Introduction

Those readers wondering about the level of historical realism in Battlefield: 1942, Digital Illusions' and Electronic Arts' World War II first-person shooter (FPS), are hereby directed to examine the game's box, upon which it is suggested that an effective strategy against enemy APCs is to ram them with jeeps. It's not kidding, either; perhaps the most efficient anti-armor tactic in the game is load up in a jeep, barrel around the map until the gamer sees a tank, and run smack into it, bailing out at the last minute. Boom goes the tank. I don't remember reading much about this tactic in Crusade in Europe or hearing about in my army training, but I might not have been paying attention that day. Other weird ahistoricisms and anachronisms abound, including Japanese soldiers equipped with German equipment; T-34/85s stalking Germans armed with Sturmgewehr 44 in Stalingrad in 1942; Tiger tanks, Type 95s and Shermans performing on roughly equal footing; and some very peculiar ballistic models. All of this makes for a game that owes more to The Sands of Iwo Jima than S.L.A. Marshall's Men Against Fire, so gamers shouldn't expect the high realism of tactical shooters like Rainbow Six or even Ghost Recon. However, if gamers can live with the game's fast-and-loose presentation of sixteen World War II battles and deal with some buggy code, Battlefield 1942 is one of this year's best multi-player action game experiences.

Like last year's Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Battlefield: 1942 offers gamers yet another World War II-themed FPS experience. However, the game differs from both in that unlike Wolfenstein, Battlefield 1942 harbors at least quasi-historical pretensions - the game has Nazis aplenty, but nary a Nazi zombie - and unlike Medal of Honor, the emphasis in Battlefield: 1942 is firmly on multi-player gaming. A single-player campaign is included, but unfortunately it's pretty much a joke. In fact, the game Battlefield: 1942 most resembles is Day of Defeat, the excellent Half-Life multi-player mod, though with some added attractions, most notably a host of vehicles, including halftracks, tanks, shore batteries, planes, ships and landing craft. The vehicles add an amazing amount of new tactical possibilities to the tried-and-true multi-player shooter genre. Oh yeah, they're a hoot, too-the fun factor of dropping bombs on unsuspecting nests of enemy snipers just cannot be calculated.

Flying planes like this Spitfire is one of the game's greatest attractions - but be prepared to crash and burn the first few times up.	Let those tanks soften up enemy fortifications, the send in the infantry to do the dirty work.

Presentation

Both the game's play and mood walk a fine line between historical realism and first-person shooter convention and play balance, with convention and balance winning out when push comes to shove. The game's controls and mechanics, for example, are pure first-person shooter, and anyone who's ever played game of Quake III will feel right at home here. The game's emphasis on balance at the expense of realism is evident in both its weapons and maps, which makes for ahistorical though exciting gameplay in which tactics rather than equipment most often determines the winner. Like the game's play, its mood evokes a World War II movie more than believable simulated World War II combat. Though some players may be put off by the moral implications of setting a FPS in a historical context, there are no Soldier of Fortune-like anatomy lessons to be had in Battlefield 1942. There's plenty of violence, but it's presented very tamely. For instance, there's no blood, and soldiers riddled with machine gun bullets from point-plank range merely keel over with a quiet groan.

This Sherman just negotiated that mountain range in the rear distance - maps are that huge.	Parachuting into Arnhem in the Market-Garden scenario, one of my favorites.