Battlefield 2

Plot

The game is set in 2007 during a world war between the United States, aided by the European Union, against China and the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition, with Russia and the UK fighting both each other and insurgents. No reason is given for how the war broke out. The US and EU are allies, and the EU has negotiated a truce with Russia, but it is unknown if China and the MEC are allies. The Middle East and China are invaded by US and EU forces, while the United States is invaded by Chinese and MEC forces.

Additional content

The first expansion pack, Special Forces, was developed by DICE's Canadian division and released on November 21, 2005. It focuses on infantry-based combat rather than vehicle-centric combat, providing eight maps, six playable factions, and ten additional vehicles such as the AH-64D Apache and Mi-35 Hind, though all jets are removed. New equipment includes night vision goggles, tear gas, gas masks, zip lines, and grappling hooks. Eight more small arms weapons are available, such as the G36K/E and FN SCAR L/H, and several weapons from the original are replaced.

The expansion offers additional awards in the form of badges, ribbons, and medals, and many of its weapons can be used in the original Battlefield 2. Booster packs, also developed by DICE Canada, are additional content available for free download and were later released in retail form as the Booster Pack Collection or included in The Complete Collection. They expand the game with new maps, vehicles, and a European Union faction, but are intended to add to the original gameplay rather than stand alone. The two booster packs were included free of charge in the 1.50 update released on September 1, 2009.

Reception

The game received widespread critical acclaim, with an aggregate score of 91 out of 100 from 55 reviews on Metacritic. It received five stars out of five from Yahoo! Games, GameSpy, X-Play, and Computer Gaming World. PC Gamer awarded it 94 percent, calling it Game of the Year, and GameSpot rated it 9.3 out of 10, praising the teamwork and real-time voice chat.

Some lower scores were due to bugs and glitches in the initial release, including crash to desktop and network problems. Gaming Nexus, which gave an 8.7 out of 10, noted that the experience was marred by bugs. GamesRadar awarded 90 percent but noted the game is best on capable machines. GameSpot agreed about high system requirements and long load times.

Battlefield 2 sold 1.2 million copies in its first month and 2,225,000 copies by July 2006. It received a Gold sales award from ELSPA for at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom. The game won PC Gamer US's Best Multiplayer Game 2005 and Game of the Year 2005 awards, with Dan Stapleton writing that few games capture the visceral feeling of modern military combat. Computer Games Magazine gave it Best Action Game and Best Multiplayer awards, naming it the year's second-best computer game.

At the 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, it won First-Person Action Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay, and was nominated for Computer Game of the Year.