Look sharp: a tasty platoon of brand new Battlefield 2142 screens has just dropped into view. The fanatically followed, team-based military shooter franchise is taking the fight into the next century, where an ice age throws the world into a massive conflict over the last habitable land in the banana belt.
Following the massive strategic upgrades thatBattlefield 2's squad system introduced (where players benefited by sticking with their squad leader), BF2142 seems like a tactically-centric upgrade for the franchise. 2142 will stick to the standard vehicle archetypes that Battlefield players know and love: massive walking tanks (mechs), EMP dropping APCs, fast four-wheelers, flying transports and devastating aerial gunships.
Player classes will be pared down to four, but there will be two career paths within each that will be unlocked once soldiers earn enough points within their respective class.
Sneaky players will choose the Recon class, and can opt for sniper or spec ops paths. The sniper sports a cloaking device that makes him nearly invisible. Spec ops players will gain an explosive advantage: a remote detonated charge, devastating to both vehicles and infantry.
Players who start with the Support class also have plenty of options. They can go with a "gun drone" which helps spot enemies and lays down supplemental fire. Alternatively, within the Support class, the vehicle-friendly engineer kit offers soldiers three different types of mines, including wicked little "chase mines" which home in on ground-based vehicles when they pass overhead.
