Hi. I am [Pain]Nightmare’s Older Brother. This is my first post. I would like to clarify what our experience was with EA and Battlefield 2.
Both me and my brother purchased BF2 at Circuit City for $35. When I looked at the top, it said the game required a Geforce 5700 or higher. I thought: “That’s OK, because the Geforce 4800’s that we both have are faster.” How wrong I was. We soon learned that we were not alone. I was absolutely furious when I heard EA’s PR rep claiming that the GF4 line was obsolete.
EA's whole rationale is that "Battlefield 2 requires high end technology, and therefore some users may require an upgrade" is 100% Bullsh!t. Some people on EA’s forums were speaking on the lines of “Qu1t wh1gn1ng 1ts 0nly a f1fty-dolla upgrade cheap-@$$ LOLZ.” However, in order to run Battlefield at graphically superior settings, I would have to replace my entire motherboard with one containing a PCI Express slot, potentially costing upward $1000. Even upgrading to a 6800 would cost at least $200. (Don’t forget we are running two separate machines, thus increasing the cost to $400)
If I payed for a GF 5x00 card, then I would subsequently suffer poorer performance in my other games. I hardly call that an upgrade. The Geforce4 couldn't run UT2K4/Half Life 2/Doom3 etc. at their highest settings, but still ran them pretty damn well. On top of that, playing the above listed games with my Geforce4, they still looked a helluva lot better than Battlefield 2 with a 6800. For a game that boasts superior graphics, it sure as hell doesn’t show it.
Now before anyone goes on bitching about how graphics don’t substitute gameplay, I would like to say that I realize this. However, when a game will not run on your system because you are using an “obsolete” card, that game damn well better be able to brag about it’s graphics. Especially when the card is only 2-3 years old and can run graphically superior games without a hitch.
It’s worth it to note that my brother and I are still experience severe lag in Single Player AND Multiplayer on medium/high settings. We are both using Verizon FiOS High Speed Internet, which has been known to download at over 300kbps (I have seen it go to 600 once.) so it’s not our connection. (You know the game has a problem when you experience lag in the f*cking server browser)
The fact that they didn’t code the textures to work with the GF4 line is an indicator of either lazy programming, constrained budget, or rushed deadlines. All of these are unacceptable for such a hyped-up game. I am willing to spend money on an upgrade, but not just for one game that fails to deliver on all accounts.
On the plus side, the Discs make nice coasters to hold my Hot Cocoa whilst enjoying a round of Onslaught.
KDR, I haven't used Linux, so I can't really say it's better than Windows. I am not sure if EA has released a Battlefield 2 For Linux, but you let me know when they release Battlefield 2 for Pixel Shader 1.3. After all, Battlefield: Modern Combat was released for the X-Box, which uses a dumbed down Geforce 3, running Pixel Shader 1.3. Kind of hypocritical of EA.
