Battlefield 2: Armored Fury review

Battlefield 2 has long delivered a little bit of everything to the shooter aficionado - infantry combat for the grunt-friendly, helicopters for the whirly-birds, and even jets for the mildly schitzophrenic. But, true warriors know that armor is the best way to take and hold new territory. The latest booster pack for Battlefield 2, Armored Fury, proves that old adage once again.

The three new Armored Fury maps are set in the American heartland, a very welcome change after too much time spent fighting in Middle Eastern deserts. Midnight Sun is a night map set in an Alaskan port; Operation Harvest details the fight for a strategic part of Amish country; and Operation Road Rage is the battle for a crucial section of eastern seaboard Interstate. The battlegrounds demonstrate that the designers have an intimate understanding of the tricks that players have developed in BF2 over the last year of play; they're quite well designed.

The maps consist of wide open areas that funnel into infantry-defensible choke points around flags, which is the developer's way to encourage a vehicle-heavy strategy. Well-placed chokepoints make it easy for a small infantry force to defend the flags. In order to dislodge dedicated defenders, you'll have to use all the weapons in your arsenal - tanks, APCs, choppers, and jets. With three new highly-entertaining maps and several new vehicles (including the tankbusting A-10 Warthog), the extremely affordable, easily downloadable Armored Fury is a must-buy for Battlefield 2 junkies.