Publisher Aspyr Media Genre Action Release Date 6/28/2004 Status Available

Battlefield 1942: Deluxe Edition March 25, 2004 | Tuncer Deniz

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One of the most requested and sought after games is finally making its way to the Mac. But should Mac gamers be jumping for joy for a game that is nearly two years old? In short, absolutely. Not only was Battlefield 1942 a groundbreaking game when it was released in September of 2002 for the PC, it is still being played by thousands of people online thanks to its unmatched gameplay, massive gaming community, and some excellent mods.

So what's so special about this game? Well, Battlefield 1942 took the first-person genre and didn't just rehash it, but redefined it. Here's a game where you can play against dozens of other players in an expansive battlefields while jumping in and out of planes, tanks, and even aircraft carriers. In the game you'll find vintage WW II vehicles such as the Corsair, Mustang, Stukka, Zeroe, Spitfire, B-17, Sherman, Tiger, jeep, destroyer, submarine, and on and on.

Just imagine you jump into a plane, take out a tank on the battlefield with the drop of a bomb, then parachute out and land on an unoccupied tank, take control of it, blast some tanks, then get out and kill a soldier with your sniper rifle. Oh, and then call in artillery to bomb an enemy base. This is what BF 1942 is all about and why it is so much fun.

Those of you looking for a great single-player game can look somewhere else. Although BF 1942 does have a single-player mode, its strength is online play. Pure and simple.

For example, in the Pacific you'll find classic battles such as Midway, Wake Island, and Guadalcanal, while in Northern Africa you'll engage in locations such as El Alamein and Tabrook. In the European campaign, you'll find yourself in the Battle of the Bulge, Operation Market Garden, and, of course, Omaha Beach.

Omaha Beach is easily one of the more impressive levels in the game. On the Allied side, you must make your way up several control points to win the map. You'll first find yourself in the beach area, then make your way up to the machine gun nests and town above the beach, then up to the big guns beyond the cliff walls.

I remember playing this level on my PC when the game first came out and was ravaged in a battle that took over an hour to conquer. After which I quit the game, launched my email program, and fired off an email to Michael Rogers at Aspyr Media that read, "You guys have to get this game, it has unbelievable battles! It's (censored) amazing!"

Here's what a typical battle is like in Omaha Beach: You spawn on the beach and start running toward the objective. Suddenly, grenades start exploding near you and you jump to the ground. Off to the left is a tank. You make a run for it but a sniper takes you out. You respawn a few seconds later and head once again to the tank. When you get to the tank, you hit "E" to jump into the tank. Now controlling the tank, you press forward and get moving. Off to your right you spot an enemy tank coming down the hill. You aim your tank's powerful gun directly at the tank and fire. Doh! You missed, you forgot to account for gravity. You point up a little bit and that's when you notice that the enemy tank is firing on you. You fire back! Direct hit. Oh oh, he's hit you again. You're tank is just about to explode. You quickly hit "E" and jump out of the tank, just as it explodes. Phew! Then bang, another sniper takes you out.

You respawn again, this time you change yourself into an engineer. You spot the enemy tank and run towards it and place a mine just before it. The tank drives over your mine and BOOM, he's dead. Then you get shot again by another sniper. Damn those snipers!

So you switch to a sniper after you respawn and look through your scope for a target…

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