Battlefield 1942

Battlefield 1942 is the first game in the Battlefield series. It was released for the PC in 2002.

Setting
Battlefield 1942 is set during the Second World War. Like later games in the series, it allows players to play on maps based on famous battles from that conflict.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Battlefield 1942 generally has a more cooperative focus than previous games of this nature, as it is not only important to kill the opposition but to also hold certain "control points" around the map. Capturing control points allow the team to reinforce themselves by enabling players and vehicles to spawn in the certain area. Consequently, capturing and controlling control points also would reduce enemy reinforcements. Battlefield 1942 was one of the first mainstream games to represent a dramatic shift in FPS game play mentality not only favouring individualism, but simultaneously encouraging teamwork and coordination.

The default game play mode, Conquest, centres on the capture and control of control points; once a team captures a control point, its members can respawn from it. When a team loses control of all their control points, they cannot respawn. And if no one is alive, the team with no "spawn" points loses. Games are composed of rounds. A team wins the round when the other team runs out of tickets. A team loses tickets when its members are killed, but also when the other team holds a majority of the capture points on a map. Therefore, sometimes the winning team must hunt down straggling or hiding enemy forces at the end of a round.

Spawn tickets also play a vital role in the success of both teams. Every time a player on a team dies and respawns, his team loses one ticket. Every team starts each round with between 150 and 300 tickets, depending on the team's role (e.g., defense). Teams also gradually lose tickets depending on how many spawn points they control. As a general rule, the fewer spawn points controlled by a team, the more tickets they lose. For a team of 32 on a 64 player map, with 150 tickets, this means a little less than 5 re spawns or deaths on average for every player if they hold their starting spawn points.

Tactics

 * It may be, in some maps useful to flank the enemy by moving in forests and other areas surrounding the main battlefield. But beware of the enemy which may be doing the same. And NEVER leave the main areas unprotected.
 * Use all resources your team have. Use support such as planes, artillery and ships as much as you can.
 * Do not fight on your own. Always use tactics and teamwork.
 * Think as your enemy. But still, avoid using too advanced tactics.

Forces

 * Allied


 * United States of America
 * Britain/Commonwealth
 * Soviet Union
 * Canada


 * Axis
 * Germany
 * Empire of Japan

Forces in the Battlegrounds

 * Britain vs. Germany (North Africa)
 * Russia vs. Germany (Eastern Europe)
 * United States vs. Empire of Japan (South Pacific)
 * United States vs. Germany (Western Europe)
 * Canada vs. Germany (Western Europe)


 * Battle of Britain: As you might expect, this map is almost entirely based on planes, and shooting them down. However, a good sniper who parachutes from a plane can cause a tremendous amount of disruption to the other team thanks to the complete lack of armour on this map. It was included as a bonus in the version 1.45 patch.
 * Operation Battleaxe: Two headquarters, one for the Allies and one for the Axis, sit on a plateau's opposite each other with a large valley with 6 control points in, 3 British and 3 German.
 * Gazala: A desert map with sand, rocky hills and deep canyons. There are not many places to hide but there are deep valleys to get around in.
 * Wake Island: An island on a coral reef with a big lagoon that houses a US airbase. The Japanese must launch an amphibious attack from their waiting fleet.
 * Kursk: This is an overwhelmingly vehicle-based map. Small, difficult-to-defend bases are separated by wide open areas, and the only threat to the large number of vehicles is from the two planes that spawn at each team's incorporable base.
 * Tobruk: The city of Tobruk boasts a fortified harbour but now it has come under attack from the land. There are 2 lines of defence and the city itself that the enemy must push through to capture the city and win the game.
 * Midway: This map is a mixed bag. The main focus of combat is the planes that spawn on the aircraft carriers and on Midway Island itself. However the availability of landing craft, and the fact that a tank spawns at the radar station control point, can also lead to a significant amount of land-based combat.
 * Stalingrad: The battle for this Russian city centers around the bombed out port and rail facilities where both forces of Germany and the Soviet Union must battle through the bombed out buildings to reach their goal.
 * El Alamein: This is a large desert map with two bases each side of Kidney's Ridge and two more control points along the ridge with another in the middle of the desert.
 * Guadalcanal: This is based on a large Pacific island with bases at each end and strategically based bunkers as well as a village and outpost.
 * Kharkov: A typical Russian plain with forests, a river crossed by two bridges and with an island in the middle. Control points on these bridges create interesting choke points and a mountain point provides for a good opportunity to fire down on the enemy.
 * Omaha Beach This Normandy beach is heavily defended by cliffs with strategic bunkers which make this battle extremely hard for the Allies to win. A German garrison base can only be reached by the same road the Germans use to access the beach, leading to close street fighting.
 * Bocage: A typical Normandy countryside with hedgerows separating the fields. Perfect for ambushes and snipers. A French sawmill and main stone bridge are main points of this map.
 * Market Garden: This map includes forests, a city, and a river crossed by two bridges.
 * Bulge: This European map features a destroyed village held by the Allies and numerous patches of hilly forests.
 * Berlin: A popular map for online play, Berlin consists entirely of claustrophobic city streets with limited maneuverability for the few ground vehicles on offer. It is a hard map for beginners, because of the fog and the completely urban enviroment.
 * Iwo Jima: This is on a volcanic island and its soil is heavily cratered from the Allied bombing and naval shelling campaigns. Mount Suribachi, a Japanese stronghold, is heavily defended and dominates the island.
 * Operation Aberdeen: This is a desert map with two homebases on opposite ends, and 4 repair facility bases and a town base spreaded around the map. With enough tanks for all players (many Shermans and 2 M10s for the Allies, many Panzer IVs and 2 Tigers for the Axis), this map allows for the biggest tank battles in the game.
 * Coral Sea: A dogfight map set around an atoll with 2 aircraft carriers. The objective of this map is to sink the other team's aircraft carrier. On a full server dogfights can become very chaotic over the atoll.
 * Caen: During the Battle of Normandy in World War II, Caen saw intense and bitter combat between Allied and Axis forces. British and Canadian forces finally captured this city to achieve victory during Operation Charnwood on July the 9th, 1944.
 * Invasion of the Philippines: The Japanese Imperial forces are going to invade the Philippines while the Americans are defending the island with their army force of tanks and troops including aircraft with a few naval crafts and machine-gunned boats.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack for Battlefield 1942 was composed by Joel Eriksson. The only tracks ingame are the main theme (Slaughter IV), the loading theme (Vehicle IV), the losing theme (Menu), and the winning theme (Vehicle III). However if you go to Joel Eriksson's website, you can listen to 18 other tracks that either weren't put into the game or were only used in the trailers.