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Many of the battles that were fought during the Second World War were incredibly important to the eventual outcome. Not all of them are equally famous, and since the guys at Digital Illusions wanted to make an addon with of interesting battles in diverse, yet beautiful terrain the choice was made to go for the battles of Italy and Sicily. In this addon you’ll be fighting on six different maps, starting off with the allied attack on Sicily in September 1943, continuing onto the mainland of Italy. These new maps are designed a bit differently than the original Battlefield 1942 maps, because they made sure you wouldn’t have to travel too far to be in the heat of the battle.
Battle for Anzio
The Axis attack an American base at the beginning of a canal. Six strongholds. plenty of planes and tanks to use.
Battle for Salerno
King of the hill type of map where the forces start at the bottom left and top right of the map. Three strongholds, but you can’t spawn at the top. Anti-tank cannons and plenty of action…
Monte Cassino
The Axis are holding a hill with an old monastery on top. The Allies attack, and try to hold the five strongholds. The Allies use a lot of tanks for their upward battle, while the Axis fight back with anti-tank cannons.
Monte Santa Croce
A canal runs like an upside-down Y. The Axis and Allies fight over the seven strongholds at the bottom. Plenty of planes, tanks and long-range fighting.
Operation Baytown
A map with a lot of water. Both the Allies and the Axis have three strongholds, which make up their bases. All of them can be captured. Many possible strategies due to the geography and the amount of planes and tanks.
An assault on Sicily where the Allied forces paratroop on a beach and drive the Axis forces farther into the countryside. Reminds me of Normandy, only not as big a battle. Many tanks and planes used, but snipers are also important. Three strongholds to capture.
Battlefield 1942 has become a very popular online game since it was released back in September of 2002, and in The Road to Rome the premise still remains the same. In a battle there are two sides, Axis and Allies. Both of these have their own bases, and try to get a hold of a varying number of strongholds. When a battle begins both sides have a certain number of points, which decrements when their own soldiers are killed, or when the other side has control of the majority of strongholds. A few things have been changed with the classes though. You still have Scout, Infantry, Anti-Tank, Medic, and Engineer. The latter now has a bayonet on his rifle, making him more efficient in close-combat. Also, in this addon you have two new forces; Italy and France. Both have new models, textures and voice-overs, so they feel unique and are easily identified on the battlefield. The Italian infantry carry the Breda Modello machine gun, while the medics use Sten SMGs. Speaking of weapons, new vehicles have been added and some have been modified to some extent. The Allied forces have gotten the US M3 GMC Halftrack, which packs quite a punch, and has a nice AA gun in the back. The Axis now has the Italian M11-39 Carro Armato, which is in many ways like the other tanks. Also, the German forces now have the Sturmgeschutz, which is a pretty big and less maneuverable tank. Two new planes have also been added, being the British Mosquito bomber and German BF-110 bomber.
Also, in some of the new maps you’ll find anti-tank cannons, which both look cool and rips up metal with ease.
Even though this addon only sets you back about $20 I do wish more would’ve been added. It would’ve been fun to see new modes, more vehicles and planes in the levels, or at least an option to specify the amount. A graphical update would’ve also been nice to see, even though the game does look fairly nice in its current state. However, the developers have said that such an update would have to be introduced in a patch, rather than something you have to pay for, which is understandable. The sounds are mostly identical to the ones first included, but the newly included weapons and vehicles have specific sounds, as you would expect from a game of such realism.
Conclusion:
As most of you already know, Battlefield 1942 is a great game. It really is a lot of fun when you have a lot of people playing, filling their parts in a virtual army. The Road to Rome does add an okay number of new things, but there could’ve been so much more! Modders have shown the world that with ideas, and a good engine, you can add a lot to a game. The six new levels, the new weapons, vehicles and planes should be reason enough for fans to buy this fairly cheap addon, but some may find that it doesn’t add enough to justify the purchase.
