If the game weren’t huge enough already with so many different options that it almost seems like three different games put together, they plan on only going farther and making it bigger and more enjoyable. This game will truly stand the test of time, and over time it will only get better and better.
Fighting through the streets with two hundred Allied or Axis troops on your side is what makes this an amazing game to play and one that is completely unique.
This game has seen a revival and is forging ahead with new management structure, steam release coming and new features, units, strategic layer. This is the only true multi arms simulation/game out there. If you like "realism" around World War II europe action, you will likely enjoy this game. This gaming community is also very supportive and being on a squad or at least participating/cooperating with other players is what makes the game truly enjoyable and engaging.
There is no other game like it - vast map, great realism, difficult challenges, infinite replayability. It takes time and effort to learn and practice, and there are a lot of roles and weapons to choose from as you rank up.
Best suited to slow and careful thoughtful play, especially in co-operation with team-mates. Not well suited to bunny-hopping twitch-shooting Rambos. If you know your WW2 weapons and vehicles then you'll appreciate the realism e.g. sneaking up on a Pz VI E with a HEAT charge.
It's quite old now, but has recently been infused with new energy from a dedicated dev team - who actually play and communicate with the players; and with many old-timers returning for more fun. And it's going on to Steam soon (6/6/17) which will mean a whole new generation of players.
Note that the graphics and interface are a bit out-dated, but development is accelerating with new funds, and many improvements are planned. It does mean that the game plays on quite low-end video cards though, and doesn't require a huge memory. It will play on 32-bit Windows with 4GB RAM - but the plan is to upgrade to 64-bits and better engine soon.
If you persevere with the game, you will soon find the intense and fun but challenging game-play over-rides weaknesses like graphics.
My favourite game by far, has been for years :)
Kapyong
Every death is a frustration, every kill a hard-won victory and for every firefight that has you sweating with tension, there'll be another that will have you wanting to stick pencils into your eyes just to relieve the boredom of guarding a backwater choke point. War is like that, apparently, and Battleground Europe is as real as it gets. [PC Zone]
Compulsive is what Battleground Europe has the potential to be, if you give it a chance. But also if you fall in with the right players, in the right place, at the right time.
Such complexity ultimately helps to make the game what it is for those who take the time to figure it out, but many gamers will find the lack of help and guidance here a real hindrance.
FYI this game was first released in 2001 and has been in operation continuously. Over this time it has changed significantly, sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad. Still always it has stuck to its core idea which is 1 big server with as many players as possible fighting it out, with air, armor and infantry all in the same battle. Game had a down period between 2011-2014 due to financial issues, but together with community fundraisers and a really enthusiastic new team (originating from the community) development has been ongoing again and they are going to launch on steam this summer.
This game is for you if you liked Operation Flashpoint and have some affinity with the principles behind MMORPG's. Yes you can start up the game, find a hotspot and get to action within 1 minute (average sortie from spawn to death is 3 minutes as a reference), but you play this game for those epic moments that occur once every now and then and they usually take some work.
That moment where you clear the last capturepoint just 5 seconds before you would lose the town, with this being the pivotal point of your side recapturing the entire town (and possible an entire region over the next days/weeks). Or spending 20 minutes to drive a tank from a backline town to flank an enemy siege on a town. Getting together with your squad and forming a 30 tank/bomber group.
PRO's:
- No grinding. It is relatively easy to get to maximum rank and then only your skills and playing style will matter.
- Anyone can kill anyone, no pay to win.
- The campaign/map is won only around once every month. This slower pace means your actions matter a lot. the capture of today can still be seen tomorrow. This is also a key difference between my matches in CoD/BF where the game ends every time and here the effects of 1 battle influence the next.
CON's:
- Air to air game quite difficult for newbies due to the number of aces flying. Joystick required btw.
Air to ground is a bit easier, can also use mouse with practice but not recommendable.
- Slower simulation type gameplay, less suitable for 30 min gaming, more for a couple of hours.
- Always a work in progress so can be a bit buggy.
- Very hard to understand where to go as a new guy. It's like requiring to know everything about a MMORPG right from the start. All I can say is that the chat is your friend. Ask where the action is to others. Otherwise you will get lost. When I started in 2006 I also ran for 10 minutes from one town to another, only then realising this might not be a good idea. The new active battles tab helps a bit but will still be difficult.
This game is for:
- Operation Flashpoint simulation type players (then again I also absolutely loved call of duty 1/2 and battlefield 1942/3 so what's to say...)
- Combined warfare (fighter/bomber/anti-air-gun/tank/infantry/naval) enthusiasts.
- Gamers who vote gameplay over graphics.
- Gamers who like the idea of a longer lasting campaign, kind of like those browsergames (travian etc) where the 'action is 24/7'.
- People with patience.
- (not exclusively but still) Gamers who like clan based gameplay. Most people playing the game now still have a tight bond with the others in their squads.
I logged well over 1000 hours on this game over the years. I enjoy playing it as it can fill many play styles with a change of unit spawned. It has everything... Tanks Planes Infantry Trucks AA ATG's. Everything a war game should have.
On the game alone rating would be 9/10 or even 10/10. So why the 2/10... 2 reasons.
1) Timers, Despawn timers, Spawn timers, Timers left right and center.
Let me explain, say HC wants to switch a town to attack. 5 minute timer to pull attack on town a, then 5 minute timer to place attack on town b, then 10 minute timer until capture points can be captured. Capturing a point can take anywhere between 1-10 minutes depending on population of the server and number of people at the point and there is at least 3 points in every town, most have more (up to 20 capture points). Then there are the bases, Army, Air, and Dock's. To capture those you must hold other points in the town for, yep you guessed it, 10 minutes before you can capture those, again taking 1-10 minutes depending on population.
2)Its the cheaters, or more specifically the games response to cheaters. The number of cheaters is not that bad compared to other F2P games. If you are paying a sub, worse case you get a 24 lock on your account and back to playing the next day. Just don't mention cheating on forums or discord or you risk account deletion. In my case, I asked if they planned to use Anti-cheat software to help weed out some of the cheaters. Account deleted.
Not going to lie, its a realistic WWII game but its just plain impossible for the new players to get good at it. Its very hard to see enemy infantry before you die, the beginner tanks can a lot of times be killed by AT rifles by veteran players, most of the time you cant even use ships in the navy, and its incredibly hard to use a plane. Its hard enough just to take off, but it makes it so much harder getting into a dogfight. By the time your'e about to shoot at an enemy plane, you turn and spin out not knowing what you did wrong. And I know a lot of people know about the tutorials but most of the time those don't even work... every time I try using them it always says "Error". Not only that but you have to pay 15 dollars a month for a game that's very hard, a game with honestly bad graphics, and by the time you start getting good you payed $500+ in taxes for the game. Not only that but you have to pay the 15 dollars to even have access to the forums.
There have been no positive changes in the live version of this game in -over- a year. While the developers have sent out e-mail newsletters making claims of adding a new army and new RPAT weapons, you will discover that these are not avaible for use during play. The population is still heavily unbalanced between the sides, infantry play is still stiff and unrealistic, and all the graphics are horribly dated. To make things even worse the engine itself is incredibly poorly optimized, with performance actually suffering from multi-core processors. I genuinely loved this game in 2003, but I'm sad to say that it has only changed for the worse since then. World War 2 Online (Battleground Europe) is truly on it's last legs. The only reason I could even suggest trying it is so you can say that you played it before it's gone.
SummaryReport for duty to this first-person, online action game where players choose to fight alongside and against thousands of other players on the battlefields of western europe. Grab a rifle and experience heart-stopping infantry action or choose to advance your skills in one of dozens of accurately modeled combat vehicles, naval vessels or...