DICE lead producer Patrick Liu disagrees. Though the numbers are lower, he contends the core action in '43 is just as dynamic and unpredictable as the other games in the series. The game's designers have been playtesting and tweaking the game side-by-side with 1942, after all, so any serious differences should quickly become apparent.
"It's not specific numbers that make a game deep or make a game fun," Liu told me. "As long as you design it coherently, it's going to be fun. There are three classes, but they're three very distinct classes. We had six or seven classes [in the original game], but only half of them were used. Same thing with [the 24-player limit], a lot of people are whining about that... the level design is made for 24 players."
Liu stressed the team at DICE has focused on the 1942 feel first and then layered in more recent Battlefield mechanics--destructible levels, unlockable doohickeys--second. The performance-based medals, which will take the form of postcards and stamps, are purely for bragging rights; unlike other Battlefield games, you'll have access to everything from the start, rather than having to rank up to get the best weapons.
The game plays well enough on the Xbox 360 controller, so I'm looking forward to seeing if it preserves that crazy action I remember from 1942 when it hits Live Arcade and PlayStation Network next month. A PC version is due in September, though EA hasn't chosen to show that game off just yet.
Gallery
36 Comments