Weapons/Classes

As mentioned earlier, 1942 is similar to TFC in that you get to pick from multiple classes, depending on your mission and personal preferences. All classes carry a main arm, sidearm, grenades (except the engineer) and a knife. Be aware that you need a good mix of classes in order to win at this game, it's quite team based. I've been in games where everyone was assault or sniper, and needless to say we got slaughtered. When you do get a team with some nice variety who knows what they're doing... Wow. :)

All classes will run out of ammunition, and this (as well as health) can be replenished by approaching any of the boxes of ammo scattered around the battlefield. As an interesting note, you can change classes on the fly by picking up a dead soldier's kit. (Sweeeeeet.)

Scouts/Snipers (everyone's favorite) pack a long range scoped rifle, as well as binoculars. When the scout uses his binos he drops a camera. Any player in control of a large warship (Destroyer or Battleship) or any ground based artillery piece can now see from that camera and use it to range their shots. The arty spoting has got to be one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a video game in my life. You can be litterally miles away, lobbing in shells on an enemy position. Just amazing, and sooo effective when used properly, unfortunately it only lasts for a minute, or untill the sniper is killed.

Anti tank troops, in adition to the standard gear pack a rocket launcher. Almost useless against infantry unless you get a direct hit on them, these guys are a serious threat to any vehicle who gets within' range. It's quite disconcerting to have a bunch of AT'ers open up on you in one of the city maps, and is quite often very quickly fatal.

Assault infantry get a light machine gun/assault rifle, and up close are quite devestating, especially if they go prone when they shoot. This is the most common kit you'll see used on the battlefield.

Medic. Everyone's best friend during a firefight, the medic has the ability to heal himself as well as any nearby teammates. He also gets a sweet little submachinegun that just mows down enemy infantry at short range.

The engineer, who is my personal favorite class, gets some very interesting toys. In adition to a very accurate and powerful but slow firing rifle, he also gets landmines and explosive charges. (Rememer kids: Explosives are FUN!) Landmines will severely damage or destroy any vehicle that passes over them, friend or foe. Explosive charges are placed, then remotely detonated, and are perfect for use on unwary tankers. Nothing quite like an ambush with large amounts of things that explode. :) This class can also remove mines, and repair vehicles and damaged gun implacements.

Vehicles/Emplacments

Oh baby. The single greatest feature of 1942 is the vehicles. If it's in the game you can use it. The vehicles are pretty much the same for both teams, but they look and handle a little differently, and the variety is simply staggering. The dev team has found an excellent balance between historical accuracy and fun.

Jeeps: Your basic unarmed run around the map really fast vehicle. Driver and passenger.

APC: APCs are armed with a machine gun, and have a driver, gunner and room inside for 4 extra troopers.

Tanks: Tanks come in two varieties, light and heavy. The light tank has less armor and doesn't pack quite the punch, but it does have a spot up top for a machine gunner/sniper target. The top machine gun is mostly usefull for hitting planes straffing your position. The heavy tank is quite the brute, but doesn't have much in the way of air defences.

Planes: There are three different types of planes avaliable for your enjoyment. The fighter is a manouverable, fast plane with dual cannons. They also carry bombs that drop one by one. The dive bomber handles like a pig, especially at low altitudes/speeds, but carries a heavier payload than the fighter, and drops two bombs at a time. The heavy bomber has both top and bottom gun turrets, as well as the ability to do limited carpet bombing. Ammunion on all planes is limited, but they can be rearmed by flying slowly over an airfield or carrier. (enemy or friendly) Repairs must be carried out by an engineer.

Ships: There's nothing quite like a massive naval battle going on, and 1942 comes with all the floating hardware you need to make it happen. They're also to scale, so yes, they're freakin' huge and impressive looking.

The bigger boats all come with landing craft (Heh. With handy dandy machine guns for taking out pesky planes.) for storming the beaches. The destroyer is a fast moving warship, excellent for shelling enemy positions or enemy ships. It also has sonar to see enemy subs, and depth charges to deal with them. The aircraft carrier has flak cannons, and is where your aircraft of course spawn in. Defend it at all costs. The battleship is about the coolest damned thing I've ever seen in a video game, just bristling with huge cannons and anti-air defences. It can sink anything other than another battleship with just a few salvos from it's massive guns, and even another battleship can't stand up for long if the crew isn't on the ball.

Possibly the neatest boat of all is the submarine. Capable of submerged attacks and running silent and unseen this thing is really, really cool. The only thing that can hurt a submerged sub, really, is a destroyer with it's depth charges.

Scattered throughout the maps you'll also find emplacements you can control. There's massive shore batteries for shelling enemy ships, as well as flak cannons for dealing with those pesky aircraft in a most satisfying manner and machine gun emplacements for inconviencing enemy infantry. (Just watch out for snipers.)

I'm quite impressed with the balancing between vehicles, there really isn't anything that is too powerfull, and everything can be dealt with using appropriate counter-measures.

Communications

Comunications is normally a real pain in the ass in these squad based games. By the time you type in "Enemy infantry running at me." you've got a bullet in the head. 1942 uses a unique system for issueing voice commands to your teammates. Along the top of the screen is a series of icons, each with an function key assigned to it. Hitting F2 (request) will bring up a further menu, where you can ask for Reinforcment, air support, artillary etc. F3 (spotted) will allow you to report vehicle or infantry sightings. The text messages sent to your teamates also include your map co-ordinates, so they know exactly where you need help, or have a problem. You have your minimap, which can be zoomed in and out, as well as a larger map that shows the entire battle area that can be popped up. It's fast and easy to learn and use. I've been unable to find "Thanks" though, and I wish they'd included it.

Of course you also have the normal team and global chat functions as well. As far as I'm concerned, with this game you really need to be on Roger Wilco or similar voice com software with your buddies when you play, it makes the entire experiance so much more satisfying.