Player can easily spend hours playing...or quickly become bored.
The premise of the game is just like it's predicessors, Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield Vietnam: You are a soldier in an army either attacking the opposing army's outposts or defending against insurgencies. You can use a wide variety of means to gain or keep control of the map, from helicopters and APCs to tanks and Hummvies practically every vehicle used in a military is at your disposal. And remember, you are not restricted to a vehicle once you commandeer it, you can simply get out of one and hop into another at any time, or play the whole game as a foot soldier if you so desire.
There are a few problems with the game which could prevent players from enjoying it. First off, if you don't have a high speed internet connection and you are only buying it for single player mode, move on. The single player maps are small in comparison to the online maps and the enemy AI just isn't clever or "human" enough to keep you entertained for any length of time. Second, the game looks ugly at low detail but if you have a good enough graphics card, you can crank up the eye candy and it looks absolutely amazing. That being said, my GeForce 6600gt is not enough to run it anywhere close to highest settings so plan on picking up a 7800 series card or higher to run it appropriately.
Finally, if you didn't like the first two Battlefield games, you probably won't like this one either. It is more of the same, albiet with a prettier picture.
Now that the bad is out of the way, there is a whole lot of good to be said for this game. We already talked about the graphics but the sound is completely incredible. The whinning of the chopper blades spinning up and the rolling of the tank treads sounds spot-on. The online maps are huge and well designed, with plenty of buildings and foilage for cover. The online community is as huge as the maps so finding a good fragfest is never difficult.
If you're a fan of FPS, chances are you will like this game, though it isn't for everybody. Those looking for a linear, story based game need to keep looking. But for those of you who want lots of online multiplayer mayhem, suit up!