Review – Battlefield 1943 0

by Adam Blue • Reviews

My first thought was, ‘would this be dumbed-down for consoles?’. I still don’t know the answer, but even if it is, does it matter? Battlefield 1943 is the next iteration of the non-single player focused, point-capping, multiplayer frag-fest from Dice and EA. I personally got in on the franchise with 1942. And while I enjoyed it, I was never really a fan of the movement of controls. It might be just a personal preference, but it didn’t stop me. After that, I bought Vietnam, 2, 2142, and Modern Combat on 360. As the games released, they got better. The one element added in that made the games addicting were unlocks. I was more excited about getting an unlock than just kicking ass, which might not have been a good thing.

EA announced 1943 as an XBLA/PSN digital download. Seemed kind of odd, especially at $15. But does it hold up? I mean, only 24 players, 3 maps, consoles first, and $15? Well, let me get into that.

I don’t think this game is dumbed-down for consoles. I think it’s dumbed-down for fun. With less players on a map, the action isn’t as frantic. There are only three classes to choose from which makes it pretty simple, and there are no unlocks to be seen. The weapons and items stay the same throughout your career. You do get promoted through the ranks, but that’s it. Although, there is a form of unlocking. If the community gets a certain number of kills (I think about 40 million) a new map is unlocked for the community. But that’s it. Is there enough here to keep this game going? Well, that’s where the actual gameplay comes in.

This is your standard FPS. If you’ve played the other battlefield games, then you’ll get it. If not, I guarantee you’ve played Call of Duty, and it is very similar. To break it down even further, there are two sides, USMC and IJN, up to 24 players, and you run around and cap points which you spawn from. You can even use tanks, jeeps, airplanes, and boats. The game also uses a unique ammo system where all ammo is unlimited. After your cache of special weapon ammo runs out, a timer appears in which notifies you when the cache has been replenished. It makes sense and allows the players to focus on combat rather than worry about ammunition. I have no complaints with this. Once the ‘death bar’ at the top runs out, that team loses. People focus on flags, but it’s the kills that matter. Depending on the teams tactic, capturing points will only help or hurt you. Pretty simple, yet fun.

I enjoy the gameplay and the controls, yet the controls aren’t as tight as Call of Duty. Flying a plane can be a pain, and I’ll bet you change the controls around. The defaults make no sense. Whether it be lag or just programming, their are a bunch of issues that have popped up. For instance, I shoot my rocket at a tank and strafe away, yet the rocket doesn’t fire until a second after. I then miss. After being on a roll with kills, missing a tank shot will only piss you off. Also dealing with rockets, I once shot a jeep full of players that was sitting at a flag. The rocket hit, the jeep exploded, but all that did was alert the enemy of my location. I died. I call BS. On the turn around, I’ll be in a close range fire-fight kicking some ass, then the douche in-front of me goes Quake 3 style and whips out his rocket, killing me. Close range. Rocket. I die. He lives. Now, this happens in all FPS’s, but in 1943, it’s common. Squads also pose a problem. Sometimes I’ll stay in my squad, and sometimes we’ll be separated. It’s pretty sad, because if my brother is on the opposing team, I know I’m screwed. But all in all, I hope they continue to tweak the code here.

And that brings me to another point: What they will continue to do. For a $15 game, the content is great. So any additional DLC they may bring us screams premium. I don’t mind that too much, but I hope it doesn’t alienate players. I do feel that way with Halo 3 and CoD5. But what would the DLC be? If it’s paid-DLC, I would hope it isn’t more powerful weapons. I’m thinking game modes, classes, etc. But maps make the most sense. And maybe after this next map is unlocked, we’ll receive another after a few more million kills. My number one concern is they’ll need something to keep people playing. And that concern comes from what it will be.

Conclusion: Buy it. At $60, I’d say no. But even with its bugs, $15 is a steal.

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