these are all the design flaws which i can think of involving bf2. fanboys, flame freely.
conflicting design philosophy - bf2's vehicles are retardedly simple, which isn't a flaw in and of itself. this was designed to have that fact paced arcade feel, so that people could hop in and go. however, the infantry side of things points toward an attempt at 'realism.' iron sights, recoil rates, firing position, movement penalties, no jumping and shooting, and so on. a more coherent design strategy, where the WHOLE game is either realism or arcade based, would result in a better game.
symmetrical balance - this is one of the biggest weaknesses of the game. each army is a carbon copy of the other, with only a handful of significant differences. even so, those differences are so small that no adjustment in tactics is necessary. why aren't there maps that showcase the awesome manpower of the PLA? maybe the chinese receive a huge ticket advantage, with little vehicle support? how about real gameplay differences between the tanks? how about DIFFERENT CLASSES for each army? symmetrical balance is the game developer's cheap way out. warcraft 2 was symmetrically balanced, warcraft 3 wasn't, and it was better. it's 2006 FFS, we are past symmetrical balance. imagine a MMORPG where the races/classes are only cosmetically different, or an RTS with cloned armies - you can bet that they won't sell. we expect better these days, but why don't we hold BF2 to the same standard?
weak implementation of commander mode - this is somewhat map dependent. basically, the bigger the map and the more vehicles available, the less the commander matters. furthermore, the commander lacks the critical ability to ORGANIZE his team as he sees fit, instead having to rely on the whims of his subordinates to join any squad they wish. worst of all, players have no incentive to obey orders. if the commander gives an order whose purpose isn't immediately clear, it's a virtual guarantee that it will be ignored. how about point bonuses for completing objectives? how about letting the commander put unassigned players into squads of his choosing? as is, the commander is little more than an intelligence officer who points out where the bad guys are.
weak implementation of RPG mode - the ranking structure is terrible. once all the guns are unlocked, there is little reason to continue ranking up. having a prettier insignia might be motivation enough for some people, but not everyone. how about the earth-shattering concept of MAKING THE POINTS WORTH SOMETHING? instead of having unlocks at pre-set intervals, make it so players PURCHASE upgrades with the points they earn. beyond new weapons, we should be able to buy new outfits/accesories/cool ass-kicking sunglasses with the points we earn, and some of them should be ridiculously expensive to give the really hardcore people something to work toward.
there are many moe design elements which i don't agree with, but that's a matter of personal opinion. the ones above, however, are a matter of fact. they are glaring problems which keep bf2 in the slightly-above-average bin, and not the truly exceptional.
PS - and get some real voice acting ffs, the chinese voices are so bad as to be incomprehensible half the time, and tragically comical the rest of the time. i can only imagine how bad the arabic is.
conflicting design philosophy - bf2's vehicles are retardedly simple, which isn't a flaw in and of itself. this was designed to have that fact paced arcade feel, so that people could hop in and go. however, the infantry side of things points toward an attempt at 'realism.' iron sights, recoil rates, firing position, movement penalties, no jumping and shooting, and so on. a more coherent design strategy, where the WHOLE game is either realism or arcade based, would result in a better game.
symmetrical balance - this is one of the biggest weaknesses of the game. each army is a carbon copy of the other, with only a handful of significant differences. even so, those differences are so small that no adjustment in tactics is necessary. why aren't there maps that showcase the awesome manpower of the PLA? maybe the chinese receive a huge ticket advantage, with little vehicle support? how about real gameplay differences between the tanks? how about DIFFERENT CLASSES for each army? symmetrical balance is the game developer's cheap way out. warcraft 2 was symmetrically balanced, warcraft 3 wasn't, and it was better. it's 2006 FFS, we are past symmetrical balance. imagine a MMORPG where the races/classes are only cosmetically different, or an RTS with cloned armies - you can bet that they won't sell. we expect better these days, but why don't we hold BF2 to the same standard?
weak implementation of commander mode - this is somewhat map dependent. basically, the bigger the map and the more vehicles available, the less the commander matters. furthermore, the commander lacks the critical ability to ORGANIZE his team as he sees fit, instead having to rely on the whims of his subordinates to join any squad they wish. worst of all, players have no incentive to obey orders. if the commander gives an order whose purpose isn't immediately clear, it's a virtual guarantee that it will be ignored. how about point bonuses for completing objectives? how about letting the commander put unassigned players into squads of his choosing? as is, the commander is little more than an intelligence officer who points out where the bad guys are.
weak implementation of RPG mode - the ranking structure is terrible. once all the guns are unlocked, there is little reason to continue ranking up. having a prettier insignia might be motivation enough for some people, but not everyone. how about the earth-shattering concept of MAKING THE POINTS WORTH SOMETHING? instead of having unlocks at pre-set intervals, make it so players PURCHASE upgrades with the points they earn. beyond new weapons, we should be able to buy new outfits/accesories/cool ass-kicking sunglasses with the points we earn, and some of them should be ridiculously expensive to give the really hardcore people something to work toward.
there are many moe design elements which i don't agree with, but that's a matter of personal opinion. the ones above, however, are a matter of fact. they are glaring problems which keep bf2 in the slightly-above-average bin, and not the truly exceptional.
PS - and get some real voice acting ffs, the chinese voices are so bad as to be incomprehensible half the time, and tragically comical the rest of the time. i can only imagine how bad the arabic is.
