Battlefield 2

There's not much I can say about Battlefield. Other than the fact that we managed to waste so many precious hours on playing the original (and the expansion packs) ad infinitum. Battlefield: Vietnam was different, but equally good. As you all know, the full-blown sequel to the game now takes gamers from an aging World War II/Vietnam combat, to modern-day warfare.

It's a shame this area doesn't get cable!

Just set her down nice and easy!

The developers seem especially proud with the brand new engine which was built from the ground up. And there are no doubts in my mind now that the game looks better ... MUCH better from its predecessors. As far as the visuals go, DICE clearly took a large step forward. Everything was tweaked from character models, to background objects and in-game physics. What really looks impressive is the way those real-time shadows react to anything that goes on in the environment. For example, shadows from buildings or, say, power lines will move over vehicles and soldiers that pass along the road. Looking at some of the in-game models, made me realize just how much things have changed from the previous installments. Every piece of gear and equipment your soldiers have strapped on are meticulously rendered. The audio is good and perhaps even too good for a multiplayer shooter. Firing missiles and rockets sometimes produce a high-pitched whistle, tweaked to perfections to sound like the real thing. Coupled with the new engine, the sound effects create a hella immersive experience. And just so you know, the sound engine has been build from the ground up as well.

Visual step ups clearly leave plenty of room for gameplay improvements. DICE hasn't spent all this time just doing an elaborate visual makeover. To begin with, there are several different weapon kits to choose from when you enter the pre-game set up screen. For all who prefer a more powerful arsenal, there's the heavy weapon kit which includes (amongst the usual stuff) a colossal machine gun, and boy you should hear one of these babies roar! The heavy weapon kit allows for extra ammo packs used for storing ammunition you might want to disperse to your teammates during gameplay. Medics also received some top-notch modern-day equipment to help wounded comrades. If you're playing as a medic you may use paddles to bring fallen players back to life. It's even cooler when you start using the paddles as a weapon to shock enemy soldiers (Oh that's nothing! We do that to Dex almost every day when he misbehaves!). (And to small kittens, even when they're not misbehaving. - 2Lions)

21st century technology and warfare brings some interesting little toys into the player's hands. Some vehicles pack heat-seeking missiles and firing them appears to be a rather challenging part of the game. Locking on to a target is a bit tricky, but it doesn't take you too long to get the hang of it. All you have to do is make sure a small circle stays within your crosshair and if you do that long enough, you'll lock on to the target and... KABOOM! (You come in your pants? - 2Lions)

The purpose of Battlefield 2 is to give players a chance to use some of the features so they can organize cooperative tactics in battle via the new squad-based gameplay. If you enter the game as a squad leader, you'll automatically take on the duty of setting up waypoints on the map for other players and giving out orders on the spot through an intuitive onscreen pop-up menu. Judging from what we've experienced, this style of play brings on a whole new element to Battlefield and should be a great change from the occasionally monotonous every-man-for-himself motto. This also means, however, that there is probably a snowball's chance in hell of seeing this new feature gain momentum online. Given the nature of the beast and all...

One of the most welcomed innovations is the newly improved interface - menus and some additional options that will ease the gameplay. This time around, players are able to adjust the game to their style of play. Although it doesn't seem like much, this option allows players to set all the parameters for the game and then place a shortcut on their desktop. Next time players click on that shortcut they will automatically be transferred to a server that matches their needs. Happily, this feature will spare you all those boring load times, browsing through server lists, looking for the lowest ping, etc.

Now, leave me alone! I'm off to play Pokemon Colosseum!