Battlefield and the evolution of the FPS...

For me the FPS genre - which I love - has undergone significant evolution over the last few years. Tired of the myriad doom and quake clones, Tribes 2 for example, was a breath of fresh air.

For those of you who didn't know, gameplay-wise the Battlefield series owes a lot to Tribes. For me, always looking to push the envelope, and get ever closer to The Game, the inclusion of vehicles and control points was a cogent step in the right direction.

The control points certainly help induce tight gameplay on public servers, and the vehicles provide you with a far greater range of interactions with both the environment and the opposition.

Furthermore, with Battlefield 2142 Dice got the award system near perfect, providing players with a strong incentive to play and play again as they climb the ranks.

Including a similar aspect to MMOs would be useful, for a business model which relies on replayability.

A simple tweak to the standard FPS fair would be to include a third fighting force. The battlefield would indeed be an interesting place if there were three armies doing battle.

Another aspect I would include would be to develop the control point concept into 'areas of tactical advantage'. What I mean by this is, say for example a factory existed somewhere on the map, and by controlling it a team could produce jeeps, or tanks, or whatever. This would be a great way to steer what is often a chaotic experience on public servers to more refined team-orientated play. Which generally contributes towards a better gaming experience.