Battlefield 1943
Review
Good old-fashioned fun
by Blackened Beans
reviewed on X360
Variety
There was undoubtedly a lot of skepticism about a Battlefield 1942 remake with one game mode and three maps when 1943 was announced. After all, that’s not exactly a lot of content compared to the other downloadable games on the PlayStation Store and XBOX Live arcade. Fortunately, this lack of content is forgivable in 1943 because rather than actually limit the game’s longevity, it simply highlights the amount of variety in the gameplay; so much that the game doesn’t need any more content. The classic Battlefield gameplay is present here, with planes, tanks and cars available to drive, and while it hasn’t been changed drastically from previous installments in the franchise, there is enough intense and fast-paced action here to make Battlefield 1943 more than worth the price of admission.
Classes
The game offers three classes for you to play as, which you can select when you start the game and before respawning. You can also pick up enemies’ class packs when they die to switch your class on the spot. These three classes are riflemen, infantry and scouts. Riflemen carry a rifle (no surprise there) and a grenade attachment that allows them to shoot grenades like a bazooka or rocket launcher. They can also stab with their rifle and have grenades that they can throw. Their attacks are good at long range and class range but they come at a slight disadvantage: speed. The rifle is a pretty fast weapon, but it is not rapid fire and doesn’t have many shots in each clip, meaning you will have to reload quite a bit, and reloading takes a while. That said the rifleman is my favorite class because it is good at both long range and close range, meaning I can snipe if I feel like it or go straight into the action.
The infantry is best at close range and carries a machine gun, rocket launcher and wrench. His machine gun is fast to fire and fast to reload, but it is not effective at long range and therefore means you have to get close to your enemy to deal any real damage. It is best to sneak up on your enemy if you are playing as an infantry. The rocket launcher is exactly what you would expect it to be: a gigantic green behemoth of a gun that fires rockets. It is great for taking out tanks, and if your timing is right, then it is good for destroying planes as well. It has to be reloaded after every shot and takes a very long time, but it’s the only fast method of destroying tanks, since riflemen’s grenade attachments aren’t especially effective against armor. The wrench is good for beating people with, but its main use is repairing vehicles.
The scout is a sniper that carries a sniper rifle, pistol and explosives that can be detonated manually. He also wears camouflage so he can’t be seen when crouched behind bushes and leaves. The sniper rifle is a strong weapon, but if you miss and give away your position then you can consider yourself dead, and because sniping requires time so you will need to find cover in small forests. This adds a layer of strategy to sniping, and is also great fun. The scout’s pistol is incredibly weak, but your only real chance of survival up close. You likely won’t be using it much though, because in addition to being weak, it is also relatively slow. Detonating charges are great fun to use because a lot of Battlefield 1943’s environments are destructible. Much fun can be had when you place them when no one’s around and then blow them up in an unsuspecting foe’s face. If you are playing as the Imperial Navy then you will also get a sword which will let you cut people up close.
9.0
fun score
No Pros and Cons at this time
