EA released the Battlefield 2 demo this past weekend (as you may already know). Unfortunately I was away in sunny southern Rhode Island all weekend (at a freakin rocking wedding - congrats Fico!! Woot!) and I got back late Sunday evening. Hot, sunburnt, and tired, I promised myself I’d play only a few rounds of BF2 before I went to bed. Well, a few games turned into a few hours (four to be exact) and I’m happy to say that Battlefield 2 delivers everywhere I hoped it would.

There are a ton of demo reviews every which way on the web. Since the game is somewhat complicated I thought I’d skip the personal review and instead share some nuggets I’ve learned over my 4 hour romp. Hopefully it’ll work you through the ‘green’ phase faster than it took me.

Tickets Go On Your Big Toe
If you’re new to Battlefield line of games then you might also be unfamiliar to the whole ticket paradigm. Each team starts the match with around 300 tickets (the actual number is configured per server). Every time one of your teammates dies and respawns it consumes one ticket .

Your team also bleeds Tickets over time if your opponent controls 50% or more of the control points. Both teams bleed tickets if the map is split 50/50%.

A medic can revive fallen soldiers - thus eliminating the ticket penalty - but only if they get to the ‘body’ within 10 seconds. A talented Medic can save a considerable amount of your side’s tickets through the course of the match, and also keep your squad action-ready throughout the tough firefights.

The Interface and You
Some of these things aren’t so obvious:

If you want to change ‘kits’ (sniper, medic, assault, anti-tank, etc), then hit the capslock key. This will bring up a menu where you can select your kit and your spawn point. Note that you can only spawn in a friendly base or at your squad leader, and that all of the currently available spawn points are marked as large white dots on the map to the right. Once you have your kit and you’ve assigned yourself a spawn point, hit ‘done’ in the lower right hand corner. You’ll be dropped right into the game.

Also within the capslock menu are buttons to switch teams and join squads. I highly _highly_ recommend joining a squad. Without a squad you risk missing all that makes Battlefield 2 great. More on squads later.

While in battle presss the Q key to bring up the comms menu. A radial dial appears with options to send prefabricated voice comments to you team. Call out targets, request a medic, confirm orders.. it’s all there and quick to use.

B toggles your headset voice chat. Press the L key once to set your voice cms ot loop only to your squadmates - which is ideal as this cuts down the radio chatter.

Helicopters aren’t Toys
Battlefield 2 isn’t as arcadey as Battlefield 1942, and this is most apparent in the control of the game’s helicopters. My advice to you is - don’t bother trying to fly these beasts until you’ve mastered the foot soldier aspect of the game. Even then - I would highly recommend the purcahse of a joystick for flying the choppers.

Unfortunately it seems that the single player game doesn’t include helicopters, so there’s no where to train yourself except in the heat of battle. Boo.

Tanks don’t lead the way, Rangers do
Tanks are powerful units but they have limited visibility. The tank’s arch-nemesis is obviously the anti-tank foot soldier (which is popular due to their rocket launchers) - but tanks are also susceptible to Helicopters, Jets, hand grenades, rifle-mounted grenade launchers and special-ops’ C4. Even worse - a tank captures everyone’s attention when it rolls into a fray. There’s a lot going against them.

In true urban combat a tank depends on friendly surrounding foot soldiers for protection, and the same holds true in Battlefield 2. Driving a tank down the gullet of an enemy’s frontline is the sure-fire way to lose the advantage and get yourself blown-up. My advice: Stick to the battle’s periphery and lob in the shells from afar; give your grunts the close armor support and morale bonus they need.

Find a Good Server
A server with imbalanced teams is a junior-high ego-fest. Nobody volunteer to change over to the undermanned squad so don’t try to be the Martyr. Nobody will remember you.

Find a Good Squad
Squads are the best change to Online-FPS in years. Find a squad that talks - even if they suck ass. If nobody is talking then move onto the next squad. If nobody is talking on your server then find a different server.

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention - squads in Battlefield 2 provide a mechanism to stick with the same group of people throughout all of the match’s firefights. Even after you die you spawn at your squad leader’s position..!

After a few engagements your squad will begin to click and soon you’ll learn to anticipate each other. When you find a squad who works well together it provides the same feeling and appreciation of teamwork without all of the overhead and timesink of a clan. This alone elevates Battlefield 2 above all other FPS shooters.

Fill a Role
Your squad should be a mixed unit. If there’s no medic, become one. If you’re in a firefight and encounter some armored vehicles that kill you - spawn an anti armor unit if your squad is missing one. Make your squad work like a machine and the enemy will fall at your feet.

Don’t play Fetch
It’s a mistake to vacate a control point you’ve just captured. Obviously you’ve just killed a bunch of people and thost bastards will already be on the move to deal you some payback - so pack up and leave! This holds especially true in those central control points. Instead stick around a few minutes to secure your position before moving-on.

Remember - Defense can be even more exciting than offense, and when you’re surrounded and taking substantial fire from all sides - that’s when the game gets good.

Communicate, bitches!
If you have a headset - talk talk talk. I cannot stress this enough. It increases the effectiveness of your squad, provides you and your team greater situational awareness, and accelerates your through the game’s learning process. 15 minutes in a good squad provides more potential for learning knew things than an hour lonewolfing it.

You’ll have a far greater sense of accomplishment when you take a base with your squaddies, and death won’t have the same negativity becase you’ll always be in the middle of the action.

Call out Targets
Just becuase you’ve spotted enemy troops that doesn’t mean the pal next to you has. Point at any newly aquired targets and hit the q key. This alarms everyone on your squad with a bright red flashing troop icon in their minimap. Your chance of dropping the target just increased by a factor of 5.

Also - when you see a tank coming over a hill - call it out! This is especially useful if you d someone in your squad has an anti-tank launcher. Your signal also alerts any nearby friendly helicopters who will can now direct their fire on your target.

All this with two simple finger gestures. Do it!

Shoot and Scoot
Chances are that someone else witness any firefight you’re in, and their on their way to engage you. To maintain the tactical balance, repositon yourself in the same area. If you don’t resposition then you risk become predictable, or worse, becoming flanked.

If you end an enagement in the middle of the field - pick yourself and find some cover. There are a lot of snipers out there.

Duck and Cover
70% of wartime casualities comes from Artillery (or so the Military channel told me). Highstep it out the area as the first shell hits your position. Preferably find a hut and get inside. If you’re in a base and getting shelled then run outside the permiter of the walls. Yes, you’ll be in the line of fire, but trust me when I saw you’re safer out there the inside.

Steel rain comes down in a random pattern for about 10 seconds, so don’t think your’re safe until the air goes silent.

Good luck, and look for me on XFire as “dellabitta”. In game tag is “MrGoiter”.