After years of picking shrapnel out of your butt on the digital front lines, you've earned the right to kick back and bark orders at others. That's what you can aspire to in Battlefield 2, due in March for PC. Like the previous Battlefield games, it offers unprecedented freedom of choice - you can be a sniper, a special ops expert, or an infantry soldier. But once you've worked your way up from lowly grunt to high-ranking general, BF2 lets you enter Commander mode. Then you can step back from the first-person-shooter action and direct troops-la "God games" like Civilization. The best part: You don't control a vast army of virtual soldiers; you command a squad of up to 32 other players. I took a spin in the general's seat to see if I have what it takes to call the shots for an entire geek army.
VANTAGE POINTS IN BATTLEFIELD 2
What the general sees:
While my squad sloshes across the Zatar Wetlands on a recon mission, I enjoy a detailed, top-down view of the whole theater of battle, culled from satellite images and Predator UAV intel.
What the other players see:
Firefights with the Middle Eastern Coalition have left one of my grunts running low on bullets. I request a parachuted ammo drop and a Blackhawk helicopter to provide air cover while he reloads.
Watch your back! Looks like MEC soldiers infiltrated our territory between satellite sweeps. I drop a smoke grenade to mark a rally point where my unit should converge and counterattack.
My men have the last of the MEC troops cornered. I call in a final artillery strike with the click of a mouse, then radio the entire squad to inform them that we've eliminated all enemy forces. w00t!
- Scott Taves
What the general sees
What the other players see
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