by iPocalypse
It is the way of any industry to release and improve upon a product line of any sort that makes plenty of profit with each iteration. In this case that industry would be the video game industry and the product line would be the Battlefield franchise. Battlefield 1943 is the 7th entry (excluding expansion packs) in this storied franchise and is the second in the franchise to be released as a download, excluding a retail version entirely. The Battlefield franchise has had many looks from historical events to an alternate time line and the future serving as settings for the epic battles the series is known for. This one, however, sticks close to its roots and takes the fight back to World War 2, where the franchise started. This setting hasn’t been seen in Battlefield in sometime but not to worry, when all is said and done, this is a Battlefield game, through and through.
Graphics. The game isn’t a shining example of the Xbox’s graphical prowess, its not breaking ground visually at all if that’s what you were expecting. But in the end its obvious that the development team wasn’t striving for graphical excellence to begin with. That being said it’s not bad looking by any means whatsoever. The graphics are fine not only for an Xbox Live Arcade game, but to get the job done in displaying all that is required. The ground kicks up and deforms as tank rounds explode before you, and air raids fly over head to deliver a wave of explosions that level the playing field leaving it deformed and uneven for the rest of the match and all in HD splendor. Again, not stellar graphics but simply being a witness to an event like that won’t leave you underwhelmed when the smoke clears and the dust settles.
Control. For the most part the controls are pretty spot on, with only a few minor complaints. The game is as previously mentioned download only, so of course no game manual is to be found other than what can be read from within the games help section and what can be learned from the games tutorial. But that aside once you pick up the controller and play you may not need to grace the games tutorial at all (as was the case with me). When aiming down the sights and taking shots at enemies from afar to sprinting across the map dodging enemy fire as you do everything is for the most part exactly where it should be and where its feels best on the controller. However, that’s where one of the minor complaints of mine comes in. It just feels odd to me that the melee button would be the Y button. It feels too far off and out of the way, keeping it from feeling right. This makes close quarters combat incredibly awkward. Many times you’ll find yourself missing entirely, leaving you completely open to your opponents attack. These instances however don’t detract much at all from the game as they are rare. Vehicles are another thing that for the most part control well, save for the air craft. They seem to be designed to fly and control realistically but for some they may be too realistic. Their usefulness in combat is hindered by their steep learning curve. You’ll spend whole matches learning to fly them effectively enough to not kill yourself on takeoff, let alone trying to get a kill while in one. As powerful as they are, when used well, they end up as support vehicles because of how difficult they can be to pilot. For an arcade game as accessible as this is by design it just seems off that one vehicle would stand out the way it does in difficulty. However, in the end I suppose the good to come of this is that it keeps this potentially over powered vehicle from being overused to the point of annoyance.
Sound. The sound is very well put together, explosions that are too close to you whether they be friend or foe will leave you deafened for a short time (assuming you survived your opponent’s explosions to appreciate the effect). Bullets will zip past you whistling as they do, and bullets that make contact with you sound as if they are hitting something appropriately soft. Sounds in the game sound accordingly whether they are guns being fired, to bullets in mid flight, to the surfaces that said bullets eventually hit. The same goes for vehicles and the armaments that they fire. Nothing new or incredibly fancy but fine work just the same. And if you have surround sound, you’ll no doubt feel like you are in the middle of a war zone. Giving you a real sense of scale when battles you’re not even involved in can be heard off in the distance.
Gameplay. The gameplay can be downright fantastic, everything comes together very well. The game sports 3 classes, each with a different load out. The rifleman sports a rifle as his primary weapon, a secondary being rifle-launched grenades. Standard throwing grenades and a bayonet for melee encounters round out the rifleman’s load out. Infantrymen carry a Thompson sub machine gun, a rocket launcher, standard throwing grenades and a wrench (to which they can use to repair vehicles). The scout has a sniper rifle, a pistol, a blade, and dynamite charges in place of grenades. Each of these classes are well balanced and none of them feel overpowered. They all have uses that really lend themselves well to team play. The rifleman can push forward on a flag, dealing high damage with the rifle and even getting one shot kills with the rifle launched grenades. Dealing with infantry is the rifleman’s specialty but when a tank rolls around, the support of an infantryman is a must. Infantryman have their rocket launchers that are meant to make short work of tanks or even a plane that’s all ready airborne if aimed well, and for increased satisfaction, making short work of planes that are about to take off, but failed to because you blew them up before they could. This is incredibly fulfilling. The scout is best for the long distance support but for great defense of a flag, they can place charges by the flag or on the pathway leading to it. The explosions will tear through your opponents and their vehicles, if any, with ease and satisfaction. It’s all put together incredibly well, where all classes are useful but no one class is the best nor can a team full of just one class win a match all their own but together with other classes the team based play starts to shine brightly.
Each team can also have individual squads that make out the whole of the team that’s as easy to make as sending out a squad invite or accepting one sent to you. Once in a squad you will have the ability to switch your spawning conditions to include, not only any flag under your control, but the position of any squad mate on the map. There are also cannons that can be used to take down planes and air raids to be called in to level an opponent’s position. Laying waste to an incoming enemy force with an air raid sweep that may have taken a flag from your team’s control otherwise, never gets old. With gameplay like this, fun for a shooter fan is to be had without a doubt.
Overall. Battlefield 1943 is nothing short of pure fun, and most of this fun lies in the accessibility of the game. The learning curve for the game as a whole (planes excluded) is incredibly low, this gets people right into the action and from feeling frustrated. With only one mode of play (the series signature conquest mode), and so few weapons to juggle this keeps things simple to understand and work with but varied enough to keep the destructive juices flowing. Getting friends together and working well as a team to take down the opposition with well planned and orchestrated assaults is nothing short of awesome.
Unfortunately upon release the game did have some server issues and connecting to a match was difficult at times. Even when I did, sometimes I was booted from the match anyway. For an online only game this is a little disheartening. Since the release, however, many of the technical difficulties have been ironed out but from time to time there will be instances where these issues creep up. But as of this review being written those issues are becoming fewer and farther between. Some small bugs and glitches have popped up in the game from time to time as well but these aren’t anything that’ll get in the way, just merely things to take note of but nothing that detracts from the experience. All and all, if you are a shooter fan, you should download this game. It’s more than worth its price.
