The much anticipated Battlefield 2: Modern Combat came out, and I was just chomping at the bit months ahead of the release in anticipation. The demo was the best I have played yet, providing precious experience and practice time. I pre-ordered it and took a long lunch from work to pick it up the day it came out. That night when I got home, I could barely stand to not playing it, knowing full well that I had to stick to the schedule, put the kids to bed, tuck in Mrs. rabbmasterflash and make my way to the man cave for some Live time. The game, and the entire experience surrounding it is about 95% of what I was expecting.
I touted, and still stick by my statement, that this game could surpass the king of XBL, Halo 2…unless you consider that 5% that disappointed me. First off, the game itself is just amazing. The single player is fun, and great warm up for the bread and butter of the game…..online multiplayer. I played the campaign for about 15 minutes before deciding to join my pals on XBL for some online play. Again, I was just blown away at the differences between the Demo and the full version. I convinced myself, this game is the only one I need to own, and I have spent every night since then trying to master it.
Here is the problem, EA. If you read the EA BF2:MC forums, you will see countless, often mindless and immature posts about what is going on. Some can blow off the issues as annoyances, including myself, but many are at their breaking points and even considering returning the game altogether. This is where I think EA needs to make a crucial decision. The choice to host their servers instead of going the route of Halo 2 is turning out to be a mistake. I will say in their defense that they are making steps all the time to fix their issues (going on our second auto update) but still have a little way to go in my opinion.
The first week there were major issues with lag and statistical losses. In the game, you advance in rank based on 3 categories. These categories are Score (based on kills, flag captures, etc.), PPH (Points Per Hour, averaged over the last 10 hours of game play) and Medals. Most people have no problem with the first two categories but the latter, Medals, seems to be the most crucial and challenging. The unfortunate part to this is that Medals and Points were being reset, in some cases several times over the last couple weeks, and not to every player. It happened to me once already, and it was a medal that I doubt I will get back very easily but is the difference between me being a Sergeant and a Master Sergeant. It sounds like a small issue, but when the game is intended to base itself on rank (there are rank restricted games as well) then it becomes a major problem. EA MUST fix their servers, it is not even an option in my mind or this could be the greatest game that people return ever.
Some other things I think EA missed are the lack of custom and private games and shockingly, no system link or co-op play. It becomes a major hassle to practice as a clan, when you cannot always ensure that you are on the same side. Also, I was hoping for some BF2:MC LAN parties, but it becomes a little more challenging given the circumstances.
One area EA nailed it (aside from the actual game play) is their website and the stats that you can see there. In your profile you can breakdown just about anything you want as well as do a comparison between you and another person. (check mine out here , just no pointing and laughing, I realize I suck!) The stats are amazing. It also includes a Strategy Tool with a copy of every map, and the ability to draw, move icons and make notes on them and save them to share with the public, your clan or make private for your eyes only. I could go on and on about the web stats, because they are amazing and blow the Bungie stats out of the water, hands down. I hope that EA realizes they are sitting on a goldmine, if this issue with the stats and servers is resolved anytime soon. Once this comes out on the 360, it will be a monster when working like it should. My advice? Get the damn game, it is just awesome and I am holding out hope that EA is smart enough to realize that they can be the king of XBL with this title with a little cranium rectal removal.
-rabb
Here is the problem, EA. If you read the EA BF2:MC forums, you will see countless, often mindless and immature posts about what is going on. Some can blow off the issues as annoyances, including myself, but many are at their breaking points and even considering returning the game altogether. This is where I think EA needs to make a crucial decision. The choice to host their servers instead of going the route of Halo 2 is turning out to be a mistake. I will say in their defense that they are making steps all the time to fix their issues (going on our second auto update) but still have a little way to go in my opinion.
The first week there were major issues with lag and statistical losses. In the game, you advance in rank based on 3 categories. These categories are Score (based on kills, flag captures, etc.), PPH (Points Per Hour, averaged over the last 10 hours of game play) and Medals. Most people have no problem with the first two categories but the latter, Medals, seems to be the most crucial and challenging. The unfortunate part to this is that Medals and Points were being reset, in some cases several times over the last couple weeks, and not to every player. It happened to me once already, and it was a medal that I doubt I will get back very easily but is the difference between me being a Sergeant and a Master Sergeant. It sounds like a small issue, but when the game is intended to base itself on rank (there are rank restricted games as well) then it becomes a major problem. EA MUST fix their servers, it is not even an option in my mind or this could be the greatest game that people return ever.
Some other things I think EA missed are the lack of custom and private games and shockingly, no system link or co-op play. It becomes a major hassle to practice as a clan, when you cannot always ensure that you are on the same side. Also, I was hoping for some BF2:MC LAN parties, but it becomes a little more challenging given the circumstances.
One area EA nailed it (aside from the actual game play) is their website and the stats that you can see there. In your profile you can breakdown just about anything you want as well as do a comparison between you and another person. (check mine out here , just no pointing and laughing, I realize I suck!) The stats are amazing. It also includes a Strategy Tool with a copy of every map, and the ability to draw, move icons and make notes on them and save them to share with the public, your clan or make private for your eyes only. I could go on and on about the web stats, because they are amazing and blow the Bungie stats out of the water, hands down. I hope that EA realizes they are sitting on a goldmine, if this issue with the stats and servers is resolved anytime soon. Once this comes out on the 360, it will be a monster when working like it should. My advice? Get the damn game, it is just awesome and I am holding out hope that EA is smart enough to realize that they can be the king of XBL with this title with a little cranium rectal removal.
-rabb
