Battlefield 1943 Playtest

By Liam B [FRUITofDOOM]

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He’s in my sights, that bastard that blew my tank up – now I have become a sniper and the little sod has no idea he is a breath away from meeting his maker. Lined up and compensating for targets distance and movement speed… patience… squeeze gently… 3… 2… HOLY CRAP – jump! Damn, too late! An enemy plane shot down by a flak cannon just ditched right into my observation tower, which I thought was a safe vantage point from which I could snipe from. I was wrong and this game just slapped me around the face with a big reminder that anything can happen here. Am I really playing a downloadable title? Did I really pay so little for such quality? Ouch, yep – I’m not dreaming.

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Above is a description of the first ten minutes into my play test on Battlefield 1943. For a non-retail downloadable title you expect to be called to forgive a lack in features and sophistication. Happily BF: 1943, developed by Dice and published by EA, dishes out surprise after pleasant surprise, providing an instant action rush yet backing it up with a fully fledged gaming experience. Pick it up and drop a few birds from the sky or dismantle a tank with a well place demo’ charge, or get down and dirty with a serious “this island belongs to us” approach and “my team and I are not giving it up!” Dice have tweaked and boosted their Frostbite engine for this title – the Frostbite game engine allows a good deal of destruction and fantastic sounds and effects, and whilst anyone having played Battlefield Bad Company will instantly recognise the graphics and game play (this feels like the same game) the isolated island in the Pacific and setting make ‘1943 really stand out.

But let us get to what you the reader wants to know: is it fun? My answer to you is: damn right skippy! Jump in to a quick match and you are less than a minute away from a battle taking place on the ground, on the water and indeed in the air. Want to play with friends? Then squad up with anyone you wish to carry your letters in case you don’t make it and start hurling lead towards the enemy. Want to know if there will be TSA only “boot camps”? Yes, yes there bloody well will be! This game caters for all trades and will see pilots strafing landing craft and raining highly explosive tickets to hell on the poor ants battling below. It will see snipers with a smile the length of the Nile after dropping an unsuspecting foe from across the other side of the island. Gamers will be shouting “did you frickin see that?” after hitting the detonation switch when a tank roles over some well placed explosives. With so many ways to dish out death – 43,000,000 kills doesn’t seem so far away but it is going to be one hell of a blast getting there.

The mechanics are pretty much the same as all other FPS games. It doesn’t try to be complicated and is really easy to just pick up and get on with it. Run around guns blazing and you’ll soon rack up the kills. However, get tactical and form a good team and you’ll be dominating the island and sending the enemy a clear message that you won’t go down easy. Planes are easy to control and offer machine guns and bombs to deal out the pain, with dogfights being the highlight. Should your plane take too much damage you can nose towards the enemy on the ground, or jump out with the safety of a parachute and live to fight another minute. The controls are easy enough that anyone can fly but take the time to master them and become an ace and you will nail other fighter pilots whilst making craters where the enemy once stood. Tanks are truly rolling beasts of steel and take as much punishment as they can dish out. You can drive and gun whilst a team mate takes the 50 cal’ on top. With a canon, a coaxial machine gun and a mounted 50 these babies will become a nuisance for even the most skilled of opponents. You will also see nimble jeeps to tear across the island whilst dodging shells and decorating your bonnet with a new coat of red gloss.

The aim of the game is to capture all the points on the island. With each point offering its occupants new vehicles and advantages such as capturing the airfield to give you aircraft on the island. Some points offer you tanks and jeeps, some even offer you a communications bunker allowing you to guide three bombers over the island to perform a bombing run anywhere you want to drop it – and a damned destructive bombing run it is too. Both sides start on a carrier ship with planes and landing craft (via water) for starting your assault. The carriers also house flak canons and defences to make sure your planes are safe from any enemy planes circling above for an easy kill. You will then land to take control of all points on Wake Island, Iwo Jima, Guadal Canal and a battle over the Coral Sea once all PSN members hit a combined 43,000,000 kills. You can get up close and personal with the Infantry class packing a machine gun, bazooka and hand grenades. Stay at a distance with a sniper rifle or get sneaky with the explosives using the Scout class. Finally there is the Rifleman that gets a semi-automatic rifle good in medium to long range battles, with the ability to slam on a grenade to launch like a make-shift mortar.

A very easy to play and offering many incentives to master type game, ideal for a community get together and offering weeks and weeks of multiplayer fun. With great graphics, a very good damage model, and fantastic sound effects this game gives a real sense of a hectic battle for control in every match. Plenty of variety and buckets of fun for up to 24 players, you can rest assured that this game will get the TSA community touch and receive the attention it deserves. Why waste time downloading the demo when you could be making your mark in the full title?

The community race between the PS3 and 360 formats to reach 43,000,000 kills and unlock a 4th map (Coral Sea) begins 10th July 19:43 (GMT+1) that being 7.43pm here during summer months in the UK. TSA will be hosting events and ongoing community sessions for this title, more information will be made available very shortly. Now I’m off to take to the skies, no I’m nicking that tank, no wait I’m going to snipe… ah sod it – charge!