Battlefield 1942 is a great WW II first person shooter that combines game play and graphics to form a great game...
User Rating: 8.9 | Battlefield 1942 PC
Battlefield 1942 manages to capture aspects of the World War II era and combine them with excellent fast-paced action. The gameplay, centered primarily around capturing flags (spawn points), allows for fighting on foot, tread, sea, or air. Each map tries to center around actual World War II locations, including beach assaults, air battles, and naval tactics. The mechanics are fairly solid and consistent; if you shoot first, you usually win. The polygon counts can get fairly high, so many of the maps are very open, with a tree here or there. There are a few exploits that may or may not have been fixed, such as parachuting from buildings, entering a plane that is already in flight (saw a guy enter the 2nd seat of a plane zipping by him at the top of a hill), etc, but none of them deter gameplay much. EA took a long time to get the game to the point where it was viably stable, so be sure you have the latest update installed for the game.The graphics engine has some limitations, yet is textured beautifully. The designers did a great job of utilizing the engine's abilities. I was blown away when I first walked up to the fighter planes and saw the detail on the shell! The game also plays well with multiple levels of FSAA and AF, with only a few issues with text corruption.The audio lends to a greater level of enjoyment, supporting surround features and large numbers of channels. You hear bullets ricocheting off armor, shots whizzing by your head, creaking and screeching of tanks as they thunder by, and bomb whistles as they plummet from above. You MUST play this game with surround sound at least once!If you do not have this game, it is STILL worth a pickup. It is a best value for those who have machines that cannot run some of the latest games, as you will still get a GREAT treat in this package. There are two expansions, Road To Rome, and Secret Weapons, so you should have plenty of levels and vehicles to wage war in. Be sure to check the RECOMMENDED specs before purchasing; the minimum specs really should be ignored. If you match close to the recommended specs, then spend the $30 or so for the packaged collection set and get going. There are MANY players still online to get into dogfights with, and the single player has many missions to keep you busy for a while.At this writing, I already own Battlefield Vietnam. I STILL go back and play 1942 from time to time. There is a free mod (add-on) planned by EA that will introduce some WWII content into BFV, but it will remain to be seen if it will eclipse the control and speed of 1942. Like I said, lower-end machines that match the specs for 1942 should pick it up for a GREAT value. I played this game for MONTHS, and never got tired of it. As the product stands, I appreciate features of it better than its sequel, judging the sequel by this game as a standard. Have fun, and remember not to get angry if you are the Allies on Omaha Beach.
Cover Artwork ~B~ Action packed cover with an army dude. 
