9.1

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat

The award-winning Battlefield franchise finally explodes onto the PlayStation®2 and Xbox™, dropping players into the heat of battle with Battlefield 2: Modern Combat™. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat features a propaganda fuelled single player campaign where gamers see both sides of a conflict in one of the most treacherous regions in the world – Kazakhstan. Gamers will plunge headlong into the fog of war and must ultimately choose sides in a furious showdown where nothing is as it seems.

Main Features

• An all-new story-driven single player mode drops players deep into an action-packed war framed by government-sponsored propaganda forcing gamers to choose sides and decide the outcome.

• More than 10 maps for online multiplayer action for up to 24 players**. Clan support VoIP and a deep stat tracking system help round out one of the deepest online console shooters to date.

• Character Persistence and Growth. With in-game success, players increase their rank through promotions. Go from a private to a general as you lead your unit to victory.

• Own the battlefield with more than 50 state-of-the-art weapons.

The battlefield universe is clearly one of the most popular online first person shooter experiences on the PC and now it's time for XBox users worldwide to be initiated into the franchise with Battlefield 2: Modern Combat. Unlike the PC version, the XBox version has a dedicated single player storyline that has the gamer serving both the NATO and the Chinese troops.

Although the gameplay of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is similar to all good first person shooter, the title also allows the gamer to 'hot swap' between any of your squad members which makes for some interesting gaming. That is, you can swap between your squad members in the gaming environment. The gamer also has access to a variety of character classes that include assault, sniper, special operations, engineer and support officer. Each character has their own pros and cons but each character actually manoeuvres differently. The single-player missions include neutralizing war zones, driving engineers around so they can dismantle the enemy’s technological efforts to wreak havoc and using whatever means possible to suppress the enemy.

Apart from a extraordinary single-player campaign, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat also offers some great online content that include conquest and capture the flag with up to 24-players simultaneously online which is quite a large playing field for consoles. As with the PC version, the beauty of the XBox version is that the online maps are gigantic and can virtually takes hours to explore every gaming nook and cranny.

Graphically, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is fairly impressive on the XBox but when compared to the insane resolutions of the PC, it unfortunately comes a close second. However, all the characters in the game have been professionally designed and contain some realistic textures and character models that truly help draw you into the Battlefield universe.

The game also contains some great special effects such as particle explosions and realistic lighting, however every now and then, the game does start to chug but that's because this engine was designed to be run a modern PC which is far more powerful than the XBox or PlayStation 2 console. The title also contains some realistic gaming environments that truly immerses the player into modern warfare.

The musical score of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is perfect and sounds like it has been taken from a Hollywood war epic and match that with some realistic explosions and voice acting and you have one impressive sounding title. Apart from having the option to play your own music, the gamer can also use their headsets for live communication through XBox live that really takes first person shooter military gaming to the next stage of realism.

In conclusion, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is a decent game on the XBox that features a phenomenal single-player mode, addictive online play and brilliant sounds and sturdy graphics. The only downside to the title is the frame rate that sometimes suffers because of the high detail in the game but it's a small price to pay for what was a great game on the PC to be a great game on the XBox. Check it out!