My wife would hate life in 2142 - heck, she gets the heat going and puts the electric blanket on the bed well before the first frost hits! Perhaps it's a good thing that we won't be around to see the frozen wasteland presented in the game. For this futuristic entry in the venerable Battlefield series, the setting is the frozen wastelands and fast-shrinking temperate regions that apparently await us in the next century. But this isn't all that awaits us - there are new weapons, vehicles and game modes. Also waiting for us are controversial streaming ads and many of the problems that plagued the previous entry, Battlefield 2.

The two big things that will excite fans of multiplayer shooters are the great new vehicles and the Titan game mode and the cool new maps. No wait, hold on! The three things that will excite fans of multiplayer shooters are the great new vehicles and the Titan game mode and the cool new maps and the reward and unlock system. Nope, that's not right either! Amongst the many things that will excite fans of multiplayer shooters are the great new vehicles and the Titan game mode and the cool new maps and the reward and unlock system and the focus on teamwork!

The developers have set Battlefield 2142 far enough into the future that vehicles like the battle walker are possible, yet close enough that many of the weapons are based on current types of armament, so the feel of the combat is modern yet not too futuristic that it becomes sci-fi. This provides a nice harsh and gritty environment in keeping with the desperate circumstances of a world struggling for survival. At the same time, the choice of setting feels a bit like a cop-out; with very few exceptions, Battlefield 2142 feels like any other modern shooter, as there are no laser weapons, particle beams, personal shields or any other way to tell that you are really in the future as you blast your way from cover to cover. It is interesting that the recently released F.E.A.R. Extraction Point feels more futuristic because of the advanced weaponry, despite BF2142 purporting to be set further into the future.

The single area that feels really futuristic is the vehicles - aside from the Battle Walkers there are updated versions of tanks and personnel carriers. Of course there are aircraft that can be used for launching strikes, but they are not the overwhelming force they were in Battlefield 2. Unsurprisingly, the major vehicle is the Battle Walker - these are essentially tanks, but their mobility and power make them the major force in the game and thereby shift the battle squarely to the ground.

2142 still looks good, despite using the same engine as Battlefield 2. That engine handles multiplayer loads of 32 players at once very well, with tons of frenetic action all over the place - air, ground and infantry assaults aided by missile launchers and Titans. While there is support for up to 64 players, performance at that level is very much hit-or-miss. The rest of the experience - the sounds, voices and other weapon effects - are all basically the same as Battlefield 2 and perpetuate the feeling that most of the game isn't very futuristic at all. Ultimately it looks and sounds like a tweaked and modernized version of Battlefield 2 - and for good reason, because that is essentially what the developers did. That doesn't mean this is a lazy mod being pushed out at full price though - far from it - it just means that the emphasis is on the gameplay mechanics rather than making a revolutionary leap in graphics.

Newcomers are at a disadvantage in many ways, but the game is not too hard to get into if you've played shooters in the past. You select the Single Player or Online mode, then choose a server (or just a map if single player) and click Join Server. The server browser tells you the game type (Titan or Conquest), the number of players and the lag time accessing the server. Once you join the server you then select a spawn point (where you'll reappear when you die) and begin the battle. It's important to figure out what you are supposed to do and get right to doing it, as your rewards are based on how much you contribute to victory.

The developers have 'streamlined' the classes significantly and while this works better, established players still have a significant advantage over newcomers. Unlockables are now nicely integrated into the player's choice of how to approach the battle, so classes are less specialized - medic and infantry are part of a single Assault class and Special Forces and Sniper have been combined as well. The unlockable technology for the two classes is now available to the combined class - for example, the medic's revive capability is now integrated into the advancement path of the assault troops. The good part of this decision is that it allows player flexibility to choose upgrades as play progresses to suit the unfolding battle as well as their playing style, but the downside is that new players can't revive anyone or even toss a grenade until those skills are unlocked. This hurts the balancing of the game as well - jumping into a game with all unranked players feels extremely well balanced, with everyone scraping by on meagre skills and ammo, but entering a battlefield populated by a mix of newer and more experienced players sees the newer players ill-equipped to deal with the super-powered perks the veterans have acquired. For example, a new engineer will be struggling to get the ability to throw a grenade and get taken down quickly by a seasoned engineer with the ability to set up turrets. The biggest news in the class structure is the ability to name a Commander. This player gets special battlefield perks, like the ability to call for supplies, get satellite scans of the battlefield, or launch orbital strikes. Having been on both sides of an effective Commander, I can confirm that they can be a devastating force.

Players of previous Battlefield games will feel right at home - the interface is clean and informative. Your HUD tells you who is in your field of view while the mini-map provides a quick look at everything happening in the area. You can see the ranks of people around you as well, a feature that has been greatly enhanced - players always amassed points but they matter more now. Much like in a MMO, leading an attack gets you the best spoils and the most points that you then use to unlock weapons and items and other items. It is a really nice system that is highly addicting.

2142 has what it calls single player mode, but as in most games of this type it is really an offline mode where you can choose maps, allow the game to autofill a map list, or just jump right into the action. The 'story' is just the thing you see during the overly long load times, which can be summed up as "a new Ice Age is coming and everyone is struggling for warm and fertile territory. The armies of the world have grouped into two factions and you take a side and start the battle." The overall path is predetermined regardless of how the battles resolve, making the story feel more like artifice than necessity.

The huge addition of Titan mode is enough to keep gamers busy for quite a while - the basis of this mode is that each team has a huge ship called a Titan and you need to knock down the shields on the other team's Titan, then destroy it by detonating the core. This sounds simple but it isn't - you really need to use teamwork to execute all of these things without getting wiped out, and since you can have up to 64 players on a map, coordinating assault teams is no small effort. Fortunately the integration of voice and chat is better than ever, which eases the communications process a bit. Conquest mode remains in place, taking you on a trek from north to south as you attempt to claim land in advance of the new Ice Age.

Ultimately the game feels like 'Battlefield 2 Plus' - and that isn't a bad thing at all, as the changes feel evolutionary across the board, rather than revolutionary. From the weapons to the vehicles to the classes to the maps themselves, everything looks familiar but improved. It is easy to find fault though, because there are still many flaws, although none of them are the serious problems that have dogged Battlefield 2 since its launch. The easiest target is the presence of in-game advertising - players rightfully feel that they have already paid a premium price for a game based on an existing engine that was used in a previous game that they already paid a premium price to get - and that game had significant issues that these same players had to suffer through. However, based on my play experience, I didn't specifically notice any ads that bothered me and when I went looking I was either hurting my team by my absence or getting killed.

The load times and server lag are still issues, as is occasional crashing. During heavy server loads the three seem to conspire to make for long stretches of unproductive time wasting as you wait for the game to start, load and connect. Given that the game uses the same engine as the previous entry it seems that further optimization could have been done in the past eighteen months and while the unlockable skills are a great way of customizing the classes for experienced players, it makes it difficult for newer players to make progress, since they are at an immediate disadvantage.

Despite a few issues, the gameplay experience in Battlefield 2142 is overwhelmingly positive - this is a rock solid shooter that requires your twitch skills as well as strategic planning and extensive use of group tactics. The sense of immersion is enthralling, especially in a huge 64-player battle in which you take down the other team's Titan! This is about as far as you can go from plain vanilla Deathmatch and still be a first person shooter, so if you're serious about playing shooter games online then you really need to give this a try - between the improvements in the gameplay modes and skill unlock system, there is plenty of new stuff to keep you entertained for the long winter, both in the game and in reality!

Reviewed by Michael Anderson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).