Battlefield 1943, I think we’re onto somethin’ Chief!
This weekend as I was going to innocently partake in a few games of MLG on Halo 3, being polite, courteous, and wishing the other team good luck… Wait, that doesn’t sound like me… Well any who, I saw a friend playing Battlefield 1943. Mind you I’ve never played any of the Battlefield games, except Battlefield Heroes, which to be honest left a lot to be desire. But! That is not the focus here, Battlefield 1943 is.
Battlefield 1943 makes amazing use of the Frostbite engine as it takes players back once again (yes a bit repetitive) to World War II to take part in some of the most prolific battles that started this franchise. The game gives you non-stop 24 player multiplayer competitive play over three legendary locations; Gaudalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Wake Island. DICE once again provides us with its award-winning first person and vehicle warfare online experience which it is so dearly respected and recognized for.
By land, air, or sea; you can battle on it. In the trenches, or an aerial dog fight, pick the best place to land the boat and capture a territory to win your team victory. In this WWII fighter it is the American USCM versus the Japanese Imperial Army. You have three classes to choose from, Scout, Infantry, or Rifleman; each offering its’ perks. The brightside is you can choose to switch class on respawn, or by killing an opposing player of a different class you can take their pack and switch mid-game.
I’m going to highlight the classes and you can see whichever you prefer.
Their are only two gametypes, one is a capture the flag/territory type game that you play on three different maps, Iwo Jima, Wake Island, and Gaudalcanal. The other gametype is Air Superiority which is through and through all aerial dogfights on Coral Sea which was recently unlocked by XBox 360 players for reaching 43 million kills, and just yesterday unlocked by the PS3 players. I wish their was a Team Deathmatch style gametype but for 15 dollars you really can’t beat what you’re getting. The game is amazingly versatile, and this is what we’ve come to expect from DICE.
This game is available on the XBox Live Arcade or the Playstation.Store for 15 dollars USD. And I HIGHLY recommend that if you have 15 dollars you’re burning to spend, to spend it on this game. Aside from a few hiccups in gameplay, such as a tank parking right on a hill above one of the basis and raining down fire (which you can easily work around if you just choose a different spawn point and defeat it a different way), the mechanics at the core are solid. When your team captures a flag, if you die it allows you to spawn in that spot until you lose possession of that territory. If your team is in possession of all 5 flags, the opposition has no choice but to spawn at their home base, and vice versa.
As far as flying goes in this game, it is something to be mastered. I highly suggest going through the tutorial and practicing ruthlessly on how to fly the plane. Don’t just jump in it in the middle of a game and take a plane, if you’re familiar with other flying games you may fair well, but me personally I did this and bombed right into the ocean. They’re an amazingly useful tool, so make sure it’s put to good use.
Concerning everything else; shot registration, explosion radius of weapons, speed, ect. All properly engineered into the system. As for the map design and aesthetics, they are beautiful; a lot went into this game and as said for 15 dollars, you can’t beat it.
Unfortunately, at this point DICE is unsure if they will release anymore maps or DLC for this game, so at this point I have to downgrade it for that. I’m in high hopes they do, maybe the Team Deathmatch gametype as I mentioned and another map or two will make this game truly versatile. Though kudos to them for tracking your soldier. If you login into the Battlefield 1943 website using your EA account you monitor your soldiers kills and deaths, wins to losses, accuracy, stamps and achievements.
Overall: 8.5/10
XBox Live protects your children, crushes my creativity.
JackMeHoff, JackMiOff, not the most original of names for sure but I decided to inject my own bit into it and make my gamertag JakeMiOFF, we all know what it sounds like and the giggles can ensue. As my name is Jacob, and Jake looks a bit like Jack/sounds a bit like it, I found it a clever idea and used it. Yesterday around 9:00 PM EST, I was harmlessly going to launch the Netflix App and finish watching season 2 of Dexter (wonderful show by the way). That was soon crushed by the pop up on my screen telling me that my G/T had been reported and was against XBL rules, so it was deemed “inappropriate.”
Part of me understands this, XBL is a wide open area of people of all ages to collaborate and game. However, my name is a little bit of a stretch on sounding inappropriate to start. JakeMiOff, maybe if it was blatantly Jake Me Off, or Jack Me Off, I could understand. But simply I can’t; also, as stated by the ESRB which is plastered across any game with online features, they CANNOT rate online game play or interactions. Thus they cannot rate the level of appropriateness of names, which means as this is simply implying your kid is at risk to see/hear inappropriate things. Yes ESRB and XBL rules are separate, but they also work in collaboration with each other. Not to mention when I paid my 800 Microsoft points ($10 USD), I should have not been allowed to even change it then.
What baffles me more is it’s based on complaints, just like your average gamer I talk my fair share of trash, but I’ve yet to receive one single solitary in the flesh, vocal complaint about my gamertag. So let me put this simply XBox Live, who pissed in your Cocoa Puffs this morning?
Edit: Thanks to my buddy Alex, this article was found. Article here. Specifically note, “remember, you can’t have a sexual term in your name, regardless of sexual orientation,” good thing mine didn’t contain a sexual term of any kind. GIVE ME MY GAMERTAG XBOX!
UFC Undisputed
I took the time and money this weekend to purchase UFC Undisputed 2009. Now I was never a huge fan of the wrestling games THQ produced. They were always rushed, glitchy, and generally done in a half ass manner.
The same CANNOT be said for this game. It is so deep, and rich with the controls, graphics, and fighting styles that I took about an hour just reading the control guide and doing tutorials to make sure I had a full understanding of the game and make sure I knew what the heck I was doing. And there’s STILL things about the game and how it works I don’t fully understand but it’s only something I can grasp by playing it, but it’s not frustrating; it’s fun. I relish at the fact theirs a game that can challenge my abilities.
My brother and father, as well as myself (more frequently then ever) have become avid watchers of the UFC fights. It’s truly amazing what THQ brought to the table with this game. I will say I do have my qualms with the game. Career mode can get a little dry when fighting with your created fighter. Though admittedly I didn’t see the true importance of the “Sparring” feature until after I had won my Welterweight Championship.
The achievements are awesome too. Some you look at and go, “How the hell will I manage that?” One in specific being, “That was easy!” which stipulates you must knock an opponent out within 20 seconds of the first round. I’ve seen it done by numerous UFC fighters in actual competition but it seemed unlikely for the game. I was in career, defending my Welterweight title against Diego Sanchez. The cut scenes pass by, the fight is about to begin. I come dashing out of my side full speed, back heel kick to the gut, roundhouse head kick. Sanchez is knocked out 5 seconds into the first round. So it’s definitely possible, just as every achievement is.
I have yet to venture onto XBox Live to play a match. There’s area’s in the controllers as stated I’m not familiar enough with and if I find myself in the position of a full guard, or rubber guard I’m almost screwed unless I can hit my major transition to give them my backside, which is not the proper way to get out of the guard either but it’s the only transition I can pull off 50% of the time to get out.
The game as a whole is wonderfully and masterfully done. And I think it’s a solid buy for anyone wishing to dive into a new fighting game.
Overall Grade: A-
Summer LAN / $1,000 Halo 3 Tournament
This July, Gamers Outreach Foundation will be hosting a Summer LAN and Halo 3 tournament at Skateland West in Westland, Michigan. The event will begin on Friday, July 17th at 4:00 PM and will go non-stop until Sunday, July 19th 10:00 AM. Skateland West is located at 37550 Cherry Hill Rd, Westland, MI, 48185.
This year, the event is mostly acting as a test run of our new potential location for Gamers for Giving 2010, Skateland West. Additionally, profits and donations from the Summer LAN will be used to fund the hospital gaming kiosks (http://gamersoutreach.org/content/gamingkiosks) we’re building for Mott Children’s Hospital.
Headlining activities include a 200 person BYOC LAN (bring your own computer or console) and a 2 vs 2 Halo 3 tournament – $1,000.00 will be awarded to the winning team!
Registration for the event has opened! Visit http://gamersoutreach.org/event/summerlan09 to read about the event and register today!
We will be releasing a seating chart (you’ll be able to select your seat to assure you’re sitting with friends) within the next couple of weeks. You can find all of the information relating to the event here: http://gamersoutreach.org/event/summerlan09.
Stay tuned to www.GamersOutreach.org for updates from now until the event. We’ll see you this July!!
Please if you have time make it out to this event, every bit helps, and it’s a blast. If you’d like to learn about Gamers Outreach Foundation and their history please visit http://gamersoutreach.org/content/gof-history and http://gamersoutreach.org/about-us