  On patrol in 'Battlefield 2: Armored Fury'. |
EA and Dice have just dropped in the latest reinforcements for
Battlefield 2 in the form of the new Armored Fury booster pack. For
those of you not familiar with the booster packs, these are small,
downloadable content upgrades directly from EA using their download
system. Armored Fury is the second booster pack released, and like the
Euro Force booster pack, it adds new maps and vehicles, but it doesn't
add any new military units or weapons.
In order to play the new booster pack, you will also need to download
and install the recently released 1.3 Battlefield 2 patch. If you don't
have the patch already, you can use the EA downloader application to
grab the patch prior to installing Armored Fury. A couple of new
features that have been included in the 1.3 patch is the ability to play
single player maps as multiplayer co-op with bots filling out the
roster, and the ability for commanders to drop vehicles to player the
same way they can drop supply crates. These features are available in
all add-ons and booster packs according to EA.
The three new maps are all surprisingly set on American soil. I know
many fans of the series were wondering when and if this would happen, so
it is good to see that the fight is not limited to the Middle East. The
three maps are called Midnight Sun, Operation Road Rage, and Operation
Harvest. In Operation Road Rage, MEC forces have landed on the east
coast and are pushing inland to capture a key highway junction in order
to launch further attacks while the American forces are tasked with
stopping the advance. In Operation Harvest, the MEC forces have managed
to push inland from Delaware into Pennsylvania so they can disrupt
reinforcements from reaching Washington D.C. The MEC forces will be
coming up against American armoured and cavalry divisions. The third
map, Midnight Sun, has a Chinese force landing in and Alaskan port while
the bulk of the US forces are occupied with the MEC forces to the south.
American forces are attempting to push the Chinese back and protect
their oil pipelines in the port region.
As you would imagine from the title of the booster back, Armored Fury is
all about vehicle combat. The maps all have an abundance of fighting
vehicles so if you are an avid pilot or driver; this is the expansion
pack for you. New to the series is the scout chopper class. These fast
little helicopters are minimally armed but their main advantage is the
radar that they carry. Think of them as a human controlled UAV that can
be used to spot enemy troops and vehicles on the mini-map. Each of the
three sides gets their own chopper to use on the battle field. Also
introduced in Armored Fury is the ground attack aircraft. These
vehicles are different from the traditional Battlefield aircraft in that
their primary purpose is anti-vehicle instead of mixed, anti-air and
anti-vehicle roles. The very popular American A-10 Thunderbolt II, also
affectionately known as the Warthog because of the sound its 30mm
gattling gun makes when fired. The Warthog, like the MEC's SU-39 and
Chinese Fantan Q5, are all able to fly low and slow and use their
combination of rockets, bombs and giant cannons to rain destruction down
on unfortunate vehicles below. As this booster pack is set in the US,
there are two indigenous vehicles available to all sides. These are the
Semi truck and the Muscle car. The muscle car is a fast transport
vehicle where the Semi has more protection and is good for ramming
opposing transport vehicles.
Battlefield 2 is still a very popular multiplayer title and it is good
to see that EA has already adjusted their ranking system to track
player's stats with the new vehicles. There is also a new theater medal
for people playing on the ranked servers for special service.
Graphics sound and controls have not changed with Armored Fury other
then the new vehicle models. The new maps all look good and have a good
flow to the gameplay. The small single player maps are small enough
that the pace of battle is constant and the larger multiplayer versions
have lots of open room for the new aircraft to maneuver. System
requirements have also stayed the same, so if Battlefield 2 runs
properly on your system then you won't have any problems with the
booster pack.
Overall the booster pack is a good concept that many other publishers
are starting to embrace as a means to keep games fresh and installed on
gamer's computers. The cost of the booster packs are currently $9.99USD
and are available online from downloader.ea.com. The new A-10 Warthog
will be worth the purchase price for many, but there is still enough
here to keep any fan of Battlefield 2 amused for quite awhile. The new
vehicles are fun and add new subtle twists to gameplay and the US based
maps are a nice change from the sand blown Middle Eastern and tropical
Asian locations we have been playing with the base Battlefield 2 maps.
The low cost of the booster packs is very attractive to most gamers and
at $10USD almost everyone can afford the new maps and vehicle content
that Armored Fury adds. If you play multiplayer alot, then you will
want to download the booster pack from EA and start wreaking havoc on
your friends with the Warthog's 30mm depleted uranium firing gattling
gun. If that doesn't sound like fun, then you must have been the sucker
driving the tank.
WHAM! Rating: |
9 out of 10 |
ESRB Rating: |
T (Teen) |
Official Web Site: |
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