Combat Efficiency Pin, for example, is awarded to players who manage to rack up five kills before they themselves are taken down (I know it sounds easy, but it’s not as easy as you’d think). These awards can add to your player’s total score (XP) at the end of the map.
Ok, I think that serves as a pretty good introduction of the Battlefield franchise. While it can never take the place of an MMORPG, if you’re in the mood for a PvP extravaganza and just can’t afford that monthly fee, BF2142 should give you your fix. Happy hunting!
Dogtags make phat lewt! Woot! Woot!
Yeah, I've been addicted to Battlefield since the first one came out - and like the author, I hardly touched Vietnam. There haven't been any real MMOs that seem to revolutionize the genre and get me to jump back in, so it's been 2142 killing them all!
I find this game very addictive, you have an hour or 2 to kill 2142 is the best game around and it helps to fill the void of not having an mmo atm.
I like the premise that this column, I think it's a great idea and this, along with the other areas you've been expanding into such as Hardware reviews will add alot more depth to the site. I also really like the subject of the article being Battlefield 2142, and not just b/c it's a game in my regular rotation. BF2142 is sort-of a psuedo-MMO, a hybrid FPS/MMO if you will. It's definately more FPS then MMO, but it still has some RPG-liteish elements to it which I think is what really sets it, and BF2, apart from the crowd of multiplayer shooters.
All that being said, I would like to see this article try and at least stick to games that have MMOish elements to them. For instance, I know the site has been receiving alot of feedback on, and internally debated carrying, Hellgate:London on the site. This article could be the perfect vessel to bridge the gap between the sites main focus of more traditional MMO experiences ala EQ2, WoW, EVE etc, and the games that don't all of the requirements for what makes up a traditional MMO. Games like the afore mentioned Hellgate:London, or games live Savage and it's follow-up Savage 2 that are a really neat blend of RTS and MMO, the possibilities are nearly limitless.
Good show
Battlefield 2142 = Battle field engine + Physics + Way less Players + Ideas and concepts from plantside.
I miss PlanetSide.
Why the hell aren't there a dozen MMOFPS games in development!?!?!?!
Yeah, BF2142 is in my regular rotation also. I love this game. Especially 32vs32 city battles without all the vehicles. Haven't played in about 2 weeks tho due to me playing WoW more this month. (just came back after about 2 years).
I really see the potential for a larger scale type of Battlefield game. I'm talking 64vs64. Maybe in about 4-5 years.
I also see the potential for a planetside type of Battlefield game where it's not matches but world war, where the battle rages on forever. Or if it's match style....you win but it's tracked as that place being won by a particular side. I know EA/Dice already has a simulated type war of this kind, but maybe it goes larger scale and the entire world is the map. Persistent world.
Yeah that would be nice. However, I'm wondering why they don;t have such 64v64 (or higher) games now..? And what can they not do now that will be possible in 5 years (regarding player numbers). It seems to me that 32v32 is the practical limit. Beyond that the server just can't communicate with all those players at the same time and keep the FPS requisite "bullet goes where you aim". I could be wrong, but then, what is the problem that is holding BF back from having larger player numbers in a single game?...
Not certain what's holding them back. I think a few of the maps are large enough for the next leap. Atleast 48vs48. I basically said 4-5 years because it would be my guess that the BF that they have in the works will still max at 64. Probably be out in 2years. I think once they make the jump 64vs64 will be the new standard.
I love this game. Like a previous poster said, it's what I play when I don't have an MMO.
I just want to add that I think the Battlefield series is very poorly written. My copies of the games would install but not play on an optimized system. So I have to use the manufacter warranty in order for them to replace the opened copies with sealed copies so now we have to sell them on ebay to make up lost $. It really takes good programming skill to do what some of the independent developers and also the best ones do to put together the MMORPG games.
I agree with the poorly written part, as the battlefield series as a whole seems like they test their games after launch.
With that said, These games are still that good imo to make me wanna play anyway. I don't think I have ever put up with games that have had the problems these have had.
EA in general pisses me off due to alot of their practices. *The madden thing kinda pissed me off as I like the Sega Sports 2k thing...not only did EA steal the contract for Sports Center, They struck a deal with the NFL for complete and ONLY right to it's label making every other football game out there not able to use real nfl player names or teams. They did this to monopolize the professional football gaming market making madden the one and only which I saw as an inferior game to the 2k games anyway.*
They tried to do the same with the other sports sectors and failed. Nba live in my circles has been blown out of the water by the 2k series.
I personally love BF 2142 and considering i just quit wow im playing games to hold me over till AOC SO BF 2142 fits nicely, it also reminds me alot of Planetside. I really wish they made a Planetside 2 , taking alot from BF 2142 and PS, would be awesome!
I also agree that BF2 and 2142 were very sketchy at first. i still get goofy crashes all the time and i have a pretty badass system. that being said i love the games and i actually realy enjoyed BFV and played it for a quite a while aswell, and i still regularly play BF2.
And i also cant understand why there isnt several mmofps's in development. i know we have huxley coming up, and we have Planetside still, which btw i still think is one of the single most enjoyable online gaming experiences ive ever had , and i go right back to Subspace and UO as my first online games, so ive been around the block.
Bottom line, i see many many many gamers asking where all the MMOFPS'S with strong RPG elements are. im willing to bet in a few years the game companys will start to see the financial possibilities of the market for them.
Ajaxee.
My two main problems with BF and BF2142 have always been the stability (they have way too many bugs to work through over at DICE) and a lack of coherancy.
I have to be on voice chat to meet people in BF2142. I also have no effect on anything AT ALL except my own character. Sure, my reputation depends on my performance, and if I keep plowing through my own teammates or blowing up things by accident, then people start to notice. But beyond that, losing and winning mean nothing. There are no long term goals, no alliances, no politics...
Not to say that's nessisarily bad, but without those things I get bored. Just as in an MMORPG, without the addictive, fast paced, backstabbing gameplay of a FPS like 2142 (where you can stealth for a good minute or more with the expansion) I lose interest and no amount of politics or consistant world design will keep me playing. (See EVE and the awsomeness of gate camping in a never ending war)
It all comes down to gameplay versus world design. BF2142 is all about gameplay. They don't care about world design (though they have the building blocks in place for the world to start mattering to players, they choose not to persue that line of development) they care about letting you go gank people while working as a team with others.
What I want is a game like planetside with a much richer world design, more stability, and gameplay like BF2142. That may be aiming high.
I thought it was BF2 with some changes based on a poor sci-fi wich wasn't fun at all + the game engine is horrible and you never get the feeling of firering a gun or hotting your target. Games like CS and TF2 are soooo much better an more fun...
I seem to recall being on Tribes and Tribes 2 servers "back in the day" that had 64 vs. 64 games going on. In fact, I think the major reason why the Tribes Community rejected Tribes: Vengeance was because the online play ONLY supported 32 vs. 32 and not 64 vs. 64. I'll have to check up on that tho'
Still, I do remember some pretty big games of Tribes over a 56K dial-up connection. <shrugs>
1.) Devs that refused to stop drilling their product into the ground with increasingly stupid patches and expansion packs
2.) Absolutely horrible FPS
3.) Just as awesome lag
Though I still loved that game in its hayday :( I woke up 3 hours before school to play it...
I would like to know what the writer's 2142 name is, might be worth hunting you down for your dogtag! That truly is the best and most unique part of 2142.
If I saw an ad that advertised a new mmo that was nothing but a black screen... kept the audience waiting for a couple seconds... and played the classic BF(1942/2/2142) music and ended
I would explode with joy.
Has anyone heard anything about a BF3? Is it just an urban legend or myth?
I have outright refused to purchase BF2142. I own the rest of the Battlefield series, but when I found out about the EXTENSIVE hacking that was going on with BF2, and how the same exact hacks worked in 2142, I refused to invest further into the BF series.
Now, I expect some things to be hacked... Allowing players to see through walls is a relatively easy one, and it's been done in plenty of games. Ditto for changing colors on items. But unlimited Arty drops, showing all enemies on the radar, allowing you to appear as a friendly to the other team, etc are simply too much. EA/Dice needs to improve it's client/server design so that players cannot cheat so blatantly.
I used to enjoy Battlefield 2 a lot, and would probably enjoy 2142 as well...except Everbalance "banned" me. Appearantly I fragged one of their employees a bit too much in a game. I vaguely remember the session too, I got sniped and came back and hunted the sniper down. Then I camped in a spot near where he'd been, lo&behold he came right back to the same area. I took him out again and moved my position. heheh He kept coming back to the same area! I just kept killing him and moving spots each time.
The next day I go to log in and get the message that I was hardware banned for "cheating". I fought with EB over for a while, asking them to show me the "proof" they had (they claimed to have screenshots and logs) but they said they were under no obligation to prove their claims and that was that.. I tried contacting EA about it and all they did was give me canned response about how it wasn't them who did it and I'd have to take up the issue with the company responsible. /rolleyes
That pretty much was my foray into the FPS world. I discovered then that "the powers that be" are just a bunch of whiney sore-losers and that unless you somehow miraculously know who they are and avoid killing them, you'll run the risk of getting banned and having wasted your cash on the game.
I still hope for the day EA, and the other companies that use Everbalance, will come to the realization that they're abusing their powers and actually find a legitimate company to do it for them instead. /shrug
It is no coincidence that Jon used BF2142 as a benchmark for the popular non-mmorp games out there. BF2142's gameplay is really what sets this game apart from the rest of the games in its genre. I am glad that is finally getting its recognition as one of the trend setting games especially when it makes the rank on mmorpg.com. One common gripe that seems to resonate throughout the BF2142 community is "I wish that BF2142 was a mmofps". Well this is just a thought. What if BF2142 had the same gameplay but , was at the scale of , lets say, Planetside. Well my friend you have yourself a pretty good mmo ......IMO.
Individual opinions, and experience will vary.
I totally agree with you about the hacks. Run into many players using them. Too bad that most who purchase them still suck with them. Those who create them, well...still suck with them. Aimbots are my biggest concern as all the others can be worked around.
Opponents using said aimbots only make me better. Look me up, My stats are pretty average, but I'm still in the top 12,000 (last I checked about a month ago, undoubtedly top 20,000 now as I haven't played in a bit). Akari Storm.
Just find a total team play server and get to know the regulars. Makes it easier to identify cheaters and kick them.
As far as the unlimited orbitals and Commander auto-kicks, those hacks are mainly used on random servers where there aren't any regulars.
Texas team players is a pretty good server and community made up of some of the best on the leader boards. A bunch of stand up guys, mostly military...mostly ingame Brigadiers.
Battlefield 2142 rocks! I love 64 player maps. It is quite addictive, and somewhat easy to get into. I'd say to anyone who hasn't tried it, try it, regardless of the things you've heard. I've been playing it since last year, still really fun to play. Down with PAC, up with EU!
Extensive hacking in BF2/2142? I believe you have been mislead sir...or are simply playing on the wrong servers.
It's entirely possible that I've been playing on the wrong servers. Someone else suggested the Texas clan servers. I'll give them a shot. But there is extensive hacking going on in BF2 and BF2142. Do a bit of research and you'll find an extensive community which supports the hacking of FPS games. However, there are far more hacks for the Battlefield games than for most other FPS's.
In any case, EA has the resources and capability to fix some of the hacking issues. However, in the 2 years since BF2 was released, they have done NOTHING to address the issues. This tells me that EA doesn't really care if people are cheating or not. Thus, I don't care to give EA any more money.
You have a bright future as an EA Producer.
Yeah, Fpscheats.com is one that I know just because of all the vids they have on youtube promoting their hacks and exploits. Once I saw the unlimited orbitals I did some research and boy let me tell you....there are hundreds of sites out there like this one.
Most of the hacks bypass punkbuster. And the one site I actually looked at had in their rulebook that they could find EA, Dice or punkbuster in violation of some sort of law if they created a fix for the hacks which is totally adsurd as hacks circumvent what was intended and is breaking their rules on/about ranked servers. Maybe in the European Union, not here. They are pulling your leg on that one.
And to the guy who said something about misled, either you were being sarcastic(ok, ha ha), or being for real. If you were being for real then obviously you don't play much and or don't know the game well enough to spot such hacks.
Obvious ones are: Permanent Commander kick (once you take commander your kicked with no vote), Unlimited orbitals, Squad kicks (kick squad members on opposite team), Become any player on the field name wise (two of one persons name running around, one is no doubt team killing purposely to get the real one kicked), Aimbots (real easy to identify especially if your the victim of the DUBIOUS ONE SHOT KILL WITH A PISTOL FROM A PERSON EXPLOITING THE ROOF).
Um, oh yeah.....bf2142 wall exploits will allow cheaters to get to the core room in titan mode without taking down coms 1,2,3 0r 4. That one is pretty old tho.
Not so obvious ones that bypass punkbuster because it gives punkbuster a clean screenshot are things like seeing through walls and reducing fog.
Many others...these are just a few.
I do however give EA/Dice some credit when it comes to shutting down ranked servers that are merely there for stat padding ie: knife only, Nades only. These servers don't last too long.
i for one have played all of Bf series since beginning, but didnt like Bf2142 so much. Titan mode was just kinda slammed on it and it didnt prove out to be as good as i hoped. Also whole game seemed more like an expansion pack to Bf2 instead of original game. Also had strange connection issues starting from Bf2 onwards, so that also threw me away from that. Was very thankfull that Red Orchestra came and that game has been really fun.
Now we have "similar" kind of team games coming like Quake Wars and Team Fortress 2. As far as beta testing them both, i will be surely buying them. Havent been this excited of fps games since Bf series first time came.
I think is sometimes real good just to relax and take little break from Mmo games, since those can get quite involving in time.
betweem all the hacking BS, and BF2142 feeling more like a expansion than an actual unique game. I didnt buy it, i also didnt purchase it,c ause frankly i dont believe in paying full price of $50 for a game that has streaming ads in it. I bought rainbow six vegas, and found out the hard way see,it also streams ads when online. go figure. though the single player wasnt too bad, but didnt enjoy a big Axe ad slapped in my face in the game. but oh well seems im not missing much.frankly EA is down right getting on my nerves, with buggy hacked games, and delivering subpar games in general, they are turning into the WALMART of the gaming industry.
ill wait til Call of duty 4 to come out :)
quake wars seemed a bit mediocre to me when i played the demo. didnt like it all that much.
I feel that way also, sad really.
To the other poster about ads being placed ingame, Who has time to even look at them?
Sovren1: "yo, check this ad out for......."*explosion* (I'm dead)
Team mate 1: "We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of this noob who instead of watching the six, got his six blown offfffffff....INCOMING!" *boom explosion* (everyone is dead)
And to me each game in the Battlefield series felt like expansions. Which incidentally had a plethora of new maps, new weapons, new vehicles, new gametypes and just plain out new time periods. These games cost mucho dinero to make, why on earth should they not be paid for. If the so-called game is equal in size to it's predecessor, why not pay full price?
BF2142 is actually a larger game than BF2 with the addition of a Titan mode gametype. New additions should cost money in my book. Can't expect programmers to work for free. These game companies do need some type of return for their supposed hard work(not saying they don't work hard because they do, meant it to mean EA/Dice shipping a tremendous amount of bugs in their final products and instead of testing themselves let their players test them, very apparent easy to spot bugs no less). Granted...you don't wanna play then don't pay, but don't complain that they are charging for their products.
I think quite a few gamers in the community have their views skewed about these things. So what if BF2142 is a new skin for BF2, It has very different elements which sets itself apart.
It's like replacing a stereo system with the very next model, or upgrading your xbox to your xbox 360. BF2142 added a different element to character customization, titan mode, completely solid maps, walkers...i say again walkers, CLOAKING and better knife play.
I agree with Sovren with regards to the reskin stuff. But I do think that EA has been up to some pretty crappy business practices in the last few years. I'm especially disappointed with their exclusive licensing agreements in their sports franchises. A lot of folks (I'm not one of them) preferred the 2k games over the EA variant.
Then you have Papyrus, who made the best racing simulators on the planet, only to be wiped out when EA signed an exclusive rights agreement with NASCAR. EA has proceeded to make some horrible racing games which have been rejected by the sim racing community. It's funny, most racing sim fans still play NR2003, a product that's 4-5 years old, instead of the latest EA offering.
Then you have the in-game advertising, and of course the firing of the Trauma Studios team just before BF2 was released. (though it's said that this was DICE's decision, not EA's.)
I've been a fan of EA Games since they were making 16 color games for the Commodore 64 and Apple II series. But I'm really not happy with what they've been up to recently. I wish they would spend as much time working on their games, and fixing problems with their games as they've been spending signing exclusive rights agreements and finding new ways to make money by turning their games into adware.
Yep, I've always loved playing the Battlefield Series. I pull this out once or twice a week. Sometimes I don't feel like something as involved as an MMO; I just want something I can pick up and have fun with without putting to much thinking in it. BF 2142 meets the bill.
FRAG OUT