BoomTown Hands On (July 30th news)

[UnDeaD77]

Hands on with the eagerly anticipated Battlefield 2142. Just what does the future hold for BF fans?

It’s fun to shoot – in FPS games that is. And it’s even more fun when you know that there are real people in front of the screens.

So there was no doubt that I just had to get in when they asked for volunteers for a game of BF2142 during the EA Studio Showcase. The people from DICE gave me a spot even though I initially asked if they were playing Quake Wars (doh).

I Don't Know Squad

I got the last spot in delta-squad – and I’m not sure if my squad leader has stopped crying yet. When I sat down the game crashed after 30 seconds. Not my fault, nor the game’s. These things happen. But as you know, the BF games aren’t exactly known for letting you quickly into the game again when a crash has occurred, so when I finally got back into the game I was kind of lagging behind.

Of course I forgot to rejoin my squad so I spawned on our own Titan, which is pretty far from silo no. 1 where my squad leader and his companion were putting up a good fight (the two journalists were apparently used to playing BF with each other so it was clear that the rest of us had better just shut up and take orders).

Crashed Again

Fortunately the helicopters in BF2142 are easier to control than their real life counterparts so I managed to make it to my team. Then the action got going until my machine decided to crash once more.

It’s a good deal of bad luck to have your machine crash twice in 20 minutes, but it turned out I had gotten the machine that also suffered problems during the initial configuration. A little later I was back in the game again this time alongside my squad who was busy crippling the remainder of the other team’s shield.

Stay On Target

After that you are supposed to go to the enemy Titan, but I unfortunately didn’t get into the transportation thingie that my squad leader flew the team in (I had a nasty firefight with an enemy walker and some grunts).

The important thing to do for the squad leader – according to the folks at DICE - is to set up a spawn point on the enemy Titan, which makes sense as you’ll then be able to bring your assault right to your opponents’ front door. Too bad that my squad leader (and his mate) had forgotten all about this and was instead concentrating only on destroying the enemy core. Needless to say time ran out and the mission failed.

The future brings flying cars

I only got my hands on around 20 minutes of gameplay but I found the game promising. It seemed very similar to BF2 which is not bad at all but the question is how much of a difference new weapons, vehicles and game modes will make. I’m optimistic of the game’s potential and I’m pleased with the faster loading times of intro screens and game initializations.

BF2142 is scheduled for release in Q4 this year.

Interesting......

[Lorian]

"and I’m pleased with the faster loading times"

That sounds promising, it always takes agaes to load maps in BF2.

[Acid]

The load times in BF2 are awful, so that's good news. The part about the choppers/jets makes me worried, because now anybody will be able to just hop in and look like a pro without much pratice.

[Snail88]

meh...sounds like this guy didnt know what he was doing -

"After that you are supposed to go to the enemy Titan, but I unfortunately didn’t get into the transportation thingie"

If he didnt know that the "thingie" was an APC...im guessing hes quite noobish, but anyway...

I read a LONG time ago that they are considerably speeding up the time you go from desktop to in game and its VERY nice to hear theyre coming through on that.

I really think air power is not going to be so bad in this game. They took away jets altogether and made a jet/helo hybrid. With the new Flak turrets (with an EMP pulse as the secandary function...sweet), the AA weapon that the engineer can use if he wants, and the gunner's AA in the Battlewalkers, i really dont think its going to be nearly as bad as BF2. Theyve said it multiple times they admit that the jets were overpowered and definately wanted to adress this in 2142...looks like they did

[icky]

Originally Posted by Snail88

I read a LONG time ago that they are considerably speeding up the time you go from desktop to in game and its VERY nice to hear theyre coming through on that.

Well I hope this doesn't mean they'll bypass those WONDERFUL ADS for their products.

[Snail88]

lol yea really...at least thats easily remedied

[Dark Viper]

Originally Posted by Snail88

If he didnt know that the "thingie" was an APC...im guessing hes quite noobish, but anyway...

He said they flew away in it, so it may have been the transport dropship. Either way, yea it didn't seem like he was familiar with the battlefield series.

[Snail88]

Viper has offically made me look stupid. what he ^^^ said *blush*

[DigitalAssassin]

Originally Posted by Snail88

lol yea really...at least thats easily remedied

The display of the ads? How? Annoys the h*** out of me, especially since I own SF & both booster packs. You'd think they could set a registry key if you have already installed and prevent the ad from displaying.

[UnDeaD77]

Originally Posted by DigitalAssassin

The display of the ads? How? Annoys the h*** out of me, especially since I own SF & both booster packs. You'd think they could set a registry key if you have already installed and prevent the ad from displaying.

I couldn't agree more. It's like, I paid 20$ for both boosters, I should be able to have an option to disable this crap.

[Snail88]

oh the in game menu ad? i thought he was talkin about the movies. oops...nah sorry dont know how to get rid of it. Doesnt really bother me though as long as its not in game.

[Lorian]

You don't have to click on close to get rid of it, the buttons at the top are still clickable. Found that out by accident

[UnDeaD77]

Originally Posted by Lorian

You don't have to click on close to get rid of it, the buttons at the top are still clickable. Found that out by accident

True story, all true.

[Snail88]

lol guess thats why it doesnt bother me

[experiment626]

Originally Posted by Lorian

"and I’m pleased with the faster loading times"

That sounds promising, it always takes agaes to load maps in BF2.

Is this bad for players? I noticed once before but didn't comment on it, but I'm always the first in game in the squad with like 1:50 still ticking on the map. I thought everybody loaded this fast?? And were just out getting drinks or something

Seriously my map loads in less than a minute, more like 20 seconds and I really do not have a high end machine by any stretch of the imagination. Curious....hmmmmm.