Review by: Jason McMaster

World War II games are kind of played out at this point. Seriously. We’ve all played roughly 1 million WW2 games. My mom, who doesn’t play video games, has probably played at least Call of Duty 2. So, why am I giving a glowing endorsement to yet another WW2 game? Because it’s awesome--that’s why.

Most fans of online multiplayer are familiar with the Battlefield series. Started years back by a then-unknown developer, DICE, Battlefield 1942 was an instant hit. The game world, which pitted players against each other in famous locales from WW2, allowed for 64 player matches that led to all manner of destruction and chaos. Chaos. That’s the best way to describe the overall Battlefield experience. Battlefield 1943 doesn’t change the formula.

In BF1943, DICE has decided to stick with the Pacific side of the war with several Island maps, all compact and ready for a bout of insanity. There are three classes: infantry, rifleman and scout – each of which has a particular strength and weakness, and you can change classes after a death. Each map starts off in just about the same way – you spawn on an aircraft carrier, get in boats or planes, and head to the mainland to capture flags. Once a flag is captured, you can spawn at that point. The more points you control, the faster the enemy’s score drops, and the first team to hit 0 loses. It’s a pretty straightforward multiplayer game. What sets it apart is the cost for entry and the overall quality of experience.

One of the coolest things about the game is that the graphics are more than par for the course for this type of product and, for that extra level of infantry paranoia, the buildings are destructible. However, what makes this game interesting is the speed of play and the sheer, as mentioned before, chaos of it all. I saw a plane crash into a tank, then the tank slammed into some enemy soldiers who were about to kill me - mowing them down. That’s worth 15 bucks right freaking THERE!

In 1943, not just the buildings deform. In fact, trees fall over and all sorts of cover gets destroyed. Running through a wooded area, trying to avoid tanks while taking heavy fire from an enemy position is made all that more tense by all the trees collapsing and exploding around you; it can be a real hoot. When you choose the sniper class, your character is covered in twigs and other bits of foliage to help camouflage you from any troops that may happen by. This is actually effective, oddly enough.