I downloaded, installed, and tried the DEMO version last night for the first time. This is the first war like game I have tried (non-fantasy / sci-fi based). I tried the single player for 1 hour or so, then ventured into multiplayer for a few hours. My first impressions and two cents worth.

-Graphic were good and the fps was smooth (AMD 2500XP w/ 1G PC3200 CAS 2 in dual channel mode, ATI 9600XT 256MB vid card, 384K cable connection).
-Loadouts & spawn points easy to select.
-No one really used the squad feature.
-Aircraft and artillary were dominating / overpowering.
-Spawn camping either with vehicles or players in general was a frequent problem, where I would be killed within seconds after a spawn.
-If I survived after spawning, trying to engage as a soldier (not in a vehicle) was suicide because of vehicle / aircraft power.
-Ground vehicles were easy to learn, navigate, and fight with.
-Fighter jets and helicopters were much more difficult. I either crashed within 10-20 seconds, or went OOB and could not get turned around.

I am hoping the retail edition gives more instruction in vehicle use. It was apparent that without vehicles one gets nowhere and dies quickly. Perhaps it was my moose antlers sticking out of my helmet giving me away...

Moose

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--> Born in 1972 and unable to PM or post without an editorial review, ! <--


No moose hunting without a license ! Licensing fees available by request .
Why hunt moose anyway? We're just big, slow, dumb, and make for easy kills...oops.

LOL! You'll get those flying antlers back in no time Moose. I haven't played it that much, maybe two hours since I downloaded it. If the tribe gets behind it, this game could be a lot of fun, even 4 or five members in a server could be a blast. But pubbing alone doesn't seem to be a lot of fun unless your a pilot.

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"Down with democracy... we need more dictatorships"! Galamoth
"Derms, celebrate your independance"! Babz

I played the demo. Liked it at first, but i got bored pretty quickly with it.

Its only fun if you can get into a nice squad that sticks together and uses teamwork, which is rare from what ive seen. Ill probably just stick with Bf1942 desert combat before spending 50 bucks on BF2. By the way, I HATE THE PLANES!!! YOU GO 500 MPH ACROSS A 2 MILE ISLAND.

I agree with everything Moose said about the game.

vehicles will probably be the big role everyone will try to play and in my oppinion will take away from the way the game should be played.

All the pubs I have played in so far, which has been servers with only 4-6 ppl in it because thats all I can join with my connection, consist of players just wanting to shoot at each other or have aircraft duels. I havent been in a pub yet where everyone was playing as a team and trying to gain control points and capture the flags, just out to shoot or fly.

If you get a good pilot in the air with a jet, lookout! Those things are hard to bring down.

The only thing different with me from Mooses experience is flying. I am definatly no Striker by a long shot, but I can fly those jets pretty good. I have been spending some time just hosting my own server and playing by myself flying the jets. I was shaky at first but caught on real quick. I was dueling a guy yesterday and knocked him out of the air 9-10 times and he ended up leaving cause he got mad that he couldnt shoot me down. Not bragging but it even suprised me that I caught onto flying those jets so quick and actually pretty good at it. The helicopters are another story, I cant seem to fly those very good. They wabble back and forth so much I lose control of em. Good thing about the helicopters though, they move slower than the jet giving more accurate shots, if you can find a good pilot for a helicopter those things can be deadly.

Anyway those are my thoughts so far.

Icey

***EDIT***

I forgot to mention..... Something I found was fun to do is get in Sniper gear, get in a jet fly high above the enemy base, climb to a very high altitude, jump out of the jet open the parachute and sit there sniping the enemy as you are coming down. Great Fun that is!

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You sick-sick puppy... who would believe they are getting sniped from 2000ft! I can imagine the discussion on teamspeak, I just got sniped from outerspace... was it a bullet or a meteor??!!

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"Down with democracy... we need more dictatorships"! Galamoth
"Derms, celebrate your independance"! Babz

Do you have unlimited vehicles like in T2 & T:V?

I could see where this could be a problem if they limit the number of planes and choppers you get.

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http://www.gamespy.com/articles/628/628676p1.html

Is this an article about our very own Stryker?

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No, they are unlimited

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That was HILARIOUSE

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I dont know if i will play it...last time i played a BF game it turned into me flying planes only and the game was over then. Once you control air you controled the game...it was pointless.

I'm having a lot of fun with BF2.

First of all, being in a good squad is key. The ability to spawn on your squad leader is very important, but only works well if you have a smart leader that doesnt charge head first into battle. Also, if you can find a squad that uses the voice chat, it becomes a lot more fun.

Vehicles are also huge. They provide quick transportation (espically the 3 person buggy) but they are very easy to destory. All you need is 1 person per squad playing the anti-tank role and you are pretty safe usually. 1 shot with the rocket launcher takes out the 3 man buggy. 2 shots takes out an APC and 3 shots take out a tank. While 3 shots sounds like a lot, dont forget, the tank driver has a VERY limited view. A good anti tank person (like me ) can take them out without being noticed.

Air craft is also very important. However, if you look carefully you will notice something. There are very specific types of planes. There are 2 jet types. one is good for bombing land, the other is good for taking out other aircraft. Each Jet only has 2 sets of flares, so if you can dog fight at all, its pretty easy to take them out.

Helicopters seem more focused on ground targets. They have to move relativily slow to stay under control, but the blackhawk can do some serious damage. There is also a transport helicopter wich can hold about 7 people, and can be a lot of fun to use with a squad.

Taking down aircraft is pretty tricky, espically if the pilot is any good. That is why the Jet fighter is important.

I planned on playing my new retail version for just a few hours last night, and then get some real work done. Unfortunatly i ended up playing till around 4AM, heh.

I definitly have to say that i think the demo map is my least favorite. There are some really BEAUTIFUL maps that are much much larger. Vehicles play a huge role in the demo, but you see them a little less on the retail (probably because of the bigger maps i played). They are still there a lot, but there are also a large number of infantry assults taking place.

I usually play on 64 player servers (maps all come in 3 sizes, 16 man, 32 man and 64 man....same map, larger playing area .... The demo only had 16 man and 32 man sizes) and always find some great action. You just have to know where to look.

One thing i really like about the game is that there are so many levels and choices to the gameplay. You could defend a base and kill anyone who comes near your base, you could assult other bases... go anti tank and kill all tanks... join a huge infantry assult on a base... flying adds a whole other level to the gameplay. (i'm not describing it well here, but you get the idea)

for those of you who dont like vehicles too much and are still playing the demo.. search for a server with the words "pizza party" in the name. i dunno if it is still a demo server or not, but it used to be a 64 man server that played on a 16 man sized map. Renegade and i had a ton of fun playing there. Check and see if it is still running

Definately want to chime in on this amazing game . Kraska and I played the demo a TON (just installing my retail verison right now as a matter of fact). We probably played that one demo map for 2-5 hour stretches...this game does not get old (if you know how to play it ). Few quick things to put your minds at ease if it was overwhelming to begin with:

-Squads...not sure what server you played on moose...probably one of the ones who didn't hack their way out of the stupid 12 minute time limit. Whoever made that call on the dev team to release a demo with 12 min maps did not do the game justice. It's barely even worth forming up squads in that short time frame. Kraska and I usually found a server with no time limit...there, squads are key.

-Vehicles...yea...they're powerful. But, you have to remember this is realistic (at least as realistic as it can get without getting aggravating). A tank shell is going to kill infantry...an artillery strike is going to whipe out a good number of troops...blackhawk strafing and other sorts of aircraft bombing can be absolutely devastating. BUT, vehicles can be easily countered. This is another reason squads are a must...squads usually use 1 or 2 anti-tank troops. That can clear a path against any tank. The great thing about the vehicles in this game is that they do strike a sense of fear in you...not sure that tribes ever had that (I know I'm not scared of shrikes at all...).

I absolutely LOVE this game...it brings a new meaning to the phrase "team-based gameplay" (T2 can't compare to this game in this aspect...do miss the jetpacks though - hehe). Think of this as the ultimate strategy-FPS game. You have to remember that for every maneuver, there is a counter-maneuver. Artillery bugging you? Get some guys in your squad to loadout in special ops and C4 the enemy artillery. Vehicles overwhelming you? Maybe your squad needs 2 (or even 3) anti-tank infantry. Getting shot down by defenders every time you try to enter an enemy base? Maybe hop in a tank or APC or get a couple medics loaded out in your squad. Keep in mind that servers will now be setting their own time limits and ticket limits (tickets = "lives"). This will mean that 99% of the servers will have more than 12 minutes (I'll bet a good number will have no limit). This will yield a higher quality of squad-based play.

I understand this is a pretty drastic change from the tribes-type gaming...and for some of you, it will turn you off. But, if you want a new feel of gaming, with the potential for some ridiculous teamwork, give it a shot. Hopefully I'll see some of you around...no offense to kraska...but I'm game for having more than just the two of us in a squad .

OMG...installation complete! Rebooting!

-Ren

/me wishes I had a better connection than dial up!

I love this game just cant play it online in bigger numbers than 4-6 players, sometimes not even that!

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dont wurry ice,no matter how much people love this game,its just a rewrap of every other game. i havnt heard of one new or orginal idea for bf2,just like all fps's this game is designed to fail in the end to the repititive grind that is the fps genre. Killing,dieing Killing,dieing,killing dieing.
Its the people of the game that will make people play it longer,which is why Tribes lasted so long. Good people = good times.

but.........
that doesnt make any sense serpreme....
dont you play tribes???






























ohhhh BURNNNNNNNNNN!!!



hahahahah, i got you good