BF1942: Road to Rome/MoH:Allied Assault – Spearhead (PC)
Sequels, add-ons and add-ons to sequels in our WWII roundup.

Road to Rome

PLATFORM: PC

PUBLISHER: EA

DEVELOPER: Digital Illusions

GENRE: 1st-Person Shooter

ESRB: Teen

SCORE:

GameGals like us usually shy away from straight army-themed games – it’s all a little boys-in-the-sandbox for our tastes. But last year saw two incredibly good titles that, besides landing at or near the top of many Best-of-2002 lists, also managed to combine interesting historical context with dead-on gameplay.

Now, both games have add-ons that are must-buys for dedicated fans of each title, but could easily be skipped by casual players.

Battlefield 1942 was the surprise hit of 2002, winning unexpected critical praise for its seemingly endless variety of gameplay styles, huge maps and large-scale 64-player online matches. Now six extra maps, from the Italian campaigns of WWII, are available in the Road to Rome expansion pack.

Road to Rome includes some new weapons and vehicles, as well as Italian and French troops, but the differences are minor for all but the most hardcore fans. Where this expansion shines is in the maps themselves. Easily worth the $19.95 retail price, these new battlefields are incredibly varied and fun to play.

They, and future installments, should keep BF1942 active on your hard drive for a long time to come.

Spearhead

PLATFORM: PC

PUBLISHER: EA

DEVELOPER: EA

GENRE: 1st-Person Shooter

ESRB: Teen

SCORE:

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault won a lot of Action Game of the Year awards in 2002, and rightly so. It was one of the few games that kept us up late into the night just to see what would happen next. The pacing, scripted events, controls and graphics just felt right – a rare case where almost everything came together perfectly.

The Spearhead expansion gives you more of the same, including more of the team-based combat that made for the best levels of the original game. But with the current emphasis on stealth and one-hit kills in so many games, the more arcade-like style of the Medal of Honor series is starting to feel a bit dated.

That aside, the only real knock against Spearhead is its short length – anyone who plunked down $20-30 for the game’s few short missions may not feel like they’ve gotten their money’s worth.

Both expansion packs – the games they amend – are top-of-the-line, high production value products, and a lot of fun too boot. Sadly, both have relatively little to offer the girl gamer, so if you’re looking for female characters or adventure and strategy elements, you’ll have to look elseware.