The Road to Jalalabad map is available to BF2 as well as Special Forces players. It's sort of a hybrid between Strike at Karkand and Mashtuur City, which means it's a mix of close quarters combat with some open spaces ideal for tank or fast attack vehicle combat. At this point, the biggest balance problem I've come seen yet is that the capture radius for flags are far too large. Right now, some of the flags can be capped from across the street. Another thing is that there are too many rooftops that are accessible by ladder. While this could potentially lead to a sniperfest, most of the roof tops don't overlook any high traffic paths. Aside from these issues, the map is fairly well designed but after the initial surge in popularity after launch, I don't think people will be choosing this over Karkand anytime soon.
Click for larger view of map.
I can't really comment much on the Infantry Only game mode because oddly enough, the admins never switched it on during the times I played. Honestly, I'm not sure if this mode is a good idea because EA is basically updating the game by taking something away from it. The Battlefield series stands out from the crowd of online First Person Shooters because it allows all players to jump into tanks, jets, and helicopters any time they want. I guess the upside is that since some players have become extremely good with vehicles, the new mode's emphasis on infantry combat will be fun for people tired of getting repeatedly killed by camping tanks. Anyway, perhaps I'll update this section when I get a chance to play the mode.
I noticed that the hitboxes seem to have been adjusted so that shots register more. Personally, I found this the most important change in the update. In previous versions, emptying a clip at close range would not even guarantee a frag. Also, the sounds are still pretty mediocre. I came into BF2 with a pretty strong background in Counter-Strike where the qualities of sound meant the difference between life and death. In 1.4, you still cannot hear approaching footsteps and the guns still sound like paintball guns. I mentioned earlier that the beta server was unranked and thus the game play I experienced will be vastly different than when 1.4 goes live. There were some people heedlessly teamkilling and kamikazing. Another new change is that you are now unable to shoot while transitioning from the standing position to crouching. This additional restriction feels strange and unnatural but is meant to add realism and discourage exploits as there were many people who used macros to alternate between the two states to avoid getting hit. Again, this is a new feature I view with mixed feelings.
Overall, there is very little difference between 1.3 and 1.4 and the lack of any exciting new features really detracts from the value of the update. EA has not yet set a release date for this patch. Perhaps the decline in quality means that they're focusing more on Battlefield 2142 which is set for release later this year. Updates on this in the future if necessary.
-TL out
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