Wow that was difficult.
It's improved a lot. The air war is still flaky and there are still a fair few annoying bugs and exploits, but overall I was impressed with what I saw/heard.
- The sounds are now superb; I have a set-up that has 6.1 Surround Sound, and the directional sounds are brilliant. When driving your tank, the sound of engine comes from behind... err where the engine is. Nice. Doppler effect seems to be almost flawless now.
- effects are nice; explosions etc are very impressive, and when you end up in a firefight it really feels emmersive. For some reason I love the plume of black smoke emitted from the exhausts when a tank starts its engine. When a plane crashes you get an appropriate crash sound and some pretty fireball effects.
- the ground war is great fun; particularly as a grunt - tanking is great too. Being part of a large armour/infantry/air attack is unparalleled as a gaming experience.
- fewer show stopping bugs; still get screen stutter when flying, but since I avoid flying generally it's not an issue
Compared to the last time I played it, it has come on leaps and bounds.
Problems:
- the pandemic of armchair commanders is a real turn-off. Team work is fine, but I'd rather not be lectured about what I should be doing by some 12 year old in his mother's basement.
- blinking in and out of other units is a constant issue
- graphics are pretty substandard - colours are drab with no vibrancy (soon get used to it though)
- nightime is a waste of time, since it can be guaranteed that everyone adjusts their gamma to compensate
- tree-climbing sn1p3r d00d5 are a constant pain
- still no supply convoys, a video preview of which was shown way back before release in 2001
In June 2001, I'd have given it 2.5/10 and one of those points was attributed to the usefulness of the CD as a beer-mat.
Last time I played I would have given it 4/10. Bugged to hell and twice as ugly.
Now I'd give it 7/10 - it's where it should have been back in 2001.
