Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII

Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII
Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII Box Cover
Developer(s)	Digital Illusions CE
Publisher(s)	EA Games (Windows), Aspyr Media, Inc. (Mac)
Series	Battlefield series
Engine	Refractor 2
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	Windows: (NA) 2003-09-04 (EU) 2003-09-05
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII is the second of two expansions to the World War II first-person shooter computer game Battlefield 1942. It is developed by Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows September 4, 2003 in North America and September 5, 2003 in Europe.

Secret Weapons of WWII brings many new feautures to the original game, such as new weapons, vehicles, battles, factions, and a new gameplay mode that focuses on fulfilling objectives more that destroying the enemy army. These new features help to bring variety to its predecessor's gameplay without overhauling the series. For example, while an Allied engineer may still maintain his original role as being able to repair vehicles, his long-ranged rifle has been replaced with a shotgun, which is effective at short distances.

Critically, Secret Weapons of WWII was well recieved. GameSpot gave the game a 8.2 out of 10 summarizing that "Its additions are extremely enjoyable to play around with and, in some cases, really change the gameplay of the original in new and intriguing ways." IGN gave the game 8.8 out of 10 noting that "...assuming you can swallow the more fanciful additions, you'll find plenty of excitement here." As of June, 2008, the game has recieved a compilation score of 82% on GameRankings and 79% on Metacritic.

Gameplay

As in Battlefield 1942, players play the role of a soldier in a two-sided battle and can choose what weapons or vehicules he or she wants to use in accomplishing this task. Usually, the team that works together more effectively wins reducing the enemies tickets to zero. (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.) Even more so than in Battlefield 1942, the weapons in Secret Weapons of WWII are designed to be used in unison with other weapons in order to make up for weaknesses and maximize strengths.

A gameplay mode introduced in Secret Weapons of WWII is an objective-based mode in which players focus on accomplishing specific objectives in order to win the battle. For example on Essen, the German forces must prevent Allied forces from destroying key portions of a weapons factory. If the Allied forces successfully fulfill these objective, the German tickets are drastically reduced, usually winning the game for the Allies.

The default Allied (US) Army and Axis (German) Army have recieved new weapons and vehicules in additon to the creation of two entirely new factions, the SAS (British Commando) and that SS (German Elite). Each faction has unique weapons to their faction that can only be obtained by playing as that faction or picking them off a fallen enemy soldier. They also have unique vehicules that are only available at their bases. Even with the creation of these new factions, all the maps in the expansion pack are Axis versus Allies, as is the custom in the Battlefield series.

Also of special note is the Jet Pack, which allows players to fly in the air while firing a weapon. In order to maintain gameplay balance, the Jet Pack is very susceptible to blowing up while underfire, instantly killing the player. It is limited to only three maps.

New Vehicules

Sixteen new vehicules, ranging from tanks to motorcycles, are included in the expansion pack.

Allied SAS:

Ordnance QF 25 pounder Artillery

AW52 Fighter

Commando Raft

C-47 "Gooney Bird" Cargo Plane

McDonnell XF-85 Goblin Fighter

LVT4 Amphibious Transport

XA42 Motorcycle

Allied US Army (Not Special Forces):

AW52 Fighter

Commando Raft

C-53 Skytrooper Cargo Plane

McDonnell XF-85 Goblin Fighter

LVT4 Amphibious Transport

Sherman T34 Tank

T95 Super Heavy Tank

XA42 Motorcycle

Axis SS:

Flakpanzer IV Anti-aircraft Tank

HO229 Fighter

Natter Rocket Plane

Pak40 Artillery

Schwimmwagen Amphibious Vehicle

Sturmtiger Heavy Tank

Wasserfall Guided Rocket

R75 Motorcycle

Axis German Army (Not Special Forces):

Flakpanzer IV Anti-aircraft Tank

HO229 Fighter

Natter Rocket Plane

Pak40 Artillery

Schwimmwagen Amphibious Vehicle

Sturmtiger Heavy Tank

Wasserfall Guided Rocket

R75 Motorcycle

New Weapons

Seven new weapons, including throwing knives to a shotgun, are also in the expansion pack.

Allied SAS:

Throwing Knives

Bren light Machine Gun

Browning Auto-5 Shotgun

Sten Mark IIS Submachine Gun

Allied US Army:

M1 Garand

Axis SS:

Throwing Knives

Gewehr Panzergranate

Gewehr 43 Sniper Rifle with ZF4 Telescopic Sight

Fallschirmjägergewehr 42 Light Machine Gun

Axis German Army:

None

New Maps

Eight new maps are included in Secret Weapons of WWII. Notably, altogether the maps provide every possible Allied versus Axis combination given the factions in the expansion pack.

Eagles's Nest (US vs. SS)

Essen (SAS vs. SS)

Gothic Line (US vs. Germany)

Hellendoorn (SAS vs. SS)

Kbely Airfield (SAS vs. SS)

Mimoyecques (US vs. Germany)

Peenemunde (US vs. Germany)

Telemark Research Base (SAS vs. Germany)

Development

The expansion pack was originally announced on April 2, 2003; although, there was serious speculation preceding the announcement that Electronic Arts was making a second expansion pack to Battlefield 1942. Nearly six months later Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII began to be sold at stores for thirty dollars, ten dollars more than the originally conceived twenty dollar pricetag. This sometimes negatively affected reviews.

Critical Reception

Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII was recieved generally favorably. While not winning any awards, it recieved a compilation score of 82% on GameRankings based on 36 revies and 79% on Metacritic based on 18 reviews.

Almost all reviews reflected positively on the amount of variety added to the game without turning off players off from the original draw of the series. Jolt UK commented that it is "A welcome addition to the Battlefield family, and has a style all of its own..." Gamespy listed as a pro that it had "Lots of fun new vehicles; some outstanding new maps." GameSpot said that "Its additions are extremely enjoyable to play around with and, in some cases, really change the gameplay of the original in new and intriguing ways." IGN noted that "...the new super weapons are brilliantly incorporated in to the gameplay."

Critizisms included that the proportion of content to retail price was too low. In Gamespot's review of the game, it claimed, "However, considering how much it retails for, it probably could have offered more." Gamespy listed as the con that "Some of the maps are clunkers; $30 is too much for the limited content here." Also, some critics disliked the fanciful nature of many of the new weapons and vehicules introduced by the expasion. IGN summarized this reaction in its review of the game: "Secret Weapons of WWII, while based in historical equipment and encounters, nevertheless offers up a steroid-enhanced version of the regular game with plenty of new weapons that were on the cutting edge of technology (or merely on the drawing board) at the close of the Second World War. For some players, myself included, this extra touch of Hollywood seems a bit out of place relative to the previous games." Jolt UK commenting along similar lines that "...it also feels a little out of place. About the last expansion the game can handle."