What was addictive in 2002 is still addictive now, despite flaws and aging.
Cons: Single-player is pointless; Many of the maps are just plain poorly designed
Online shooting tends to have this close-knit feeling: you and somewhere up to about 15 or so other people are running around a small area attempting to take each other out in a small scale battle. You know who they are, they know who you are, and you are all very familiar with your limited surroundings. This is not war. If any series has striven to do just the opposite of the norm and make for grandiose conflicts, it's Battlefield. And even with several updates and sequels since 2002, the first Battlefield still maintains that chaotic, large scale appeal, 8 years after its release.
This is not a game that attempts to create a compelling narrative, or for that matter, not even a well-scripted Call of Duty-style romp through WWII (to put it bluntly, the single-player with its poor AI, is pointless). Battlefield 1942 is about letting the players do all the war simulating. And, with 64 constantly respawning players on large maps, the game captures the chaos of war extremely well.
This game was the first to bring what people call "Battlefield Moments;" events that really can't happen in any other series. Maybe you and a select few teammates are defending a flag from what must be an entire army of enemies. Perhaps you are sniping an enemy base when suddenly the tables are turned and you become a refuge from a tank. Or possibly you become part of the D-Day landing and storm the beach with your comrades, some less fortunate than you, and secure the beach flag. These moments (which are often far crazier in reality) are the reason to play this game (or at least this series, more on that in a bit). Regardless of your opinion on the game's quality, there's no denying the constant barrage of memorable moments.
But I'm rambling; the gameplay is as follows. Up to 64 players (32 on each team) attempt to take over anywhere from 4-7 flags on a large map. They choose from up to 7 classes including assault, medic, and engineer, and can use several vehicles at their disposal. Each flag functions as a spawn point, and by securing a majority of the flags, your team causes the other to start losing tickets, which also go down when they respawn. Whichever team drains the other's tickets to 0 first wins. Of course, this is only Conquest mode, and the game also comes with TDM and CTF. But those modes just aren't particularly interesting for this game style.
The maps recreate several famous battles of WWII including Omaha Beach (D-Day), Iwo Jima, Stalingrad, and so on. The maps are extremely varied and memorable, with only a couple that really resemble one another. However, they aren't all well designed. Although I can't really find any complaints with the city maps, most of the others are too flat and open. As you can expect, this allows good snipers (and every shooter has them) to set up and pick off the majority of players who can't find their way to a vehicle. Other maps are just the opposite, bottlenecking players into gridlock. Poor map design is probably the one area where gameplay really falters, but luckily, it doesn't destroy the experience.
Video and audio for this game are fairly average. This game doesn't look great by today's standards, but it holds up for 2002 (not to mention it runs really easily). Given its release date, the game is surprisingly round and smooth, even if it is a bit bare. Meanwhile guns sound great, radio chat is simple and effective for cluing you into what's going on, and the main theme music is catchy. The sound can be a bit bare, but there isn't much else to complain about.
The lingering question, though: Does Battlefield 1942 still hold up after all these years? Is it still fun? (Okay, two questions, but besides the point), and the answer(s) is (are) probably. Although Battlefield 2 and 2142 refined this formula and fixed map design flaws, Battlefield 1942 is still a fun experience. It definitely isn't the best in the series (first games rarely are), but given how cheap the game is, there's hardly anything to complain about here.