Battlefield 1943 Review

Many console generations back developer DICE became the king of all WW2 online shooters on the PC with Battlefield 1942. Eight years later and the company is heading back with 1943, a online only download title for PS3, Xbox and PC. Battlefield 1943 is a brilliant hark back to what made DICE a world famous developer, complete with good classes, vehicles and maps.

Battlefield 1943 supports 24 players across 3 maps. These are Wake Island, Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, and Coral Sea for dogfights only. This is small but the maps are all large and varied enough for many things to happen. Players can choose from three classes. Infantry engages at close range, Rifleman take shots at medium range and Scouts snipe from afar. Each also has equipment for demolition and vehicle destruction. The series key mode conquest is present on all maps along with a new air superiority mode on Coral sea in which planes must prevent each other from occupying the centre of the map. Players can level up through fifty levels and earn ribbons for actions like destroying vehicles or capturing points. However no unlocks such as new weapons or custom soldiers are unlocked which makes it almost pointless. Also the Battlefield series still has no split screen support which would have been very fun. Despite this any FPS fan won't mind this as the game is just fun in general.

1943 plays like any FPS. Aim down the sight to line up shots, hop into vehicles and turrets to deal with many enemies. The frostbite engine has carried over from Bad Company making for some awesome environmental deformation. Is an enemy on a turret annoying you? Blow up the tower with a rocket or tank. Planes were a staple of the older WW2 games and they return in 1943 with great power, dropping bombs and firing machine guns. The controls do take some time getting used to, but everything else is spot on by the series standards. The game doesn't feel unfair although the flak turrets can take you out the sky quite fast. Players can also call in a fleet of controllable bombers to drop a payload on a certain location. Teamwork isn't encouraged as much this time but the voice chat isn't up to scratch as the game has little support for headsets. The game does support some team messages through aiming at an enemy or vehicle though.

Battlefield 1943 features bright vibrant environments set in the Japanese sea. The game runs smoothly and as long as your connection is up to scratch you won't suffer too many disconnects from a game. The sounds are authentic to the setting and the many loud explosions can immerse you in the game. The graphics aren't anything special but they get the job done and don't have much effect as the gameplay itself.

Battlefield 1943 is a strong downloadable title, for £9.99 it will last you quite a while until Bad Company 2 but if you have the Ultimate Edition of that game, (the preferred package) already then it simply adds to that brilliant package, providing a nostalgic gem of a shooter which will keep you entertained for some time.

Rating: 8/10