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Battlefield 2 The Complete Collection DVD Review (continued)
More User Submitted Battlefield 2 The Complete Collection DVD Reviews
Date: 2008-06-01
Great game but terrible Netcode
Let me get one thing out of the way, I think Battlefield 2 is a great game (there are a lot of good reviews here that do a nice job of telling you why) with the exception of one big 'thing'. That 'thing' is Battlefield 2's underlying Netcode.
What is Netcode? Here's a good definition I pulled off the internet.
Netcode: this term refers to the application code that handles how data and instructions are passed from computer to computer during a multiplayer game.
To put it simply, Battlefield 2's Netcode is terrible. In BF2 you generally need a ping (another computer networking term) of 100 ms or less for a playable game over the internet. For players in geographic areas where there's a lot of servers, specifically for US or European players (China may have a lot of servers also), that's not a problem b/c pings of less than 100 ms (to game servers) are very easy to find.
But for players who don't physically live in the US or Europe, Battlefield 2 is unplayable over the internet b/c the pings are not low enough (again, a BF2 player generally needs less than a 100ms ping; I get 150 to 200ms pings to servers). And believe me I have tried playing a game over the internet connecting to a server with a 150ms ping....its unbearable.
Even BF2's interface (not the actual gameplay) is laggy. I'm talking about the 'server lobby' where a player browses the sever list and their respective pings. There's terrible lag when I even try to update the server list. These central servers (which aggregate all the BF2 servers in the world and present them to you in the 'server browser' interface) must be few in number and located in the US.
I'm not newbie either. I can play internet games of Battlefield 2142 (another great game) perfectly fine with pings of 150 ms to 250 ms on the same computer with the same internet connection. And BF2142 has less players and less servers.
Some of you may be thinking 'Hey buddy Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142 are essentially the same game. You make no sense.' Not entirely true. BF2 and BF2142 use **mostly** the same engine BUT the Battlefield 2142's "code" is much more refined compared to BF2's "code" (it came out something like a year later). I'm thinking one of the things DICE (the developer of the BF games) did during the time gap between BF2 and BF2142 was to refine the Netcode for BF2142 (because its so much better than BF2's Netcode).
To sum it up, Battlefield 2 is a great game with the exception of its horrid Netcode.
EDIT: Since I am unable to play BF2 online, I play the game offline with bots. And the great thing about BF2 is that there are free downloadable mods that allow you to play with 63 other bots....very fun. And check out the AIX (Allied Intent Xtended) single player mod....its free and AWESOME. Seriously, the AIX mod feels like a $30-40 expansion pack but like I said, its free.
Date: 2008-04-07
Good platform
This game is good for people who are looking for some competition and a challenge.. the single player is basically a simulation of multi player (counter strike) but is either way too easy or the ai is unpredictable and dont help with getting good.. plus it gets old after a while...
multiplayer amazing, great shooter and easy to get used to
Date: 2008-03-16
Fixed: Collection Now Includes All Reg Codes & 1.41 Patch
Since most everyone already knows nearly every detail about the game itself (if you don't, read the other reviews), all I'll add is that I just purchased my copy of this complete collection (from here on Amazon), and EA has updated the product to now include all reg codes. The booklet that comes with the game has 3 reg codes printed on the back cover: One for BF2 itself, another for BF2:SF expansion, and a third code for the BF2:AAF and BF2:EF booster packs, all 3 very clearly specified.
Also, Patch 1.41 is included and automatically applied during the install. If you only install BF2, patch 1.41 is automatically run by the installer and the end of the install. Additionall, Patch 1.41 will also be run if you also install Special Forces and also again if you install the booster packs. If you do a "kitchen sink" install of everything, the installer will run Patch 1.41 3 times. Installing this full product on my machine took a while, and I have a smokin' dual-core box with hot SATA, 2G RAM, dual-SLI nvidia 8600's, blah blah blah and a partridge in a pear tree. The install is not quick, is rather redundant with the re-application of the 1.41 patch several times, but everything works at the end of the install. All previous complaints that people have been whining about in here (outside of gameplay itself) have been addressed with this release from EA.
So for anyone worried about not getting all of the reg codes along with the product, this is no longer a problem and you may order this product with confidence. I have to admit, this was a pleasant and unexpected surprise - a refreshing change from all the crap EA's been shamelessly perpetrating on their customers recently (Crysis excluded, they actually got that one right).
Date: 2008-03-11
Some great points and some bad points.
I had been playing BF 1942 for a long time and I was quite content as it's one of my favorite games to play online even now. I never tried this one simply because my computer was a little outdated, so I decided to grab a copy now that I recently brought a new computer.
There's a lot of great elements to this game, the best thing about this game that it encourages team work. There are actual benefits with every class of soldier and the maps always put you in situations where it is beneficial to share vehicles. Anyone who has played BF1942 knows that there's almost no benefit to sharing most vehicles. This time around you don't have to completely rely on your ability to kill to become a valuable team member so this is great if you are new. You can supply ammo and first aid to your team members among other things.
However there are some vehicle issues that really bug me. I have always loved to fly planes in BF1942 but with the jets in this game I was very disappointed to find only 1 or 2 on a map (on a server of 64 people even). I was soon to discover why. The jets are extremely powerful, and there literally is no way to take out a jet unless you have a jet of your own. This is where the problem starts, the enemy jets know where your runway is and they typically swoop near by until the next pilot takes off and boom, you don't even get a chance to take off or you barely got into the air. I'm just amazed that nothing even stands a chance against a jet! It's not surprising that there are so many infantry only servers, it feels pretty cheap to be bombed by a jet 10 times in a row. When you actually get in the jet don't expect an epic dog fight either, it's a case of who sees who first and you shoot when you see the blinking light that says shoot. It's not very satisfying on either end of the missile.
For someone who loved to fly the planes so much in BF1942 this was a big disappointment but the helicopters make up for it somewhat and thankfully they aren't indestructible.
The other thing which really bugs me was the choice of armies, Okay America and China makes sense but what the hell is the "middle east coalition"? And what the hell is the "European army"? Oh and whats up with every single map having America as one of the teams but no map is ever situated in America? It feels like America just went crazy and tried taking over the world. But don't buy this game for the plot obviously, I just thought that was odd.
To summarize it's a great game but maps with to much jet power can ruin the experience. I think I will play this for a while but probably drift back to 1942, I hope they remake 1942 with a similar engine some day as it would make a perfect game for me.
Date: 2008-03-07
Battlefield 2 is an everlasting modern war shooter with very little flaws...
This versatile game devilvers in the promise to bring always-changing gameplay to your PC. The game is strictly online-based (there is a very loose singleplayer mode which pits you on a computer AI team against another AI team) but when played with other gamers working as a team can be incredibly rewarding. On-top of the fantastic gameplay and physics - the game introduces a military ranking system for your 'soldier' you create for online-play. For every action you do in the game your soldier statistics are recorded and weighed in through the ranking system; ranking allows you access to more weapons, and a better chance to land a spot as Commander (your team's leader during a match)against other players. The ranking system is coupled with an awards feature (simuliar to xbox360 live awards) which reward you with badges and ribbons for outstanding feats during gameplay. Alltogether this creates hefty replay value for the game. The gaming community for BF2 is generally friendly; seldom do jerks enter BF2 servers and stay for very long...
The only negative things I can point out is EA's support, or rather lack of support, for the game. Stats are sometimes lost in time and never retrieved, glitchs hacks and cheaters go unchecked and technical support for installing the game's latter two expansions Armored Fury and European Union is very weak.
Battlefield 2 is definatly one of the greatest PC online games of all time any gamer should love.
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