Battlefield 1943 | 7outof10

As much as we love to complain about the dearth of original content that makes up our annual videogame intake, without the refinements, revisions and experimentation of previous Battlefield sequels we’d never have arrived at a title like 1943. Distilling the fundamentals into a downloadable four-map, triple-class affair, DICE has successfully extracted the magical formula that makes each BF title a worthy multiplayer successor (2142 being the elephant in the room). It doesn’t redefine anything, but moulds, tweaks and buffs almost every aspect of the series to a superb shine – becoming one of the best online shooters for 360 and PS3 in the process.

That magical multiplayer formula stems entirely from the refined balance between ground units, air units and emplaced weaponry, in combination with a sandbox approach to combat ensuring every battle is thrilling and worthwhile. Whether you’re firing artillery rounds off the bow of an aircraft carrier or sneaking along an embankment to line up a perfect sniper shot, chances are the destructible environment and playful physics will lend the action an unpredictable slant, becoming another post-game “do you remember that bit…” conversation in the process.

Where previous games have offered a multitude of different weapons, upgrades, kit arrangements and class selections, 1943 restricts the choice to just three archetypes adhering to close, middle and long range combat. The resultant simplicity belies the available tactical depth, highlighting just how superfluous most of the detail in alternative titles can be. You’re still free to approach any objective as you wish, but the selection process allows newcomers to get a grasp quickly, whilst fast respawn times keep everything ticking over with an almost constant supply of fresh blood.

The three initially available maps are all culled from BF 1942, albeit with a few terrain tweaks to accommodate the lower player limit of 24. Jumping off from aircraft carriers located on opposing sides of each land mass; Wake Island, Guadalcanal, and Iwo Jima are teeming with colour and plentiful opportunity for ambush. Rolling hills, breakable scenery and reinforced emplacements allow a spectacular showcase for ground combat, whilst the upcoming Coral Sea (set to unlock after online kill number 43,000,001) will provide a specialised arena for aerial dogfighting – an attractive prospect given the considerably easier to manoeuvre planes.

As an experience, the only blight on an otherwise unblemished service record came about with EAs botched network capacity in the first few days of release. Testing patience to the limit, most players were unable to join a game during these teething stages, and problems joining squads with friends ensured a bumpy run afterwards. EA have since patched and apologised, but for a while there 1943 looked to have ground to a halt before it even began – hardly the best advertisement for developer, publisher or hardware.

Having overcome those issues however, 1943 has nothing but clear blue sky ahead for the foreseeable future. Regardless of the plans for DLC (likely to be limited due to the upcoming release of Bad Company 2), the XBLA purchase price of 1200 points or £9.99 on the PSN ensures entry into one of the most finely-honed multiplayer experiences of this or any other year. For a title with minimal load times, beautiful graphics and requiring no disc, it’s difficult to think of a better advocate for the future of digital distribution.