Battlefield 2142

After reading some of the reviews here, I think it only fair to give a review that will dispel some of the confusion surrounding the game:

Is this just a mod of BF2? Fact 1 it IS a mod of bf2 and not a whole new game. However this has many advantages - all of the controls, radio commands and many of the weapons and vehicles are very easy to master if you already play BF2. The main addition to the game is the new titan mode.Titans are basically airborne aircraft carriers, and on titan maps you have to destroy the enemy titan by holding missile silos, then attacking the titan itself (like star wars battlefront2) to destroy the engine core once the shields have been lowered by the missiles.

They have removed kit classes. Technically yes and no - now there are only 4 class types (recon, assault, engineer,and support) but these combine several classes into a much more logical format IMHO. Now the assault class who does the bulk of the fighting has a medikit as standard. By using the ranked server unlock feature, each class can get extra weapons and abilities that allow you to tailor your soldier class to the task at hand. This gives far greater flexibility than before.

There is spyware installed with this game: NO - this game installs no spyware whatsoever. There is simply advertising streaming rented out from servers that display on billboards in game. TBH the only people who are losing out with this are the advertisers themselves, as you will be too busy trying to stay alive, so you will never read the ads they have paid for.

So how does this game compare to BF2? Well it depends on your perspective and level of skill. The ranked server unlocks means when you first play you have only got access to the basic kits and no extras. This means that nearly everyone else you meet has got more or ALL the unlocks such as nades, APM mines,stamina boost and turret guns, meaning you have very little chance against them. I try to see it as a challenge and I'm a pretty skilled gamer but even I find it can be very hard at times. If you are new to online gaming then I would not recommend this game at all, get BF2 as the unlocks are nowhere near as combat altering. The whole vehicle/weapon emplacement concept is very limited in 2142. Flyboys might want to give this a miss - there is now only two aircraft types - an attack chopper and a transport chopper. In defense the aircraft are now incredibly easy to master and fly using mouse and keyboard. Also there is only 1 style of tank, scoutcar, apc and walker available to each side. The PAC hover tank is an awful concept and gives a distinct advantage to the EUR team. There is now only 1 style of AA and anti vehicle gun emplacement as well.

Conclusion - well as usual from the BF series some big beautiful maps, and a great concept, but still no indoor fighting or real CQC except on board the titan, owing to the armour to win idealogy and you will never explore most of the maps as once again you are fighting for control points leading to little clusters of combat in these areas only. The ranked unlocks although allowing great personal freedom in kitting your soldier, means for the first 100 hours of combat you will die a lot. The titan mode is a great step forward but the poor design of the titan itself means its a very hard fight to destroy one. If you already own BF2 only buy this if you are a dedicated gamer like myself. If you are new to online games do NOT buy this - master BF2 first. I hope this review has laid to rest some of the rumours that surround this game,as personally I do like it, just EA need to really try harder for the BF series to survive. I would also like to quickly add that they have finally sorted out the age old gripe of singleplayer Bot AI. The Bots now actually bunnyhop and nade spam just like online enemies, and actually are more helpful team players than the real people, plus you can only use unlocks earned in multiplayer in single player.

Upon installing this game you will be warned that spyware will be installed on your system. Essentially it watches where/when/what you surf, reports home, and then serves up ads within the game based on this information. Even if the data is kept anonymous, this is no different than any other malware which collects user data in order to make advertisers rich, at the expense of gameplay. And besides that, how much do you think gameplay will degrade with all those extra processes going on in the background? No thanks, EA. Time for a boycott.

P.S.: Any product that contains spyware ought to be FREE. Charging full price for something like this is outrageous and insulting.

The game contains spyware:

"The Software may incorporate technology developed by IGA Worldwide Inc. ("IGA") (the "Advertising Technology"). The purpose of the Advertising TEchnology is to deliver in-game advertisements to you when you use the Software while connected to the Internet. When you use the Software while connected ot the Internet, the Advertising Technlogy may record your IP address and other anonymouse information ("Advertising Data"). The Advertising Data is temporarily used by IGA to enable the presentation and measurement of in-game advertisements and other in-game objects which are uploaded temporarily to your personal computer or game console and changed during online game play. The Advertising Technology does not collect any personally identifiable information about you, and EA will ont provide IGA with any of your personally identifiable information. The servers used by the Advertising Technology may, from time to time, be located outside your country of residence. If you are located within the European Union, the servers may be located outside the EU.

By installing and using the Software, you agree to: (i) the transfer of the Advertising Data to servers located outside your country of residence and, if applicable, outside the European Union; (ii)the collection and use of the Advertising Data as described in this Section; and (iii) the delivery of advertising and marketing content by the Advertising Technology. IF YOU DO NOT WANT IGA TO COLLECT, USE, STORE, OR TRANSMIT THE DATA DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION, DO NOT INSTALL OR PLAY THE SOFTWARE ON ANY PLATFORM THAT IS USED TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET."

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