Desert Combat

for Battlefield 1942

Battlefield 1942 scored a hit for EA Games on the multiplayer field; the game combined first person shooter action with strategy, opting out of the usual first-person shooter game to create a full-on battlefield recreating battles from WW2, including Ohama Beach, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Midway, using a nifty "ticket" system a la Tribes 2.

Since it arrived on the scene, there's been an expansion pack (Road to Rome) and numerous patches, but nothing has satisfied the fans thirst for more: thus we arrive at the mods. All over the internet fans are working on new mods, ranging from small upgrades to enormous full-on total conversions (like the impressive Galactic Conquest set in the Star Wars universe). One of the most well known mods is Desert Combat.

The Desert Combat mod doesn't change the game play or WW2 setting, just upgrades everything for faster, more furious battles with more advanced everything! Gone are the old weapons and vehicles from the past. These are replaced with new and improved guns, vehicles, units and planes, even helicopters!

To begin with, the background in the menus has changed to a nifty movie featuring gameplay from the mod to demonstrate some of the cool maneuvers and battles that can go on. The units are different, removing the unneeded Medical unit and Engineer unit and including Special Ops, Support and Heavy Assault units. The weapons are either new or revamped, with new models, and include a variety of changes that make the game more intense. Anti-Tank units have a more powerful anti-tank missile launcher but also have a ground-to-air missile launcher to fire on the airplanes and helicopters. Snipers have a more accurate sniper rifle, and the special ops have a Suicide Bombing option. But Support is the real winner - each unit has a mortar, which can be placed on the ground and used to make some real damage. 

The maps themselves haven't been changed a lot, aside from minor improvements to support the modernising of the mod. It's the changes to the vehicles that make the game really different to the original 1942. The jeeps have been replaced with scout vehicles and faster RVs, both mounted with different weapons including powerful missile launchers and machine guns. The armored scout vehicles are slower than the jeeps but they usually take more damage and often have better weapons. The tanks include more variety and more firepower, including anti-aircraft tanks and Bradley tanks which are great for taking out single units and other tanks.

To this player, the most impressive alteration to the game is the aircraft. The slow planes have been replaced by blazing attack fighter planes and helicopters, much faster and more destructive than anything in the original game. It's a big learning curve but once gamers get used to flying the different aircraft it's scary fun. The planes have bombs, which can be dropped to the ground and also missiles to fire at other planes or ground units. Some of the helicopters are armed to the teeth with missiles that make mincemeat out of ground units, where others are mostly for troop transportation – it varies between maps and teams.

As well as the graphics, the sound has also been upgraded, featuring realistic vehicle, weapon and military sounds. This is an awesome mod and sure to add lots of hours of gameplay to seasoned BF veterans. Getting used to all of the add-ons takes a bit of play but it makes for some truly sweet battles online.

The mod is very stable but still a little buggy and is constantly being upgraded, so check the website for new details and new downloads.

- Shocka

(August 10, 2003)