Battlefield 2: Modern Combat

DICE enter a whole new theatre...

Despite the oft bug-ridden and complicated manner of installing and running games smoothly, the PC has emerged as the definitive platform for first person shooters, particularly online - examples including games like Counter Strike, Half-Life and Unreal Tournament that are testament to this claim. Superior processing power and the keyboard/mouse combination means it rises above most console efforts. Of course there are exceptions that prove the rule, most significantly with the recent success of Half-Life 2's port to the Xbox, and the timelessness of Rare's GoldenEye on the N64, nearly a decade old and still as playable as ever. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is in fact the first of the Battlefield series to appear on a console format and is another potential opportunity to show that FPS style games are still a credible venture in the hands of a controller-wielding player.

The main mission mode in Battlefield 2: Modern Combat puts you in the position of an American military unit that has been sent out to Kazakhstan in order to deal with some unrest there. At the same time the Chinese venture into the area in order to survey their territorial positions. Each of the game's twenty single player missions are prefixed with some entertaining mocked-up footage of news reports from both the Americans and the Chinese - both of whom you will control at different periods. These bulletins not only give you background information with regards to your objectives but also exist to highlight the bias of news values in each nation, which is a clever touch. Every stage requires you to complete certain objectives that range from plain old shoot-outs to bombing off-shore sea-bound carriers and ensuring the safety of captives. The best feature of the main game is what's called 'hot-swapping' which allows you to inhibit the body of anyone in your cavalry at the touch of a button. This feature comes in particularly handy when it is necessary to travel a considerable distance across the fairly sprawling environments to reach a critical area of play.

Disappointingly, however, this impressive feature cannot make up for the single player mode's pitfalls. First of all are the vehicles that are available for you to control. Whether it's a tank, a helicopter or something in between you never really feel totally in charge as they chug along like a fat man carrying a bucket of boiling tar. Second of the single player annoyances is the unrealistic spawning of enemies. Often they'll miraculously appear from nowhere and start busting caps in your defenseless 'ass' in a rather unforgiving manner. Lastly and perhaps most significantly is the sense that you never really feel like you're in the boots of one of your men as you gun down the enemy. Despite all the power that the rumble pad feature can muster every shot feels more like you're taking out paper targets with a spud gun instead of some bulky, expensive and powerful made-to-kill machine. However, the single player mode is more overly a solid, varied and enjoyable experience that isn't totally marred by its negative attributes.

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat also offers a multiplayer mode which can be played online or off. Only two game modes are available to play online, Conquest (fight-to-and-stay-put in a certain section of the map for a specified time without getting blown to bits) and everyone's favourite, Capture the Flag. Admittedly it isn't a lot to play around with but the idea that there's a limitless amount of people to play against should keep things interesting. Also lacking in the multiplayer mode is the single player's hot-swapping system, probably for obvious gameplay reasons.

Graphically the console version of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat can't really compete with its PC-powered big brother. Although not horrible to look at, it's difficult not to make comparisons, especially given the lack of detail in both the often muddy scenery and character models. A lot of the landscape cannot be interacted with either, leaving maps where doors and buildings are inaccessible due to painted on doors or dead-end corridors; sometimes switching to a roof-top soldier leaves you stranded up there without an exit. Most unsatisfactory are the explosions, a key feature of any game set in wartime you'd expect. Instead of a spectacular eye-stinging light show you get a puff of orange, red and yellow and a dark plume of smoke; you've probably seen more exciting detonations when pulling a Christmas cracker. Sound-wise everything is pretty satisfactory with a lot of radio banter and bullet-firing going on. Again, nothing mind blowing but not too shabby.

Ultimately Battlefield 2: Modern combat gives PC gamers another reason to feel smug. Despite their best efforts the current generation of consoles can't compete with the capabilities of today's high-end PCs. The next generation of home consoles is where it's at, then we'll see games like Battlefield reaching their potential - of course by then PC technology will probably have greatly superseded all of the next-generation efforts so we'll be back where we are now. Nevertheless if you much prefer to sit in the comfort of your armchair while you play games, then there's nothing too wrong with this genre on home consoles, it's just there are better examples out there than Battlefield 2: Modern Combat... on the PC, anyway. Both Killzone and Call of Duty: Big Red One have failed to really hit the FPS target in this reviewers eyes. However, if PC gaming really isn't your cup of tea then Battlefield 2: Modern Combat should just about be enough to keep you occupied until the next hyped-up wartime game or until the next generation of consoles beds-down. Fizzle.

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By Andrew Macarthy