Battlefield 2: Modern Combat Preview

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for the Xbox and PS2 will likely surprise fans of the Battlefield series--and even of the online combat genre--when it ships late this summer for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. We had a chance today to get our hands on a bit of the game's multiplayer action, in addition to seeing some of its campaign demonstrated.

The single-player campaign, while fairly traditional, is undergoing a few innovative changes to set it apart from previous console first-person shooters. For instance, the development team looked at the multiplayer aspects that people really enjoyed in previous Battlefield games for the PC and realized it was all about those crazy moments when all hell breaks loose and when unexpected, dynamic things happen. So to give Battlefield 2: Modern Combat's single-player campaign a similar feel, the designers are trying some interesting tricks, like creating large zones that are one square kilometer in size, as well as inserting focused objectives, which include blowing up specific locations, saving personnel, and, of course, taking out all enemies to secure strategic points (like bridges).

Having these singular objectives in such a large landscape will let players use their heads and gear, in addition to just running headlong into the fray. One example given by the development team showed a mission that tasked you and your squadmates with taking over a bridge. Some folks who play-tested the level ran at the enemy soldiers with guns blazing, while others dropped to prone positions and crept along. But another player did something totally unexpected. Instead of running directly at the enemy and his fortified positions along the bridge, this tester decided to go underneath the bridge to sneak over to the other side, thus approaching the enemy from behind. While this tactic was unexpected, the free-form environment and adaptive artificial intelligence let the player, even though unconventional in his thinking, do what he wanted.

The storyline of the single-player campaign puts you in Kazakhstan, with Chinese and European interests butting heads over untapped mineral and oil supplies. As you kill enemy soldiers, you receive a score for how fast you kill and for how many consecutive kills you can get. These points are used as currency to buy or upgrade weapons and vehicles, in addition to other items for purchase. As you go through the game's single-player campaign, you get to see the war from both sides, as the game puts you on either faction for various periods. This mechanic of having the gamer play from one side and then the other will give a completely different perspective on events. Once you've played through the majority of the game, you're presented with a choice as to which side you'd like to play for the final three missions. While we weren't told what that choice was, the game's single-player campaign is supposed to have a very interesting and unique twist at the end.

The AI in Modern Combat's single-player campaign is said to re-create the feel of playing with and against other real players. To pull this off, the development team is building in behaviors for the characters on your squad. For instance, if you and two other squadmates are firing at the enemy, and one is struck down by enemy fire, the remaining soldier will acknowledge his teammates' demise with a quick glance as he goes down. In another example, characters that see their brothers on the battlefield taking direct grenade blasts will run away from the danger...and may even slip and fall in haste.

While the game's single-player campaign was shown off today, we were also given the opportunity to play one of the multiplayer levels, as well as hear how this mode is coming together. It should be noted that each mode in the game will be stand-alone, and each has a separate team working on it to make sure that one or the other isn't simply a trivial addition. For instance, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat includes more than 30 vehicles, ranging from land, air, and sea ones. They're available not only in multiplayer mode, but also in campaign mode as well. When you see a Humvee, whether in single- or multiplayer, you can get in and drive, man the turret, or even ride in the passenger's seat.

Modern Combat does contain more than a dozen levels that have been designed especially for multiplayer, and the game features more than 50 different weapons. It supports multiplayer action online (for both the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox) that will handle up to 24 players. In terms of game modes, all EA is saying is that the game will have at least a couple, including the traditional Battlefield conquest mode, which gives each team a certain number of tickets. Each time a player dies, it costs the team one ticket; every time a team loses a vehicle, it costs the team two tickets; and once one side has exhausted all its tickets, the game is over. Of course, players can capture multiple positions on the map

One of the areas that--even in the game's current state--already sounds promising is the audio. The development team hired sound designers who worked on the acclaimed television series Band of Brothers. The sound we heard during the game's single-player demonstration included constant chatter from teammates, which not only served to help draw you into the action, but also helped to clue you in as to what you should be paying attention to. Whether a teammate was crying out that he had been pinned down and needed help, or whether another teammate was shouting to look out for enemy fire, the dialogue from your squadmates should help to shape the experience as much as the bullets whizzing from speaker to speaker. Whether you're playing online with other folks or whether you're playing on the PlayStation 2 or Xbox, you can use the game's built-in voice-over-IP support to speak and coordinate with other players.

Visually, in its current state, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat looks quite good on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The Xbox version, of course, has a noticeable amount of detail in its textures (and elsewhere) that give it a much cleaner look. However, the PlayStation 2 version doesn't look too far behind and surprisingly doesn't hitch up at all, even with the game's massive levels. The client-server networking setup should help out with performance (since it puts most of the logic and other CPU demands on the server), while the PlayStation 2 and Xbox just let the server know where in the game world you are, in addition to rendering visuals.

While we'll have to wait until we see more of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat before commenting further, it's safe to say that the time we got to play the game today was well spent. We'll definitely have more on Battlefield 2: Modern Combat in the near future, so be sure to keep checking back. And don't forget to check out the developer interview we shot at today's event as well.