You have to be interested in online multiplayer shooters in order to get the most out of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat.
The single-player campaign plays a lot like a multiplayer game, except with AI bots instead of real people, but this turns out to be more of a flaw than something interesting. It gets very annoying to clear out one area, but then have more enemies drop down and land there and make you deal with some more. The game features a hot-swapping mechanic where you basically just aim at one of your allies and you can basically become that unit. It's a pretty convenient technique, but it's a shame it wasn't partnered with a better campaign.
But of course, if you had any interest in this game, it was most likely because of the multiplayer, and Modern Combat mostly pleases than it does disappoint. The games are pretty fun and there are so many possibilities that make the overall online experience pretty memorable. There are also a bunch of medals and ribbons you can earn while playing online by doing specific tasks such as getting 5 straight kills with a machine gun without dying, or getting the most points in a single game 10 times.
This doesn't mean the multiplayer is perfect, though. There are many maps to play online, but the online community only likes to play in a select few. Also there are only two different gameplay modes, conquest and capture the flag. Most of the vehicles feel clunky, and are hard to control. Despite these flaws, online play is still loads of fun and is easily the best part of the entire game.
Excellent graphics help make the battles feel as chaotic as they really are. All of the character models and environments look great and have an excellent amount of detail. The frame rate is pretty steady most of time, but when lots of units are on screen there can be an annoying amount of frame rate drop. Also, the explosions aren't very big, even for something like a tank blowing up, and aren't very satisfying to look at, or hear for that matter. The rest of the sound effects are pretty good, and do somewhat make you feel like you really are on a battlefield. There is also a bunch of talk on the radio, which also increases that effect, and each nationality that can be chosen has there own chat going on through their radios providing a fresh feel.
There are 20 lengthy missions in the game, which should last a while, if you do manage to enjoy the single-player mode. The online multiplayer, while fun, doesn't maintain a fresh feel after too long because the community only likes to play in a couple of different maps, and the fact that there are only two different modes to play in. The different medals and ribbons that can be achieved do leave some other accomplishments that you can achieve, though.
People who don't have a PC strong enough to handle that version, which is better, won't be too disappointed by what Modern Combat has to offer. The presentation is impressive, and fails only in few places. Single-player might be lacking here, but the online multiplayer makes this game well worth looking into for people who are into that.