Originally posted by: PipBoy
battlefield 1942
It's a first-person shooter but much more. You can have up to 32 v 32 servers. The maps are huge. You can fly fighter planes, dive bombers, B17's. Drive tanks, jeeps, APC's, battleships, destroyers, aircraft carriers. Man the artillery.
It's class based and has some degree of strategy that makes it more interesting than your standard shooter. The most popular game mode is Conquest, followed by Capture the flag. In conquest, you basically have to try to take and defend certain control points to win the game.
Play assault class and you get the best machine gun for ground combat.
Play scout and you can be a sniper and spot for the artillery with your binoculars.
Play medic and you can heal yourself and your teammates.
Play engineer and you can repair tanks, planes, ships, and other vehicles and artillery equipment. And you can lay explosives and land mines.
Play Anti-Tank and you get a bazooka to combat enemy tanks.
BF 1942 is a blast. Download the MP demo and give it a try. The demo is fully playable online and includes one of the best maps, Wake Island. A joystick works best for flying the planes, but it's not a flight sim and the controls are easier enough that you can fly very well with mouse and keyboard after a little practice.
There are two very popular and very well-done mods for BF.
Desert Combat converts BF to modern-day. Eventually, DC will have all their own maps. Right now, they use the regular BF maps and have a couple of their own. With DC you get modern weapons and vehicles. M-16's, AK-47's, Stinger Anti-Aircraft missiles, F-16's, Mig's, A10's, etc. But my favorite is the helicopters. They take some practice, but flying the Apache and the Hind is a blast.
Eve of Destruction is a Vietnam based mod for BF. They have a complete set of custom maps, with some very nice ones. They've also got planes, tanks, and helicopters