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Battlefield 2

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Battlefield 2
Battlefield 2 box cover
Developer(s)Digital Illusions CE
Publisher(s)EA Games
Designer(s)Dice
EngineBattlefield 2 Engine
Platform(s)Windows XP only
ReleaseJune 22, 2005 (NA)
June 24, 2005 (EU), (AU)
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Battlefield 2 is a computer game in which up to 64 players, over the internet, fight in a modern battlefield using contemporary firearms and vehicles. Although the game was made primarily for internet play, it also includes a singleplayer mode with three difficulty levels. It is a sequel in the Electronic Arts Battlefield franchise, and was released in late June of 2005 to both critical and popular success. With a mixture of strategy and FPS elements, it utilizes a new engine for gameplay, physics, and graphics, as well as other functions. The game received an aggregate score of 90% from reviewers and topped the PC game sales charts from June to August 2005. Battlefield 2 is often compared to the popular Desert Combat mod for Battlefield 1942. Both games take place in modern times and, after the acquisition of Desert Combat developer Trauma Studios by Digital Illusions CE (DICE), developers that worked on Desert Combat went to work on Battlefield 2.

Overview

The game portrays a hypothetical war in the near future between three powerful factions: the United States Marines Corps (USMC), China's People's Liberation Army, and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition (MEC). The battles, however, only feature USMC versus MEC and USMC versus China. The armies use modern weaponry: The Marines use well-known American weaponry such as the M1 Abrams tank and the M4 Carbine assault rifle, the Chinese mostly use Chinese-made copies of Soviet weapons (such as the Chinese Type 56 Assault Rifle, though the game calls it an AK-47), and the Middle Eastern Coalition use mostly Russian weapons. The various forces still use the trademark feature of the Battlefield series - the large stable of vehicles that any player, regardless of faction, specialty or experience, can climb into and control.

Battlefield 2 was originally scheduled to be released on March 20, 2005, but was delayed until June 23, 2005 for North America, and June 25, 2005 for Europe and Australia.

A console version with a similar theme also exists, named Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, although the game is quite different in execution and gameplay than the PC version.

Official expansion packs

  • Battlefield 2: Special Forces
Main article: Battlefield 2: Special Forces

Booster packs (minor expansion packs)

  • Euro Force
Main article: Battlefield 2: Euro Force
  • Armored Fury
Main article: Battlefield 2: Armored Fury


Demo

A demo is available for download from major game sites featuring a single map ("Gulf of Oman") for both single-player and multi-player. The 16-person version of the map has a time limit of 10 minutes. the 32-person version has a time limit of 12 minutes. The 64-person version is unavailable in the demo, though up to 64 players can still play on the 32-person map. On most servers, the demo limits kits to the stock weapons. However, some servers allow users to use the unlockable weapons without achieving the standard requirements.

New features

File:Bf2.jpg
Battlefield 2 screenshot
  • New gameplay engine, realistic physics and dynamic lighting, material penetration feature, destructible environments.
  • Server admins can set maps to use 16, 32 or 64 player versions to provide the ideal vehicle-to-player ratio, custom maps can be made to scale to fit any number of players.
  • Squads:
    • Squads can be locked so that people can only join if they have been invited.
    • Players may be invited to join a squad, if accepted, are then moved into that squad.
    • A max of 6 players can be in one squad (including the squad leader).
    • There can be as many as 9 squads per team.
    • Squad members, not leaders, have a minimal T key menu for requesting orders, artillery, and munitions.
    • All Squad members may use Voice-over IP (VoIP) to talk to each other.
  • Squad Leader Position - Commander and manager of a squad
    • Squad Leaders have an extended T key menu that sends request directly to the Commander and will show up on the Commander screen.
    • Squad Leaders can manage squad by locking or unlocking the squad to new members.
    • Squad Leaders may invite players to join the squad.
    • Squad Leaders can set waypoints and orders.
    • Squad Leaders are mobile spawn points while friendly flags exist.
    • Squad Leaders can talk to the Team Commander.
    • Squad Leaders can kick squad members out of a squad.
    • Squad Leaders can issue commands (i.e. attack, repair, defend, etc.) to his/her squad members.
  • Team Commander Position - strategic role of a battlefield commander directing his forces:
    • Players must "apply". The highest rank gets the position, ties go to a vote.
    • Team Commanders can be voted out by team.
    • The Team Commander is like any other soldier on the battlefield in that he chooses a kit, spawns in, can die, etc.
    • Available to the Team Commander are four assets: Artillery Strike, Satellite Scan, RQ-1 Predator UAV and Supply Drop.
  • Online profiles:
    • Rankings from Private all the way to General (held by the highest ranked player), one's online profile can track kills, weapon usage, medic stats, engineering stats, etc.
    • One can earn awards(badges,medals and ribbons for certain tasks acomplished. Ribbons can be compared as lower tier awards as to medals, which require more dedication.
    • A total of 14 extra weapons can be unlocked and used ingame.
    • There is a special access to forums/download servers.
    • Ranking is only available on "official" (EA and EA leased) BF2 servers.
    • Ranking/unlockables can be on all servers, but only EA servers record and send back stats.
    • EA plans to offer more servers worldwide sponsored by ISP's, etc, provided they meet certain requirements.
  • Battlefield Recorder - BF2's built-in game recorder
    • Files are around 1MB in size and are played within the Battlefield 2 engine.
    • Camera angles can be changed (free roaming & selected player), as well as the speed.
    • Files can be exported to AVI format.
  • Radio commands are now displayed on an ingame menu brought up using the Q & T keys(default):
    • In this mode, the crosshair is replaced with gray rose with radio commands around the circle.
    • There is two radio sections; Global radio (Spotted, Need Medic, Need Backup, Follow Me etc) and Team Commands radio which varies depending on the player's position in game (Squad Member with limited requests going the Squad Leader to the Commander with the ability to place artillery strikes and supplies).
    • If menu is activated while aiming at an object such as a tank and "Spotted" is clicked, it recognizes the tank and sends out an "enemy armor spotted" radio command. Q key spotted units are displayed on teammates' mini-maps for several seconds. This fuction can be overrided by holding the right mouse button, which shows a list of the types of enemies that can be spotted.
  • Voice-over IP (VoIP) is supported, which allows players to communicate via audio ingame without the need for third-party programs.
    • Squadmembers can talk to fellow squad members and squad leaders.
    • Squad Leaders can talk to Team Commander or fellow squad members.
    • Team Commander can talk to Squad Leaders.
    • VoIP is not available between maps, but is available during map start delay.
    • VoIP is available while critically wounded, and even when dead.
  • The minimap now shows a white triangle simulating the players' field of view.
  • Custom shortcuts can load up a server with parameters set in the players' profile.

Maps

Main article: List of Battlefield 2 maps

BF2 originally shipped with 12 maps, with Wake Island 2007 being added from the 1.03 patch onwards. Depending on the number of people the server is configured to accommodate, the scope and objectives of maps change. For example, when "Gulf of Oman" is played with only 16 people, it is an infantry and armor combat scenario with 4 objectives to capture. With more players, 2 new bases open up, spawning fighter aircraft and helicopters.

Single-player mode only allows access to a selection of the 16 player version maps, and several maps are not available at all for single-player, such as the "Kubra Dam" map.

China versus USMC

  • Dalian Plant
  • Daqing Oilfields
  • Dragon Valley
  • Songhua Stalemate
  • FuShe Pass
  • Wake Island 2007

MEC versus USMC

  • Gulf of Oman
  • Kubra Dam
  • Mashtuur City
  • Operation Clean Sweep
  • Sharqi Peninsula
  • Strike at Karkand
  • Zatar Wetlands

Infantry classes

Main article: Battlefield 2 Infantry Classes

Battlefield 2 players can pick from seven basic classes:

  • Assault troops carry an assault rifle with an attached grenade launcher, and can throw smoke grenades to cover friendly forces. Assault soldiers perform well in most situations.
  • Snipers pick enemies off from long range with a sniper rifle, and can plant Claymore anti-personnel mines.
  • Spec Ops can destroy structures and vehicles with 5 C-4 explosive charges, and also carry a Carbine.
  • Engineers have the wrench, which allows them to repair vehicles (including transports they are riding on), can deploy anti-vehicle mines, and defend themselves with a shotgun.
  • Medics are armed with a standard assault rifle, but also have the ability to heal teammates with medpacks and revive them with a defibrillator, which works like the reviving syringe in Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. The defibrillator can also be used to zap enemy soldiers, although the knife is more effective because it does not need to charge up after attacks.
  • Support troops wield a light machine gun that can provide heavy covering fire, and replenish allies' supplies with ammunition packs.
  • Anti-tank soldiers have both a submachine gun and short-range anti-tank rockets, which destroy lighter vehicles in one hit and can damage heavily armored tanks and APCs. With careful targeting, the rockets can also destroy helicopters and possibly jets.

All classes carry a basic pistol, combat knife and hand grenades(With the exception to Anti-Tank and Assault(who is equipped with a grenade launcher)). After many points are earned, players can unlock alternate weapons for each class. For instance, snipers may choose the more powerful M95 sniper rifle (firing .50 BMG ammunition), and Spec Ops can use a H&K G36C carbine instead of the M4 Carbine.

On ranked servers, the players must earn points and become promoted to a higher rank in order to unlock a weapon of their choice (two per kit) if they wish to use them. Once unlocked, non-ranked servers can allow or disallow (server side) players from using the weapons they have unlocked on ranked servers.

Different classes are also able to sprint for different lengths of time than others, and have different amounts of body armour. Support and Assault classes can sprint for 8 seconds. The Anti-Tank class can sprint for 9 seconds. All other classes can sprint for 10 seconds, whom have no armour protection.

For the specific kits assigned to forces on each side, see Battlefield 2 Infantry Classes.

Weapons

USMC Weapons

Chinese Weapons

MEC Weapons

Unlockable Weapons

  • Assault: H&K G3A3: The Assault unlock is an automatic battle rifle. It uses a comparatively small 20-round magazine and does not include the grenade launcher which is attached to the other assault-class weapons, though; does the most damage of the assault rifles.
  • Medic: L85A1: The Medic unlock is a variant of the SA-80. It is one of the standard weapons for the British army. While the game bills the L85A1 as highly accurate, it has high recoil and is more inaccurate than the H&K G36C. This rifle is equipped with a scope. This weapon is excellent for long range engagements, especially in semi-auto mode.
  • Support: PKM: The Support class unlock is an automatic development of the Kalashnikov automatic rifle design. It carries up to 100 rounds of ammunition. The relatively low rate of fire for this weapon is compensated by its power and accuracy.
  • Sniper: Barrett M95: A .50 caliber bolt-action sniper rifle, extremely powerful and capable of piercing armored glass. Has a maximum of 5 rounds in its magazine. It isn't as accurate as the M24, and its site is rather lined thick making aiming more difficult. Good replacement for MEC and PLA snipers.
  • Anti-Tank: DAO-12: The Anti-Tank unlock is a semi-automatic 12-round shotgun. It must be reloaded one round at a time into a drum magazine, similar to a Colt Peacemaker. Drum capacity is 12 rounds. This is by far the most deadly close quarter’s weapon, but has a heavy kick and is ineffective past short distances. Good for replacing the rather inadequate SMGs of the Anti-Tank class.
  • Spec-Ops: H&K G36C: The compact variant of the G36 is the unlock for the Special Forces class. When the buttstock is folded, it is just under 500mm long. This rifle is one of the most accurate in the game, and can kill foes from distances rivaling sniper rifles.
  • Engineer: MK3A1 Jackhammer: The Engineer unlock is one of the few automatic combat shotguns available in the world. The gun is fed by a 7 round capacity center-rotating drum using conventional 12 Gauge cartridges. Although the Jackhammer does more damage than the DAO-12, especially due to its fully automatic firing, its long reload time and small clip means that it is ineffective against multiple enemies.

Special Forces Unlockable Weapons

To unlock these weapons, the player must have the Special Forces expansion pack.

Vehicles

Main article: List of vehicles in Battlefield 2

Ranks

Main article: Table of ranks in Battlefield 2

Awards

Main article: List of awards in Battlefield 2

Easter eggs

Battlefield 2 includes a number of easter eggs:

  • Fish boxes: Seen on the Songhua Stalemate level, these boxes appear as any other normal box, with illegible writing on the sides. If an explosive such as C4, Grenades, or M203/GP-25 is used on the box, the box will explode and fish will land in the surrounding couple of metres.
  • Dead fishies: On the Songhua Stalemate level, when throwing C4 into the water and detonating, dead fish from the explosion will rise to the surface and float for a short period of time.
  • Bear boxes: Similar to the fish boxes, these are seen on the Strike at Karkand, Shonghua Stalemate and the Sharqi Peninsula levels. Unlike the fish boxes, these boxes are plain, with no writing on them. When destroyed with explosives, teddy bears with hearts on their stomachs fly out.
  • Dice cream: Seen on several maps including Mashtuur City, these are roadside billboards that feature a smiling man holding ice cream. In big pink letters, it says "Dice Cream", which refers to the developers of the game.
  • Dice T-Shirts: On various clothes lines throughout the game, you can see T-Shirts bearing the Dice logo hanging out to dry.
  • Dice headset: Looking closely at the Special-Ops. class headset reveals the Digital Illusions logo.
  • Crop Circle: In the Zatar Wetlands level if you fly in a helicopter you can clearly see four crop circles in a field.
  • Battlefield 1942 posters: In the urban levels, if you see some of the bulletins on the walls, you will see what looks like a poster of Battlefield 1942's box art, with an arabic title running through the middle.
  • Battlefield 1942 bunkers: On a few maps, such as Songhua Stalemate, concrete bunkers will be encountered in the forest which are replicas of the concrete bunkers seen in the Japanese maps of Battlefield 1942. Also in the 1.03 patch was a new map taken from Battlefield 1942, called Wake Island 2007. In this map are old Japanese bunkers and abandoned Zero Fighters that are on the island.
  • Stalin: On the map Sharqi Peninsula near the construction site, on of the tall buildings there is a picture of Stalin's face.
  • SAAB JAS 39 Gripen: On the containers usually next to the UAV trailer, there is a blueprint of the Swedish fighter jet JAS 39 Gripen (falsely recognised as the "Eurofighter", which has a similar appearance).

System requirements

Minimum:

Medium Settings:

  • Windows XP (32 bit)
  • 1.7GHz Intel Celeron D/Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon/Sempron equivalent or greater
  • 512 MB of RAM
  • 2.3 GB free hard drive space or more and space for patches
  • DirectX 9.0c compatible
  • Video card must have 128 MB or more memory and one of the following chipsets:
    • NVIDIA GeForce 6 6200 or greater
    • ATI Radeon 9700 or greater.
  • Multiplayer requires 1 set of discs per PC and a broadband (Cable, DSL, or a faster) connection. Internet or Network (2-64 players).

High Settings:

  • 2.4GHz Intel Pentium D/Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64/FX/x2 equivalent or greater
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 2.3 GB free hard drive space or more and space for patches
  • DirectX 9.0c compatible
  • Video card must have 256 MB or more memory and one of the following chipsets:
    • NVIDIA GeForce 6 6600 or greater
    • ATI Radeon 9800 or greater.
  • Multiplayer requires 1 set of discs per PC and a broadband (Cable, DSL, or a faster) connection. Internet or Network (2-64 players).


Patches

There have been a number of patches made available since the release of Battlefield 2.

The latest patch version is 1.2 (officially released on Febuary 14), and is required to play multiplayer games on many online servers.


Mods

Mods that are known to be in development for Battlefield 2 include:

Total Conversion Mods (not Mini-Mods) for Battlefield 2 that have been released include:

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