In0x’s Reviews May ’06
Battlefield II X-Box 360
The demo for Battlefield II on the original X-Box came out over six months ago and I played it to death. It was only one multiplayer map and one game type and after every two rounds you got kicked and had to reconnect but the gameplay was so addictive that I just couldn’t stop. When the retail version shipped it was so horrible I couldn’t believe it was the same game. Everything about it had changed, the graphics were watered down, the controls felt different, the balance was completely off, weapons were less effective and even the map that was on the demo looked and played differently. I played online for about an hour, put the game back in the case and haven’t looked at it since. What a disappointment.
The demo for Battlefield II on X-Box 360 came out about a month ago and I played it to death. It was only one multiplayer map and one game type and after every two rounds you got kicked and had to reconnect but the gameplay was so addictive that I just couldn’t stop. Sound familiar? Do you think In0x was gullible enough to get duped again? Would I risk my hard earned dollars again after getting burned once? Do I look like I was born yesterday? Ahem, um, uh, yeah, I bought the game.
Most PC gamers already know about this game and they know the PC version is getting rave reviews and rightfully so, it’s insanely addictive and has a very loyal fan base. Unfortunately the original X-Box just wasn’t powerful enough to deliver the goods but the X-Box 360 has changed all of that.
The developers at Dice have completely retooled the console version of this game for the 360 and they have turned it into the platforms first great online shooter. The graphics are the best I’ve seen yet in the genre. Gritty looking war torn environments, realistic vehicles and character animations and explosive weaponry mixed with a very impressive audio add up to a completely immersive online experience.
Balance is very nearly perfect, each team has the same five basic choices for weapon loadouts with only slight variations but the real balancing act is in the vehicles. Depending on which map you’re playing you may spawn jeeps and 120mm tanks at your base while the enemy spawns helicopters and 30mm tanks, on maps that have multiple islands and bridges you may get fast gunboats while the enemy gets armored hummers. There are many scenarios but the important thing is that they are all well balanced and neither side is ever given an unfair advantage.
Maps are diverse and also well balanced, vehicles are great fun, different weapons loadouts for different classes means no matter what your fighting style or preference one of them will suit you, twenty four players on a huge map with practically zero lag, this is an incredibly frantic online fragfest. The game has a single player campaign which we will never speak of again and will not be included in this review or reflected in the game’s score. If you buy this game, buy it for the online multiplayer only.
They also did something really cool with the stat tracking. There is a standard leaderboard where they list the ranking of every online player but lets face it, knowing that you’re number 5249 out of 113249 players doesn’t really mean anything (unless you convince yourself that it means you must be very good to be in the top 5% instead of what it really means, that 95% of the people playing suck worse than you). Battlefield II has added a system for leveling up sort of like Halo II, only better. Every time you make a kill, destroy an enemy vehicle or capture a flag you are awarded points. Get a certain number of points and you get a promotion. You start out as a private and can work your way up to 5 star general and unlike the leader board where if you have a bad day you fall in the ranking, you can never loose the points you’ve earned so once you get promoted you can’t get demoted.
This is the kind of online shooter I can see myself playing for a very long time and who knows, maybe some day I’ll make 5 star general.
I gave Battlefield II a 9.5
In0x NYC