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Written by thannatos

   If you haven't heard of Battlefield 1942 (where have you been?), stop right now and go read our review of the original BF1942, and then come back and read this review. That'll keep me from having to rehash any introduction/explanation of the basics of this game. I want to get right to the fun stuff.

   Ok, here's the deal: during WWII, both the axis and the allied governments designed and tested a number of top secret weapons with the hope of turning the tide of the war. In Real Life 1942, these weapons ranged from useful to comical; many designs were simply not possible with early 1940's technology. However, in the world of Battlefield 1942, these weapons come to life.

   Here's the rundown of the new vehicles (at least the ones that I can remember):

Allies

   1.   A really big cargo plane. Key thing to remember here: it's a mobile spawn point.

   2.   A rocket plane. This is fun. This thing shoot rockets AND drops multiple bombs per drop. Even a novice player can wipe out an army with this plane.

   3.   A zippy little "flying wing". Imagine that you're flying a rocket with little wings and a machine gun mounted in front. Experienced pilots are gonna have a field day with these.

   4.   A regular old Sherman Tank......with a rocket launcher on top. This makes this tank ridiculously powerful as it is able to take on even the heaviest Axis tanks.

   5.   A really big heavy tank. Not very useful.

   6.   A two-person motorbike with a machine gun at the second position. It's about as fun (and useful) as it sounds.

   7.   Some kind of amphibious vehicle (wasn't really useful for one map they let us play on at E3).

Axis

   1.   The Sturmtiger - a superheavy tank equipped with a naval gun. Once you get used to the physics of the naval gun, you'll be tearing everyone up.

   2.   A mobile AA gun tank thing (basically a tank with a turret of heavy machine guns on top that fire really quickly). It's effective against infantry if they're far enough away.

   3.   A V-2 rocket plane. Very similar to the little Allied flying wings, but these are launched off a rail.

   4.   The Guided Missile. You become the missile and try to fly yourself into anything allied. Fun stuff.

   5.   The Rocket Pack. This isn't a true vehicle; you don't get in it. The Rocket Pack changes your character type. Then you get a shotgun, and you can fly......right into enemy troops, so they can pick you off. These things are, however, very useful for flying behind the enemy and taking them out.

Ok, so that's not quite the advertised number of 16 vehicles. Either I couldn't remember them all, or we didn't get to see them all.

   As for the maps, we were only allowed to play on one map at E3. They didn't even show us the other maps. The one map they did let us play on featured an Allied spawn point on one side, and an Axis town and military base on the other. A river (without a bridge) separates the Allies and the Axis forces. For those of us that like fighting in towns with lots of vehicles, this map is going to rock. As for the other maps, there will be one large dark map that sounds very interesting.

   There will also be some exciting additions to gameplay. The original Battlefield 1942 and the first expansion, Road to Rome, only featured the classic invasion/head-on battle mode and CTF mode. This is going to change. The new expansion will feature modes of play where the sole goal of the attackers will be to take or destroy a specific target. Simply killing the defenders won't bring victory as the defenders will have infinite tickets. I'm REALLY looking forward to trying this out.

   The new expansion will also offer new types of troops and many new weapons. The British Commando and German Elite troops sound promising. The new weapons include: one-shot-kill knives, the Bren light machine gun, the Auto 5 shotgun, and the Mauser K98 grenade rifle.

   Now I think it's time for my two cents (as if I haven't given it already). I spent three hours (two of them in one sitting) playing BF1942: SWOWWII at E3. I won 6 games in a row, but more importantly, I loved it. I didn't even realize two hours had passed until smalakar showed up behind me. It was a LOT of fun, and this is why: this expansion is geared differently than the original game and Road to Rome. There is a higher vehicle to player ratio, so there is almost always some kind of vehicle (maybe not your favorite, but who cares?) next to you when you spawn (hmmm, this sounds *cough* Desert Combat *cough* familiar). The developers really did a great job with new vehicles; my personal favorites include the new Sherman tank with the rocket launcher and Sturmtiger, both of which can really turn the tide of a battle.

   To sum this expansion up:

(Great additions to the gameplay of the original game) + (Increased vehicle to player ratio) + (More dynamic vehicles) + (More great maps) = OMG THIS IS ALL I'M GONNA PLAY

Overall: 5/5 Stars

Go back to the Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons Of WWII page.

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