My initial thoughts on hearing about Battlefield 1943 were not quite positive. I wondered, “Are people really that interested in returning back to WWII when we’ve gotten so used to modern warfare and especially so in the Battlefield series? And why pay $15 for this title, when we can buy Battlefield Bad Company for only a couple dollars more?”
After playing it for a couple hours, I know now. Bad Company’s main gameplay mode was Gold Rush, a new mode that had one side attacking and one side defending for lengthy periods of time as the attackers tried to blow up the gold crates and push the defenders back. Battlefield fans complained about the mode, as the mode that we are so used to is Conquest: capturing and holding five flags all over a map and killing the enemy enough to reduce their tickets to zero with the more flags you hold, the greater the significance of each death from the enemy team. The developer DICE agreed, and put together a free DLC pack of the Conquest mode for Bad Company, but it was honestly a poor shell of what it could have been.
Fortunately, 1943 is straight up Conquest and is a true return to why we fell in love with the Battlefield series in the first place. For what the game is, it does everything right: three classes that are unique and effective, covering the spectrum in how you want to play: up close with an SMG, midrange with a rifle, or long range with a scoped rifle. Each class has a secondary weapon and function: the rifle class has a grenade launcher for assaulting areas, the SMG class has a rocket launcher for attacking vehicles, and the sniper has C4 to lay traps to destroy bridges, walls, and vehicles. Kills are quick (a few shots from a rifle, and also two-three shots from a sniper rifle, unless it’s a headshot), vehicles and airplanes are effective, and there is persistent stat tracking and leveling.
Plus, the game allows you to join games with friends as a squad, although it’s limited to 4 players per squad just like in Bad Company. It’s also running on the Bad Company engine, so it really feels like you’re playing a simplified, yet still engaging Bad Company. Whether that’s a good thing or not really comes down to the player. I liked Bad Company so I’m finding 1943 quite good, and to be honest, I can’t think of anything bad about the game: it’s solid, balanced, and enjoyable. Maybe a few more maps would have me playing longer, but if you’re on the fence, I’d say go for it.