| Battlefield 1942 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Digital Illusions CE |
| Publisher | Electronic Arts[a] |
| Director | Johan Persson |
| Producer | Lars Gustavsson |
| Designer | Romain de Waubert de Genlis |
| Programmer | Johan Persson |
| Artists |
|
| Composer | Joel Eriksson |
| Series | Battlefield |
| Platforms | Windows,Mac OS X |
| Release | WindowsMac OS X |
| Genre | First-person shooter |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
Battlefield 1942 is a 2002first-person shooter game developed byDigital Illusions CE and published byElectronic Arts forMicrosoft Windows andMac OS X. The game can be played insingle-player mode against thevideo game AI or inmultiplayer mode against players on theInternet or in alocal area network. It is a popular platform formod developers, with many released modifications that alter the gameplay and theme.
In-game, players assume the role of one of five classes ofinfantry: Scout, Assault, Anti-Tank, Medic, and Engineer. Players also have the ability to fly variousWorld War IIfighter aircraft andbombers, navigatecapital ships,submarines, andaircraft carriers, mancoastal artillery defenses, drivetanks,APCs andjeeps, and take control ofanti-aircraft guns and mountedmachine guns.[6]
Each battle takes place on one of several maps located in a variety of places and famous battlefields in all of the major theaters of World War II: thePacific,European,North African,Eastern, andItalian Fronts. Combat is between theAxis powers and theAllies. The location determines which nation-specific armies are used (for example, on theWake Island map, it isJapan versus theUnited States, while on theEl Alamein map, it isGermany versus theUnited Kingdom). The maps inBattlefield 1942 are based on real battles and are somewhat realistically portrayed.
Upon release,Battlefield 1942 received generally favorable reviews, with particular praise directed towards the innovative gameplay, multiplayer, and World War II theme. The game went on to perform well commercially, with over 3 million copies sold by 2004. Since its release, the game has spawned numerous sequels and spin-offs, which became part of what ultimately would become theBattlefield game series.Battlefield 1942 is retrospectively considered to beone of the best video games of all time.
The gameplay ofBattlefield 1942 generally has a moreco-operative focus than previous games of this nature, as it is not only important to kill the opposition but to also hold certain "control points" around the map. Capturing control points allows the team to reinforce itself by enabling players and vehicles to spawn in a given area. Additionally, capturing and controlling control points also reduces enemy reinforcements.Battlefield 1942 was one of the first mainstream FPS games to actively encourage teamwork and coordination over individual "lone wolf" style gameplay.
The default gameplay mode, Conquest, centers on capturing "control points" which serve as locations forrespawning, often referred to as "spawn points". Rounds have a time limit and each team starts the round with a set number of tickets which are consumed when members of that team respawn. If a team does not control any spawn points, members cannot spawn unless the remaining living members capture one. If a team reaches zero tickets, members of that team cannot respawn for the rest of the match.
A team loses tickets when its members are killed, but also at a fixed rate when the other team holds a greater number of capture points; the greater the disparity in held capture points, the greater the rate of ticket loss to the disadvantaged side, which encourages teams to focus on taking and defending control points. A match is won by killing all members of the opposing team when they either have no remaining tickets, or no available spawn points. Sometimes players on a losing team mayhide instead of fight when their team's tickets and respawn points are reduced to zero, forcing the winning team to methodically search for them in order to end the round before the round timer expires.
The player can choose to play as either the Allied team or the Axis team. The Allies consist of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the Soviet Union, while the Axis consists of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Regardless of which nation is chosen by the player, there are five different infantry roles the player can select from:Scout, Assault,Medic, Anti-tank, andEngineer.
Each role has its own strength and weakness. For example, the scout role has long-range surveillance, highstopping power and the ability to providespotting for artillery shelling by another player. Assault is the primary anti-infantry role, focused on directly engaging other players at short and medium range. The Anti-tank role specializes in attacking tanks and other vehicles, but their main weapon is inaccurate against moving enemy infantry. The Medic role has the ability to heal players including themselves, but theirsub-machine gun has less stopping power than the Assault class's rifle. The Engineer has the ability to repair damaged vehicles and stationary weapons, and they also have the ability to deployexplosives, which are highly effective against both enemy infantry and vehicles, andland mines, which destroy enemy vehicles on contact.
In 2000,DICE acquired Refraction Games (developers ofCodename Eagle) and inherited the in-developmentBattlefield 1942.[7] The game was originally proposed by DICE as aGameCube exclusive. Though satisfied with the proposal, negotiations never made it further because Nintendo had no online strategy.[8] The game was developed by a team of 14 people atDigital Illusions.[9]Battlefield 1942 was built on the formula of the less well-known and successfulCodename Eagle video game, set in analternate historyWorld War I. It featured single and multiplayer modes. The earlier Refractor 1 engine had more arcade-style physics and a less realistic focus than its successor, Refractor 2, which was used inBattlefield 2. A Macintosh-compatible version ofBattlefield 1942 was made and released byAspyr Media in mid-2004. AnXbox version of the game was also announced in early 2001 but was cancelled almost two years later so Electronic Arts could more closely work on an expansion pack for the PC.[10][11]
Two expansion packs would be released forBattlefield 1942,Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome (adding theItalian Front) andBattlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII, both adding various new gameplay modes, maps, and game concepts.The Road to Rome focuses on the Italian battles, allowing players to play as theFree French forces or as theRoyal Italian Army.[12]Secret Weapons of WWII focuses on prototypical, experimental, and rarely used weapons and vehicles (such asjet packs), and added subfactions to the German and British Armies, the GermanEliteTroops andBritish Commandos. Accompanying each werepatches to the base game that fixedbugs, and added extra content (such as the Battle of Britain map) to the base game.Battlefield 1942 Deluxe Edition includes the original game andBattlefield 1942: The Road To Rome, and theBattlefield 1942: World War II Anthology addedBattlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII expansion pack.Battlefield 1942: The Complete Collection later addedBattlefield Vietnam andBattlefield Vietnam WWII Mod.
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 89/100[13] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Computer Gaming World |   [14] |
| Edge | 7/10[15] |
| Eurogamer | 9/10[16] |
| Game Informer | 9/10[17] |
| GameRevolution | A−[18] |
| GameSpot | 8.8/10[19] |
| GameSpy | [20] |
| GameZone | 8.7/10[21] |
| IGN | 9.3/10[22] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 91%[23] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A[24] |
In the United States,Battlefield 1942 sold 680,000 copies and earned $27.1 million by August 2006. At the time, this ledEdge to rank it as the country's 18th best-selling computer game released since January 2000. Combined sales of allBattlefield computer games, includingBattlefield 1942, had reached 2.7 million units in the United States by August 2006.[25] In December 2002, the game received a "Gold" sales award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD),[26] indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.[27] The game sold more than 3 million copies by July 2004.[28]
The game received "generally favorable reviews", just one point shy of "universal acclaim", according to thereview aggregation websiteMetacritic.[13] At 6th annual Interactive Achievement Awards,Battlefield 1942 received awards for Online Gameplay, Innovation in PC Gaming, PC Game of the Year, and Game of the Year. In March 2010Battlefield 1942 was awarded with "Swedish game of the decade" award at the computer game gala hosted by Swedish Games Industry.[29]
Scott Osborne ofGameSpot called it a "comic book version of WWII."[19] The publication later named it the best computer game of September 2002.[30] Steve Butts ofIGN praised the multiplayer, but said that "the single-player game leaves much to be desired."[22]
PC Gamer US andComputer Games Magazine namedBattlefield 1942 the best multiplayer computer game and best overall computer game of 2002; it tied withNo One Lives Forever 2 for the latter award inComputer Games Magazine.[31][32] It also wonGameSpot's annual "Best Multiplayer Action Game on PC" and "Biggest Surprise on PC" awards, and was nominated in the publication's "Best Graphics (Technical) on PC" and "Game of the Year on PC" categories.[33]PC Gamer US's editors hailed it as "the realization of our 'dream PC game' — multiplayer battles in which every interesting element of combat is playable by human teammates and opponents."[32]
TheAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awardedBattlefield 1942 with four honors at the6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (now known as theD.I.C.E. Awards): "Game of the Year", "Computer Game of the Year", "Outstanding Innovation in Computer Gaming", and "Online Gameplay of the Year"; it also received a nomination for "Outstanding Achievement in Game Design".[34]
Battlefield 1942 was the first in theBattlefield series and would go on to spawn many sequels and spin-offs set in different eras of war. Releases includedBattlefield Vietnam in 2004,Battlefield 2 in 2005,Battlefield 2142 in 2006,Battlefield 1943 in 2009,Battlefield: Bad Company in 2008 andthe 2010 sequel,Battlefield 3 in 2011,Battlefield 4 in 2013,Battlefield Hardline, a cops-and-robbers spinoff, in 2015,Battlefield 1, aWorld War I based title, in 2016,Battlefield V, the first time sinceBattlefield 1943 that the series saw a return to aWorld War II theater of operations, and the first sinceBattlefield 1942 set outside thePacific Ocean theater of World War II in 2018,Battlefield 2042 in 2021 andBattlefield 6 in 2025. All of these releases have been overseen byDICE, withHardline being developed byVisceral Games, with additional developers likeCriterion Games,EA Gothenburg andRipple Effect Studios providing additional development.
An October 2004 public release from EA noted the game's modding community.[35]
LikeHalf-Life and some other popular FPS games,Battlefield 1942 spawned a number of mods. Most did not progress very far and were abandoned without ever producing a public release. Some are very limited and just include some gameplay changes or even a different loading screen while others are total conversions that modify content and gameplay extensively. A few mods have become popular and are nearly games in their own right. Early modifications of Battlefield 1942 were produced without asoftware development kit. Later a "Mod Development Kit", Battlefield Mod Development Toolkit, was produced by EA to help the development of mods. With the release of the Battlefield 1942 sequelBattlefield Vietnam andBattlefield 2, some mods have released a new version or have continued development with that game.Battlefield Vietnam uses an updated version of theRefractor 2game engine. Some mods have switched to the computer gamesSöldner: Secret Wars,Half-Life 2 while others were releasing a standalone game after completed mod development for Battlefield 1942 (Eve of Destruction - REDUX[36] and FinnWars[37]).
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