If you have not picked up Battlefield 2 yet and have been considering it, this is the time you cannot pass by!
Great maps with well-balanced vehicles and weapons. Rewarding team play. Great team organization tools. Full stats tracking. Most of the new maps are really good; flash bangs and tear gas are tactically useful.
Battlefield 2 is, obviously, the sequel to the highly successful Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield: Vietnam. Whereas the Vietnam game was developed by DICE Canada, Battlefield 2 is the home-brewed product of the original Swedish team. It features a brand-new game engine with graphics and sound that are obviously far superior to the original, but the core game play ideas are still there.
In fact, one's initial impressions could be that this is a Desert Combat-like mod with pretty graphics, but there are some key differences that make it a new game play experience, though they require player co-operation. In the main, however, this is still your friendly neighborhood Battlefield game and DICE has certainly not messed with the formula.
In Battlefield 2: Special Forces, players choose to fight as one of six different Special Forces soldiers: Navy SEALs, British SAS, Russian Spetznas, MEC Special Forces, Rebel groups and insurgents. Armed with the latest Special Forces weaponry, players can take control of any of the game's 10 new vehicles to engage in major conflicts with up to 64 players. Additionally, persistent character growth allows players to continue to rise through the ranks. The material penetration feature measures weapons' ability to fire through barriers based on their composition and players will need to know the difference between concealment and cover in order to survive. Team play features allow players to enter the action on the front lines as part of a formal squad, or work behind the scenes in Commander Mode to direct the strategic assaults of their teammates.
The interplay of light and dark with flash bangs and night vision carries the weight for Night Flight, Devil's Perch, and Leviathan, although they each have their own charm. Leviathan is the best example of how the maps combine indoor CQB with expansive outdoor areas. Devil's Perch has a nice linear progression up a hill to an asylum with a single immovable wheelchair to show that it's supposed to be creepy. And there's no denying that Night Flight's centerpiece, a cargo plane in the middle of a wide open runway, is a great Entebbe-esque gimmick.