On Battlefield

Nick got back this afternoon and, as it’s colder than a witch’s teat out there, I offered to help him unpack. After carrying his COD4 capable PC up to his room for him, all the while looking forward to weekend skirmishes with him online, I set myself down on his futon and started with his luggage. Flipping open a rolling suitcase with pride, he showed me an impressive collection of games that I can’t remember him ever owning. One of which was Battlefield 2142. It got me thinking.

I first heard the trademark Battlefield theme back when 1942 was released. I was living way out in the woods and had nobody to play with but my little brother. Fortunately, the bots in 1942 were enough to keep the two of us happy with our tiny LANs. (Between that and Day of Defeat, we were set.) I still remember some of our most epic moments in 1942: Defending Iwo Jima from those uppity Americans. He’d take the Zero and I’d hop in that bulky Japanese bomber. He’d shoot down the nimbler American bomber for me and we’d take to strafing dropships until it respawned aboard the aircraft carrier. With his cover, I’d do one last bombing run on the American cruiser (I think it was a cruiser? Can’t recall.) and bail over the water. Most of the time, I managed to get on deck without being gunned down by the dropships. Occasionally, I’d get into trouble and he’d make a bullet-riddled wreck of the offending ship. I’d make it on deck, hijack the American bomber and take to the skies again, just in time to escort my brother back inland to our airstrip.

We usually won the game by tickets alone. Though Battlefield 1942 had so much to offer, I remember my brother and I swooping around the Pacific the most vividly.

When I heard about Desert Combat, I had no choice. It was a glorious mod, well done by all counts. Though I enjoyed the ground warfare, my real niche in that game came in the most unexpected form: Those helicopters. Notoriously hard to fly, I managed to get the hang of it after hours of practice. Once I did, I found myself in a maneuverable craft, armed to the teeth and quick as a badger. My little brother was right behind me in his own Apache or Hind as we popped suddenly up over mountain ridges and put some fire on a convoy of bot tanks, only to disappear moments later. We’d swoop low over the vast deserts of El Alamein and pop wandering bots with precise missiles. We’d back each other up, leapfrogging anti-aircraft and picking each other up into the turret seat when one of us was forced to bail. We were so dominating in those helicopters that it became uncommon for us to die more than once or twice in hour-long games. I blame this game for my affinity for helicopters. I also blame this mod for setting the bar so high in terms of flight. Whether the mechanics were bad or not, the Apache’s swift, swooping motions just made it so excellent to have mastered. I’ve yet to pilot a vehicle in any game that was as fun and exhilarating to fly as the DC Apache.

Then Battlefield 2 came on to the scene. In retrospect, it got everything pretty damned close to perfect. The bot support remained, they made ground combat intense and involving, and though they borrowed wonderfully from some of DC’s successes, they also left some of my favorites in the dust. I have to say despite myself that they did a good job with the helicopter flight mechanics. They seemed to be slower, doughier, more stable and static. Honestly, they seemed more real, which disappointed me a bit. But, hey–their purpose was to maneuver in smaller maps. They were well-balanced in their new setting. Having talked enough about helicopters, I’ll just say that, considering the awful flight mechanics of the aircraft in Crysis and Enemy Territory, BF2 did a great job.

As I moved into BF2 from DC, I also began gaming more with my friends and less with my little brother. Battlfield 2 was a favorite of the LAN’s in the woods. That game pulled us in and few games ever have. I remember stalking the alleys across from the main road from the enemy base. Up the road, we’d just won an epic battle to wrench the elevated plaza from their armor and were now lurking in the shadows, keeping an eye on the ramp to the plaza to cut off reenforcements, waiting for our bots to send some friendly armor our way. Matt was a sniper. He’d climbed the ladders to get atop the roofs while Ben and I waited for armor or nosy troops to show. Occasionally, we’d catch a stray bot trying to hoof it up the ramp and had Matt dispatch him. I remember things going slowly, then heating up all of the sudden when a heavy tank rolled right up to us. Ben had been waiting with anti-armor, but couldn’t manage more than one rocket before he was gunned down. Me, I always play the medic. Shouting for Matt’s help, though he was sitting right next to me, I starting fighting off the bots and waiting for the tank to move. Managing to revive Ben, the three of us held out desperately as enemies coursed through the alleys towards us. I must have been killed three times, and each time, someone would steal my kit and revive me, only to be shot in turn, forcing me to take my kit back and heal them. In the end, we were crushed, but we were grinning the whole time.

Needless to say, we respawned back at base and got the damned armor ourselves. I played ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ in my head as we thundered down some middle-eastern street in our APCs, hellbent on holding the plaza.

Then, there was Battlefield 2142. I played the demo and was unimpressed. Though I think it deserves another chance, my memories of it were empty, vague and gray. It didn’t seem like there was any intensity to it. Before I go on about it, I think I’ll borrow and play Nick’s copy again. After all, it’s got bots. If nothing else, it’ll be something to take to the next LAN.

Unlike many franchises that provided hours of gaming fun in the past but were ruined in my lifetime (Tribes, Mechwarrior, Day of Defeat (for lack of bot support alone, I’m afraid)), Battlefield seems to have secured a place in my gaming future with Bad Company. To avoid ending on a negative note, I’ll give the two things that could ruin it for me: If the technology gap keeps me from playing it with my friends, and if it is released without full bot support. Fortunately, my friends can all run Crysis to some degree, so I think we’ll be mostly set in that department. Also, all of the Battlefield games have included bot support. I’m hoping that, if these guys are using the same damned theme music (which I actually really like), they’ll stick with tradition and give us bots. Of course, Bad Company’s already secured a place in my heart by including the Blackhawk, Hokum, Hind and Apache helicopters in their screenshots. 90% destructible environments also inspire drool in me, for obvious reasons. Hopefully, I can trust in this franchise to bring a game to our future LANs that can give my friends and I as much fun as 1942 did. If not, I may just find my old 1942 discs and see if I can still keep the Apache in the air.

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