Battlefield 2: Modern Combat

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat was developed by DICE and published by EA for the PS2 and Xbox consoles. It was the first Battlefield game to go on consoles. However, On April 11, 2006 a re-done updated version was released for Xbox 360. The updated version had reworked graphics and online play.

Singleplayer
Battlefield: Modern Combat was the first Battlefield game with a singleplayer campaign. It pust players in a heated conflict in Kazakhstan, between the People's Liberation Army (China) & NATO/EU. The player completes mission as soldiers from both sides, and near the end, the player must choose which side to join for the last missions. The other side's final missions will be unlocked by completing the game.

Stars
During the singleplayer campaign the player gains stars by completing field tasks, missions, challenges & by gaining medals. By getting stars, the player gets upgrades for weapons & goes up in rank.

Rank
To get up in rank, the player has to gain medals. The player starts off as a Private. By getting 6 stars, the player will go up in rank to Private 1st Class. This continues on until the player has reached the highest rank. The ranks do not have an effect on the gameplay.

Weapon upgrades
The player can upgrade the weapons by gaining stars. For example, if the player has a total of 266 stars, the light machine gun of the Support class will get an armor piercing bullet upgrade. This helps the player a lot in the Campaign mode, especially in gaining medals.

Challenges
Challenges include weapon training, hotswap time trials & race challenges with the in-game vehicles. The player has to get a certain amount of score to get a star. The player can get a maximum of three stars by completing a challenge successfully. The challenges are basically good practice for the player to master the vehicles & the weapons.

Medals are awarded by getting an achievement with a weapon or vehicle. For example, a medal can be gained by shooting several enemies in a row without dying (any infantry/vehicle class) or by healing up allies (the Support class). These medals will be saved to the Medals menu. The medals are divided into several classes. The Support class, the Boat class, the Tank class, the 4x4 class and so on. The player can also check what needs to be done to get another medal for a certain class. The player will also get stars for gaining medals.

Field Tasks
The field tasks are search & destroy tasks. The player needs to find objects listed in the Field Tasks menu on the main menu. After the player has destroyed, for example, all of the water towers, the player will get a star. Most of the objects the player has to destroy are hidden or on the outskirts of the map, but it is recommended that Field Tasks should be completed after completing the game. The easiest Field Task objects to find are aerials, road signs, billboards, statues, sea mines and buoys.

Missions
The game has got missions like every other shooter game out there. The story might not be the best, but it sure does show what propaganda & lies can do in the media. The action is great though. At the start of a mission, the player will be given a briefing & some random images of the terrain. Now, after a successfully completed mission, the player's performance will be shown. The screen will show four meters, Score, Time, Style, Accuracy & Losses.

Score means how much points the player got in total from the mission. Aiming for headshots & Perfect kills, big explosions, chopper kills, vehicle kills and so on ensure that the Score meter will be full. Hotswapping is important, as the AI teammates can do some damage to the enemy, especially vehicle kills.

Time means how much time it took for the player to finish the mission. Finishing the mission the quicker, the better. Developing tactics to finish the mission quicker is recommended. Headshots, explosive barrels, vehicles, keeping the combo meter up..many ways to take out the enemies quickly.

Style means how much hotswapping the player did. Using every friendly unit is just useful. Being a lone wolf doesn't help at all.

The Losses meter means how much AI teammates died in the mission. Hotswapping a lot decreases the amount of AI deaths. Keeping the enemy away from friendly vehicles is important. Crossfire might happen a lot. Shooting only when the reticule is on the enemy is important.

Getting 10 stars from all missions isn't hard, learning the basics will help a lot.

Multiplayer
Multiplayer Online features 24 player matches of either Capture The Flag or Conquest gametypes. The multiplayer is known to be very different than the singleplayer. Things such as controls, weapons, sounds and movement speed have been changed from singleplayer to balance gameplay. The Conquest game mode is where players must capture the enemy's flags (command posts) and defend their own. Holding capture points makes the enemy team's ticket counter decrease. Killing an enemy also decreases the ticket counter by one. As soon as the enemy team's ticket counter or the game timer reaches zero, the other team with the most tickets wins. Sometimes, when the game is near a conclusion or the game hasn't proceeded almost at all & the timer reaches zero, the game will not end.

For a teamkill, the player loses a point, if the teamkilling persists the player loses more and more points until 24 points is lost, when 24 points is lost, the player gets kicked from the match.

There are ranks & medals in the Online mode too. The player starts off as a Private like in the Campaign mode, and goes up in rank by gaining medals, score & PPH*. ( * Points Per Hour, which indicates how many points the player approximately gets in an hour)

Medals
There are 15 unlockable medals in the Online mode. They are similar to the Single Play medals, although some of them are very hard to gain. The player can go up in rank by getting medals. Some of the medals such as the Expert Healer (Heal 4 friendlies without dying) are most likely possible in a microphone match with good teamwork, as most players do not have a microphone. Nowadays, only some players use teamwork. Some players even cheat (medal boost) for medals, by getting the medals with a friend in a small server. Some medals can be achieved by glitching, and the game has a lot of glitchers. But, some medals like the Expert Healer are almost impossible to get without a microphone nowadays, so some people cheat because the game isn't as golden with teamwork as it was back in 2006.

Some examples of medals:

Legion Of Merit (Kill 15 enemies with a secondary weapon position in a vehicle during one game round)

Legion Of Merit 1st Class (Kill 30 enemies with a secondary weapon position in a vehicle during one game round)

Expert Demolition (Destroy 4 enemy vehicles with C4 without dying) ===Ribbons

Ribbons
The online mode also has ribbons. They are there just to show how experienced a player is. For example, a player can get a ribbon by participating in 500 game rounds.

Kits
When joining a game, before the player can spawn, the player has to choose a weapon kit. ( AKA class)

There are five weapon kits:

1. Assault = The kit to choose if the player wants to attack the enemy with moderate firepower. Medium/close range battles. Crouching recommended while firing the rifle, as firing while standing makes the gun go a bit inaccurate. Great for taking out enemy positions moderately quickly. It does moderate damage to light assault vehicles. It also has the grenade launcher which is useful against light assault vehicles & damaged tanks. It also takes out an enemy with one well-aimed shot. It also has smoke grenades, useful for concealment. The Assault Kit consists of the assault rifle with six clips, the standard pistol with three clips, three hand grenades, three smoke grenades and the grenade launcher with three grenades.

2. Sniper = No need to explain this. The sniper rifle takes out the enemy with one shot. The kit also has a laser designator which can be used to target an enemy vehicle with a homing missile. The kit also has smoke grenades and the GPS device, which can be used to reveal enemy positions on the map. It creates a wave on the minimap & it lasts for about three seconds, until the enemy dots disappear again. The enemy positions also appear on friendlies' maps. The kit consists of the sniper rifle with four clips, a silenced pistol with three clips, the laser designator with one ammo, three smoke grenades & the GPS device with three ammo.

The game also has a lot of professionals who have mastered the sniper rifle COMPLETELY. They press the Zoom button & shoot the enemy and unzoom & switch the weapon to another & back to the rifle as quickly as they can. This is known as quick sniping. The XBOX (360 and the original) have a glitch which allows the sniper & the shotgun to be used much more quickly than usually. The glitch was fixed on the PS2 version. There is another tactic called no scoping. It's basically sniping without using the scope. It's useful to master if being compromised by a single enemy, or even more. To practise this, the player should try to remember where the aim reticule would be when shooting without the scope. The player can only hit the enemy from a distance by going prone. It is a 100% hit, while crouched, it is 50%, and while standing/jumping/swimming, it is about 25%. The player should also remember that staying put improves accuracy. The player can only hit a target while standing if the player is right in front of the target. The popular way to practise this is by taping a black dot on the TV screen right on the aiming reticule, and using this dot with the sniper kit. The only way to hit the target right where the target is is to GO PRONE.

3. SpecOp = The kit effective for sabotage. It has light equipment, so this is the kit the player may want to use if the player wants to move quickly. The silenced SMG is accurate & fast, but not powerful. It is useful in medium/long range fighting. The kit also has stun grenades, which create a powerful flash of light. If the player throws one near an enemy, the enemy's screen will go whiter. Throwing more grenades will make the enemy's screen go completely white. Usually two is fine if the player throws them right at the enemy, three if the enemy is not facing the grenade. The player has to be careful though. The grenade is just as effective against the player too, so getting behind a wall or looking away will only create a small flash of light. Sometimes, teammates or the enemies might camp by an ammo crate & just throw these around. This will make people angry, as this is an exploit. This is when running away works. Moving around until the flash disappears & killing the grenadier from a distance should work just fine. The kit also has the combat knife. This weapon is mainly used to humiliate the enemy by catching the enemy off guard. It is also used in knife fights, which is popular amongst clans & groups of friends.

The kit also has blocks of C4. The player can take out vehicles & clear out tight quarters with the C4. The player can plant up to 9 C4 blocks in a row, the first one will disappear if the player plants the tenth block. The player can also create traps with C4, for an example, the player can lay C4 on a flag or on an empty vehicle, and blow the C4 up when the flag gets neutralized or when an enemy boards the empty vehicle. The player can also lay C4 on a vehicle, get in it, drive to an enemy tank or a crowded position & get out & blow up the car. The kit consists of the silenced sub-machine gun with six clips, the silenced pistol with three clips, four blocks of C4, the combat knife and three stun grenades.

4. Engineer = The kit which is used to destroy vehicles & repair own vehicles. It has the shotgun, which is VERY effective in close quarters combat. Kills with one shot if the enemy is close. Deadly when combined with a well aimed rocket shot. The shotgun has a big spread of fire so remember to aim for the chest/back. The rocket usually takes out 30 MM tanks with two shots (one if a succesful hit on a weak spot) and 120 MM tanks with three. The engineer kit also has mines. Great for blocking enemy routes. Concealing the mines by using the environment as an advantage is recommended, as most players notice mines easily. The player can plant nine mines in a row, but not more. If the player plants the tenth mine, the first will explode. The mines are useful as traps, as they cause splash damage when they explode. The kit has the blowtorch which can be used to repair vehicles. This is used to get the Expert Repair medal online, by repairing 2/3 health of five friendly vehicles, which must be manned by the way, without dying. This is one of those medals which is cheated, but nowadays, it's impossible to get it in a fair game, although, one might be so lucky.

5. Support = The kit which has firepower. A light machine gun, a radio to call mortar strikes, and the auto injector to heal yourself or buddies. The machine gun is very inaccurate if the player is firing while standing or moving. Going prone is recommended. The machine gun is very effective against light assault vehicles. The Support kit has the radio to call out mortar strikes. You have to keep the aim reticule on the same spot when calling the strike. You can call out multiple strikes in a row by an ammo box as the ammo box replenishes your ammo. Great for keeping flags or known enemy positions under heavy fire. The player can also use it to launch a mortar above the player, for an example, there is an enemy above the player on a balcony. The player launches the mortar right under him, but the shells land on the balcony.

Sometimes, the player might be under heavy fire & taking damage. That is when the player takes out the auto injector. Pressing the fire button will make the player's health replenish. Using it again & again makes the health replenish faster. The replenishing effect will still stay even if the player has full health, so the player could just go in a firefight again, and when the player takes damage, the health will still go up, until the effect ends.

Tips & Tricks
Some tricks & tips to make you better at the game!

Offline:
Whenever you see an enemy LAV (Light Assault Vehicle), aim for the gunner or the driver. Killing the gunner will leave the driver helpless for a few seconds until the driver switches positions. Sometimes the driver will drive away.

If you are pinned down by an enemy chopper, aim for the pilot's seat. It is surprisingly easy to shoot down a gunner or a pilot from a chopper, but not with the sniper rifle. With the sniper rifle, you have to lead your aim a bit. Sometimes, the chopper falls on the ground and doesn't explode. You could fix it up with an engineer and go airborne, if you can.

If you have problems with enemy tanks, you can try sneaking up to the tank & lay a mine next to it, or some C4. Shooting a rocket on the back of the tank hurts the tank a lot. Remember this if you're in a chopper or a tank. Use it to your advantage, and try to protect your weak spot, when you are in a tank.

Remember to use the laser target designator and the GTAM launchers (Ground-To-Air-Missile) to your advantage, especially when the enemy is dropping troops from helicopters.

If enemy choppers are hard to defeat, their weak spots are the tail and the nose. Shooting the tail with a rocket or a tank will cause the chopper to spin a bit. Shooting the nose does this too. Sometimes, you might destroy the chopper with one shot, if you hit the right spot.

If you learn the patterns of the enemy vehicles in every mission, destroying them will be much easier, such as planting mines on the pattern.

In some missions, you have to assault positions. In those missions, you have a vehicle or a sniper. Using the sniper to take out machine gun posts is effective, so you won't get too many losses. Using the vehicle weapons is useful, especially if you park the vehicle on a suitable spot. Example; there are several enemies assaulting your position. Using an FAV (Fast Attack Vehicle) with a grenade launcher might take out those enemies quickly. Remember to use the 50 Cal if you have Rapid Fire Level 2 or 3. It can take out tanks quickly.

Keep the combo meter up with Perfect kills. Example; If you run out of rocket ammo and you are overrun by enemy tanks or choppers, you could mount an MG and take out the vehicles with Rapid Fire on.

Cook the grenades, as enemies will attempt to get away from the grenade.

The pistol is an amazing weapon to get headshot kills. Whenever you run out of ammo, switch to your pistol & aim for the head.

Remember to fix up friendly vehicles, you'll be needing them & sometimes AI teammates make insane kills.

Remember to call friendlies in your vehicle. If you're in a chopper, calling a friendly in is useful. The AI teammates are good gunners. You can also switch into the drive 'n gun - mode by pressing the call button. You can drive & shoot with the 50 Cal at the same time.

In some missions, you can see enemy mines. Shooting them will blow up other nearby mines.

Remember to use smoke grenades & stun grenades. Throwing smokes on friendly vehicles & at friendlies will make them less vulnerable. Throwing stuns at the enemy will make the enemy walk around and looking everywhere, leaving you for easy kills.

Sometimes, an enemy tank might have little health but so does your tank. This is when you should switch to the 50 Cal quickly or you should have a gunner.

In some missions, you have the artillery computer in your hands. Use it wisely, fire only when there is a huge group of enemies and no teammates around.

Some missions may have multiple ways to complete them, so test them all and see what's the best for you.

Online:
Use the GTAMs to your advantage. If a skilled pilot is killing your team, try to remain unseen & stay out of open areas. Always fire at the pilot's seat. Remember that the enemy choppers might drop enemies on buildings so keep your eyes open. Remember to guard GTAMs if you have a skilled pilot in your team.

Place land mines and C4 around vital flags. Remember to put some around flags which are quiet, because there will always be somebody trying to capture them. If you know glitching spots & you know that an enemy is trying to get in them, place mines around them or just guard them. This will net you some points.

You can fake laser target an enemy vehicle by locking on to the target until the meter goes full but releasing the button before the designator makes the confirmation sound. This will usually fool enemies, so they will either jump out or start making retreating maneuvres. If an enemy is inside a tank, and he jumps out by the fake laser trick, you can kill him & take the tank or leave it to a friendly. Remember to use the laser designator to your advantage in other situations, example; an enemy is hiding behind a damaged vehicle, you could target the vehicle and let the explosion do the rest. The enemy won't see it coming. If you're the one hiding, try to listen for the beep. You can hear it if you listen carefully. Then it's time to run. Another thing you should remember is that do not lock on to enemy vehicles if they are under something, an overpass, a building, anything. The missile will always fall straight down on the target in a small angle, so if the vehicle is under something, the missile won't do anything.

Remember, you can use ammo crates to your advantage. You can keep the enemy pinned by constantly throwing grenades at a specific spot, if you're next to an ammo crate. You can call multiple mortars on enemy positions using this. You can also use the GPS a lot using this, this will help your team.

Remember, the GPS will also show enemies on your teammates' radars. Whenever somebody asks for a GPS, answer 'GPS in 3, 2, 1' and you press the GPS. This will help the friendly to realize when you are going to use the GPS, so they can check the map.

If you see enemy mines around, destroy them. They only mean harm. Of course, if there's an enemy vehicle, such as a tank nearby, firing at you, and you see an enemy mine near it, you could try to throw a grenade at the mine, and the tank will blow up. You won't get a point, but at least you're alive. Works with friendly mines too. You could also try jumping on an enemy tank so the cannon can't hit you. Usually, the driver will switch to the 50 Cal, so finish him off & take the tank!

You can also drive to a repair station in an enemy base, and stay put & take out enemies. You can get killed by multiple rockets because the repair station repairs your vehicle pretty slowly, and you can get lasered. If the enemy is in a tank doing this, you could hit multiple rockets at the tank with your teammates, or you could laser the tank.

Always try to dodge enemy tanks, circling around them and throwing grenades will leave the driver confused. Sometimes, the driver might get out, sometimes the driver will switch to 50 Cal, whatever happens, confuse the driver, make the driver hassle.

Always take somebody with you whenever you're in a chopper. Leaving the half of the team on the ground at the start of the match will make people angry. You could drop snipers on buildings and other players on flags.

Use the environment as cover. If you're under heavy fire, you could take cover behind a barrel, table, whatever you find. You can also push barrels forward if you crawl forward. You can also destroy explosive barrels. If an enemy is next to one, you can hurt the enemy hard by doing that. You can also destroy them to block enemy vehicle routes, as the physics of this game aren't the best. Remember to stay clear from the barrels if you're in a vehicle, as you'll get stuck.

Use mounted grenade launchers and machine guns to soften up approaching enemy tanks if you aren't an engineer.

You can pick up kits from the ground. If you aren't a Support and you need health, you could pick up a Support kit from the ground, if you see one lying around. Use the kits lying around to your advantage.

Whenever you get killed, the camera will always point at the enemy. This easily reveals enemy sniper positions.

Use smoke grenades as concealment, especially on big, open areas. This will leave enemies, especially snipers, confused. You can also use them as a bait, the enemy thinks you are going through the smoke but you are actually somewhere else. This is useful if you're a sniper and other snipers are after you. They think you're running through the smoke, you're still on your original spot & aiming right at them. This works against enemy choppers, throw a smoke somewhere, and the chopper might think you're in the smoke, while you're running for it.

When parachuting, do not parachute all the way down as you're vulnerable to snipers and other enemies. Remember to tap the parachute button or fall down a bit and open the 'chute again, and repeating this until you land safely.

If you are getting kills with a tank or a chopper, keep moving and repairing your vehicle. Always repair your vehicle in a hidden spot. It is reccomended that you use the engineer. Land your chopper on the outskirts of the map, repair, and go back in.

You can dodge laser targets by flying low. You can dodge GTAMs too, but it's harder. You need to spin around and use the terrain to your advantage, so the GTAM will hit a building, a rock, so on.

Whenever you're being laser targeted while in a tank/car, get under something with your vehicle. Like I already mentioned, the missile will not hit you. If you're on a big open area, best thing is to scout where the sniper is, get out, and throw smokes and take cover behind something. Sometimes they might fake target you, so keep your eyes & ears open.

Always try to help your teammates, only if they communicate with you.

Whenever you're sniping, try to find a concealed spot, in a bush, behind a set of pipes..always try to find a spot which fits with your clothing. The EU snipers have white-black clothing, so this means you should get on a mountain with spots with no snow, if you're an EU sniper. The Chinese have grey-blue camo, and the MEC has beige-brown clothing. The US has black-olive green clothing. Remember that the enemy can see the enemy reticule above you if they're close to you!

Always move around with your chopper, as some skilled snipers can still kill you. Move around, spin the chopper, jiggle, whatever. Do not let the enemy get an easy shot at your chopper.

Try to learn the maps & different tactics to capture flags by following what your teammates do. Don't always be in the middle of the action, try to be sneaky. Flank the enemy, go behind enemy lines.

Whenever you're waiting to respawn, check every flag in your team if there are any enemies. Choose the flag you want to respawn on, and the camera will show the area around the flag. If everything's peace & quiet, return back to the original flag you wanted to spawn on. This is helpful so you can see what is going on at the flags. You should sometimes check the environment cameras and spectate your teammates too.

Whenever you're assaulting a building, use grenades. Remember to cook them, so the enemy has less time to react.

Remember that C4 can damage enemies above you through some surfaces. Example; You're under a balcony, and the enemies are on the balcony, you can plant C4 under the balcony, and the C4 will kill them for some reason.

You can shoot through some surfaces with guns, like glass or sheet metal. Use this as an advantage.

Trivia

 * Did you know that this game was supposed to be multiplayer only, but DICE decided to make a single play campaign?
 * The game is one of the most popular online games on the PS2 and original XBOX.

Links and Sources

 * BF2:MC
 * Planet Battlefield

Videos

 * Trailer