The TPS Report - Games, Beats 'n' Blogs

Is the Battlefield 2 Add-On Worth Grabbing?
Posted by Diggler - 27/11/2005 23:25

Special Forces is what I'm sure will be the first of many official expansions to PC shooter of the year Battlefield 2

In Battlefield 2, I was amazed at how much better they made the infantry combat over its predecessor, but evidently developers Dice and EA wanted to take it even further. The result is this new expansion, boosting the infantry play up yet another notch.

Vehicles are still alive and kicking, sure, and there's even a few new beauties to be seen, like the amazingly fun quad-like ATV (pictured) and the super cool jet ski, but sure enough, it's the infantry that sees the real fruits of this upgrade. And to be honest, the game is all the more better for it.

Kicking off the list of new additions are six added playable forces. Among others, these include the British SAS, the US Navy Seals and the Russian Spetznas. Not every side includes a full load-out of new weaponry, but you will find six new guns spread out between 'em.

Sadly these new guns are a mixed blessing. The British weapons for instance, are true beasts in terms of size and sheer firepower, but graphically aren't quite up to scratch. In fact, where the original BF2 guns set the bar, one or two of these look like cheap knock-offs in comparison, similar in quality to what you might find in an amateur mod.

Go Go Gadget Tear Gas

Special Forces has some fab new kit, namely the zip-line and this sweet old grappling hook

Thankfully the other new gameplay additions are a lot more pleasing. In order to live up to the Special Forces name, many classes are now kitted out with super cool new gear and gadgets you see, such as night-vision, tear gas, flashbangs and zip-lines. The tear gas is particularly cool, leaving a super slick wavy effect on your screen that not only makes shooting impossible, but also has you coughing up a storm, thus giving away your position in the process (that is, unless you equip the new super bad arse visually impairing gasmask).

One of my faves is the grappling hook though. Don't expect your old skool Quake-style arcadey grapples either, this thing is the real deal. You aim it up at a building, chuck it high in the air, and it'll latch onto whatever it can via super awesome BF2 physics. Once locked in place, you scale it as you would a ladder. It's a great means of reaching some super sneaky sniping positions, and also adds a wonderful verticality to some of the fire-fights now. The zip-lines are also very nice indeed, although most of the time I find myself using 'em more to impress passers by, than for any real tactical advantage.

The best of the lot however, are the night-vision goggles. These add a whole new dimension to the game that wasn't there previously, flavouring it with more of a Ghost Recon feel than anything else. Obviously, it only becomes practical in the night-time maps, but even there it's not quite as one dimensional as you'd expect. With night-vision turned on in the brighter areas - heavily lit rooms or near street lamps for instance - your field of view becomes blinding, however when flicked on in a pitch black field, or down a dark alleyway, it becomes invaluable. The result is a constant tussle between the on and off switch, depending on the situation at hand, thus adding some wonderful depth and tactical usage to the game in the process. One of my more sneakier tactics is to lay low in a pitch black room connected to a super bright one, thus catching incoming troops off guard as they fumble with their visors in the dark.

The Dark Side

Night-vision mode won't rival Splinter Cell for beauty, but it'll certainly save your life

For the most part, the eight new maps are incredibly cool due to stuff like this. The more building-based night time levels in particular are great fun, bringing out way more emphasis on squad play and cover tactics than your bog-standard run 'n' gun Battlefield map. I foresee some decent clan potential in these for sure.

One or two of the other maps don't fare quite so well however. There's one set entirely on a massive aircraft carrier for instance, with the command posts contained deep within a maze of ladders and hangers. The idea is for the MEC Special Forces to fly over from a nearby island, land on the carrier, then proceed to storm the flags on foot, but it's all a bit too cramped and hectic to be much fun.

I also have to mention the slightly disappointing graphics, as Special Forces feels a fair bit less impressive than its daddy in this department. As mentioned, some of the weapons could look tighter, and performance is a bit of a problem on low-end systems too. Most of all though, the darker night-time levels just fail to show off this beautiful engine, with many of the new maps looking rather dull and monochromatic. This is compounded by numerous bugs and graphical glitches, such as flashing textures and the like, although these I'm sure will be patched up soon enough.

When I say this game is
dark, I ain't lying

I guess the thing to bear in mind, is that when a mission is set at night in Special Forces, it really goes the whole hog. These ain't the typical over-stylised night-time levels that we usually see in games, with purple sky lines and a super bright moon, Special Forces genuinely borders on pitch-black at times. While this makes for some slightly drab views admittedly, it does bring out some fabulous new gameplay mechanics we haven't seen before in the series. I dig that.

Despite some small niggles, Special Forces is a very nice upgrade to BF2 all in all. It makes the infantry combat even cooler than before, and adds some fun new abilities that make vanilla flavoured BF2 feel a wee bit bland in comparison. I'm confident that with a patch or two to fix up those glitches, this'll be some of the best fun to be found online for the foreseeable future, and as a result I can't recommend it enough.

You can grab the sucker right now via digital download on EA's new online distribution service known as Stea...err, EA Downloader, and if you're a BF2 guy, I'd say it's worth every penny.