Triumphant- Battlefield 1943 Reviewed

After a string of lackluster downloadable first-person shooters, we were beginning to grow weary that the current digital distribution medium could not deliver a fully realized, polished experience. Although Warhawk delivered an exceptionally playable title, the lack of any challengers to Incognito’s work for nearly two years hinted that the title could have been a serendipitous fluke.
 
Luckily, developer DICE has masterfully renewed our confidence in the delivery medium with Battlefield 1943, one of the first DLC games that truly rivals a disk-based game experience. While a handful of titles have had a visual lushness that competes favorably with retail games, most downloadable diversions have suffered an abbreviated lifespan due to a limited amount of content. On the surface, Battlefield 1943 would seem to support this trend- the game is a multiplayer only, contains three initial maps, and only one gameplay type, Conquest. In execution however, the game holds a phenomenal amount of depth; its focus masterfully concentrated on elegantly executed foot-based and vehicular combat. 

Once players start the game, they choose one of the three available classes- infantryman, rifleman or scout, each differing in weapon loadout and combat range. All players have the ability to jump into boats, jeeps, tanks, or aircraft; most of the vehicles offer enough room for multiple players. This not only creates a subtle sense of camaraderie between friendlies, but also encourages strategic, coordinated assaults. Each of the game’s maps has five flagpoles, which gamers claim by hovering nearby. Unlike most games that require players to remain at near the base of the pole for capture, Battlefield wisely allows players to take cover in nearby buildings. This creates a magnificent sense of tension in each take-over effort.

At the end of each match, players are given a detailed statistical breakdown of the battle, along with experience points for each enemy killed and conquest point taken. Battlefield 1943 gives credits for assists, where one player wounds a foe, before another finishes the deed, furthering the feeling of solidarity between teammates. Although the game lacks the level perks of Call of Duty 4, it offers a gameplay that isn’t dominated by veterans with the finest gear or optimal abilities.

By using the Frostbite engine found in last year’s Battlefield: Bad Company, 1943 offers players an impressively detailed environment. As in DICE’s previous game, much of the environmental is destructible, allowing for massive explosions with no effect of the title’s framerate. We’ve been in the center of a massive firefight involving a majority of the game’s twenty-four player limit, and seen little effect on the fluidity of the game. Onlookers might balk at the restrictions to environmental damage; such as the machine nests that remain unscratched after a tank shelling. Most players will likely be so immersed in the rivalry, they will easily overlook these shallow shortcomings.

Battlefield’s inauguration was dampened by a flood of eager participants, creating a situation where players were unable to join a game, mirroring the first-day release of Bad Company. Fortunately, Electronic Arts have responded rapidly to the crisis, adding servers to accommodate the unexpected demand. On D-Day plus two (plus three for 360 owners), most of the problems have been rectified, although a handful of people are reporting issues connecting to a match. After playing twenty games, we have experienced an almost unperceivable amount of lag. Games resembled the solidity usually associated with a LAN match, with none of the player warping or other oddities associated with an online contest.