Customer Reviews

Battlefield 2142 (DVD-ROM)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(78)

 

 

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.

I'm a very computer literite person so when I install a videogame I just bought I expect it to work right.... the first time. Battlefield 2142 did not even start up for me after installation on my brand new HP Laptop DV9000 with an Nvidia 7600 Go card. The entire installation process was litered with bugs. The microphone setup didn't even detect my audio setup even though it works perfectly fine in all other games and software (CS, Ventrilo).

Adding salt to the wound is EA putting ads into this game. I know I will be returning this game and I'm pretty sure anyone who decides to buy this is taking a $50 gamble.

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."

I sent an email to EA saying that I would not buy a game with in advertising or ad tracking.

I think its wrong for EA to try and gain ad revenue on a game that I am paying $50 for...no matter how good it might be. My guess is you can expect ads directed to your IP by region. I'll bet that they are marketing to potential advertisers with age, gender ect...based on game/EA website information/registration.

Here is the message they sent me to alleviate my concerns.

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts.

We would like to provide more information on in-game advertising in Battlefield 2142. To try and help everyone better understand it, here is how it works.

The in-game advertisement is respectful of players' privacy: it never accesses files not directly related to the game, and it does not capture personal data such as cookies, account login detail, game play behavior or surfing history. As it is an integrated part of Battlefield 2142 and not a separate program, it only runs when the game is running.

Because BF2142 delivers ads by region, the IP address of the player is used to determine the region of the player and helps serve ads by region and language; for instance, a player in Paris will be presented with ads in French. Note that this IP address is not stored on the advertisement server and is not repurposed for other uses.

A unique ID number is anonymously assigned the first time the player joins a Battlefield 2142 online game. It is stored locally on the PC but is not linked to any personal details. The in-game advertisement gathers what we call "impression data", such as location of the billboard in the game or duration of advertisement impression. It helps see how many people have seen an ad - but not who has seen it.

We are also conscious that the advertisement shouldn't distract the player from the overall gaming experience, so all ads fit in the unique environment of each level in the game. The content of the ads is also controlled to ensure that no offensive content is displayed in Battlefield 2142. We all hope that this explanation will address recent concerns on the advertisement in Battlefield 2142.

If you still have further concerns regarding the issue, please do not hesitate to write back to us.

Battlefield 2142 INSTALLS an application called EA LINK - which is irritating (I beleive Java Based)-- It is one of those applications that load everytime you start your computer up - and it contacts EA server - and Updates automatically - one update was REALLY buggy - Unless you want another who-knows-what-this-stupid-service-does application always on your desktop DO NOT BUY THIS APPLICATION (not to mention its one more thing using up resources) - YOU ARE NOT BUYING JUST A GAME HERE BUT A CONSTANT EA WEB AD - Also Battlefield 2142 is a bit buggy for me - trying to find a server can be a problem - plus do not try to install this on a slave drive because the patch can't find the files - due to the EA LINK installer. If I knew this app had the EA LINK in it I would not have purchased it!!! Good luck!

I am outraged that EA inserts advertising into a game I pay good money for. This is bogus beyond belief, beyond the pale, unacceptable, outrageous. I returned it and so should you if you got taken like I was. If you are here wondering whether it is a good one to buy, the answer for now until they respond to the growing outrage over this is NO. JUST SAY NO to this kind of thing. VOTE with your WALLET because, THAT they listen to and nothing else. This incredible act of stupidy and greed on EA's part will kill this game and you won't have anyone to play with online anyway unless they issue a patch to yank this spyware right out of it COMPLETELY. Personally, I will be damned before I PAY for something that has SPYWARE in it and inserts ADVERTISING into MY game experience.

Not a chance. I was all into getting this game for my new XPS1710. Not now. EA, it'll be fun to watch you flail.

As many reviewers here I was bitterly disappointed by the news that EA had the cheek of invading their customers PCs with a spyware, aggressively advertising stuff and disrupting their gaming. Surely there must be other ways for EA to advertise products to the players who paid their hard earned top dollar for the game.Isn't registering on-line, creating an account on the company web-site enough to reach gamers? Why ruin a good game by annoying pop-ups? Such advertising strategy will definitely put me off buying any product, even a long awaited game. I sympathise with the developers who might be really upset reading such unflattering reviews of the game. I do not think EA cares or knows much about their customers.I refuse to buy anything from this sort of companies.

I think people who buy the game will help EA set a dangerous precedent which can affect PC gaming for many years to come. I hope EA will listen to gamers and will try to rescure the game by re-releasing the product and giving the customers what they want.

Thanks to all the less gullible reviewers here whose reviews saved me $50.

Absolutely the worst idea in years. Not only are you paying a premium price for this but they are adding mandatory advertisements in game as well as installing internet monitoring spyware on your computer. Of course there is NO warning on the box and only after you have opened it does the piece of paper telling you about it come to light. I returned my copy and refuse to support this out right attempt at invasive spyware.