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The money grab

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game has 6 maps in it, all are a major pain in public online. If you are in a group of players that go against other groups, you may like perhaps 2 of the 6 maps. But it shows how many people do not like road to rome, since out of an average of 1600 bf1942 servers online, only around 20 or less are rtr maps. Even EA stopped playing their constant Road To Rome servers, cause no one would join the server. If you are looking for a good bf1942 expansion, go buy Secret Weapons.

This game is a twinkee... great taste, no substance.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 11
Date: May 29, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Two of my favorite types of games are First-Person Shooters and Flight Simulators, naturally this game grabbed me right away and I bought it. I thought it was the greatest thing out there... for the first two weeks then I went back to Day of Defeat ...
The Good:
This is a one of a kind game, in the fact that it is the first WWII online game to let anyone pilot or drive any vehicle you can get your hands on. This is also one of the first games to let you play with 64 people at the same time. That is about were the good goes sour.

The Bad:
Yeah vehicles are a good idea, but the physics of the Jeeps, APCs, Planes, tanks... and every vehicle in the game seem skewed. The land vehicles slide all over the place making it tough to manuver on treacherous terrain. After some getting use to it though, you can manage. Playing with 64 people is great, except finding a server with that many people playing is difficult. I have seen maybe 3 or 4 64 player servers with A: maxed out people or B: a good pin,g in the months I have had this game. If you are one of the few gamers without a broadband connection, don't even bother, you don't stand a chance online and the single player AI requires a monster machine to run if you want them to be the least bit challenging. Also, the difficulty levels swing from every bot seeming to have a labotomy, to now they are all suddenly Rambo and you get sniped from all the way across the map by some bot with a pistol named Henry Weiner. The weapon models are all pretty ugly, especially the BAR, which looks like something you'd see in your nephews toy chest. The other thing that irks me about this game is it is a WWII simulation with no M1 Garand... just pitiful.

Buy this game if:
-You have a 2.0+ ghz machine, at least 256 megs of RAM, a 64mb video card, a broadband internet connection, you enjoy poorly done vehicles and physics, and you are a glutton for punishment.

Don't buy this game if:
-You want to have fun. Your better off getting the Day of Defeat mod for Half-life ...

Not as good as the original one

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

There's ONLY 6 additional missions & they are all instant battles. The missions are harder (even in Easy mode) than the original. There's a few new weapons, vehicles, & airplanes. On the Allied side, there's 1 mission where you play as the Americans, 3 as the Frenches, & 2 as the Britishes. The Italians' uniform (not uniforms, ...) looks a lot like the Americans' one which can be a little confusing when the "name" of the soldier does not appear (happens sometime) on top of him. & the Frenches wear the Britishes' parachutist uniform.

I beg to differ...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Since the second X-Pack (Secret Weapons) is going to be released in about two weeks, I thought it might be interesting to provide my thoughts on the very first X-Pack (Road to Rome) which was released some months ago...

Most of the reviews for the first X-Pack on this Amazon page are quite old and were made right after the Road to Rome X-Pack was released. They are positive reviews; but I would suggest that should those very same reviewers write about 'Road to Rome' today, they may indeed have a different perspective on this first X-Pack.

As much as I loved the Original 'Battlefield 1942', I was ultimately quite disappointed with 'Road to Rome'. Indeed today, current on-line 'Battlefield' players seldom play the 'Road to' maps anymore and instead prefer to play the original 'Battlefield' maps. The 'Road' x-pack provided inferior weapons, unacceptable map gliches (to be mentioned later), silly placement of defensive fixed weapons (such as AA guns in unlikely defensive deployments), and an overall uninteresting and rather boring gaming experience. As one writer (at another on-line forum) put it, 'why would I want to spend money on an X-Pack that gives me weaker weapons than in the original Battlefield?' Granted EA was trying to be 'historically correct' as the weapons of the 'French'or 'Italian' armies (in 'Road to Rome')were certainly inferior to the armies (US, Russia, Germany, Japan,)found in the original 'Battlefield' game. But 'historical correctness' does not make for a fun x-pack game; especially when your weapons are weaker than the original 'Battlefield' game and are less fun to play or use.

Regarding the 'Road to ...' maps, they are beautifully detailed, and richer in devlopment and scope than the original 'Battlefield' maps. Unfortunately, they are also much more boring to play--hence today they are rarely played on the Internet; while the original 'Battlefield' maps continue to be played daily. They 'Road to Rome' X-Pack maps are boring for a number of reasons, some of which I will detail here:

1) Unfixed Map gliches: Of all of the 'Road to Rome' maps, the best map is 'Husky.' Husky however also has a map glitch which renders it almost unwinnable by the Axis Team unless the Ally team is populated by veritable newbies to the game. I speak of course of the 'infamous' wall gliche which allows Allies to sneak around the back of the map by climbing (not x-pack jumping which was even worse until patched, this is a permanent wall glitch)a wall/hill which was designed to be insurmountable. Well, the designers made a mistake and haven't fixed it. Therefore the Ally team wins this map virtually every time (unless newbies are involved). It's really a shame because except for this (albeit huge) glich, the 'Husky' map would be one of the best of any of the maps, including the originals.

2) Poor design and deployment of fixed placement defensive weapons: Well, the AA gun emplacements come to mind. The 'Road to Rome' X-pack seemed to have been designed during a period in which the EA designers were too heavily influenced by 'pilots' on their own staff, or perhaps by game-testers who were too heavily airplane oriented. Thus we got the 1.3 patch and the 'Road to Rome' maps with some very strange AA gun locations which render them almost useless. To give EA credit, they have since tried to rectify this particular issue with the 1.4 Patch which brings the AA gun back into the game by making them more effetive against planes (In essence, they reverted back to the 1.2 patch). Unfortunately the 1.4 Patch cannot help the AA guns too much in the 'Road to Rome' maps as the permanent deployment of most (not all, just most) of the AA guns are too far away from the normal traffic patterns of airplanes and just about everything else.

3) Maps like 'Cassino': I must state that I actually like the Monte Cassino map though I know that most people detest it. The idea was sound, and the map was designed for the (French) allies to win with heavy artillary, ala The Priests. This, of course, requires a strong coordinated effort by a like-minded team willing to work as a team and as an army. Well, unless you are in a clan or you play with a bunch of team players (whom you know), this 'heavy artillary' strategy is rendered in-effective as soon as this map begins. Instead the true 'usable' strategy which has devloped (and works mainly vs. poorer axis players) is to try to sneak an infantryman through the killing zone, sneak to the back of the map, capture the monastery flags and work your way down the hill. Not a sound strategy against truly good players.

3) Santa Croce Map: Well the problem with this map is that it's really just the 'BattleAxe' map (round and round you go capturing and losing flags) only not as fun...

In summary, the 'Road to Rome' X-pack just isn't very fun to play and THAT is the first rule of thumb for any game or X-pack. It's gotta be fun. Hopefully the upcoming 'Secret Weapons' will include weapons and maps that are a) fun and b)not inferior to the original 'Battlefield' weapons and maps.

Too many things in no depth

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: February 14, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I'm not saying this is not a good game. But certainly this is NOT one of the best WW2 games. Yes, it has almost everything you want to see in battle. Infantry, tanks, bombers, fighters, aircraft carriers, jeeps and so on. But it fails to make players feel the thrill of battlefield and experience WW2. In BF1942, all weapons and equipments are too simple and unreal. Moreover, it is ridiculous that you can identify friend/foe with name tags from a distance. Well... enjoyable if you don't know about WW2 and don't care the reality of battlefield. But this is not for WW2 fans like me.

Half an expansion

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: February 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This expansion adds a few new vehicles (which play like the old ones) and French/Italian troops (which play like the old ones). I've played through the new maps and they look and play a lot like the original ones.

In my opinion a good expansion is one that I can't stand to play the game without. With Road to Rome, I really couldn't care less. I enjoy many of the original maps better.

Good Expansion, but low value for the money

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: April 13, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This expansion, is good, don't get me wrong. But it seems very lacking. There are very few things which are actually new.

It just feels like it wasn't completed, every new map seems easily recreated if there were a map editor. And most of the weapons and vehicles, while true to their history, seems gameplay-wise, a remodelled version of what was already there.

They also did not see fit to add in any sort of single-player campaign option for the new maps.

Overall it's pretty good, it does expand the map repertoire of the best multiplayer game available, but it just leaves you thinking they should've done more for the $...

Buy only if you use multiplayer

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

BF1942 is my favorite game for the pc right now. I was excited that there was going to be an expansion, but disappointed that not that much was 'expanded'. New vehicles, maps, French and Italian forces, and fixed bayonets for engineers are the only things new for this game. I was looking forward to the single play campaign, but the game doesn't even incorporate the new maps into it. I think that the designers could have added a little more to make it worth buying. If you like multiplayer gaming, maybe you should buy this game, but still, it seems like a lot for so little.

Great Upgrade to a Fantastic Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 34 / 34
Date: February 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

BF:1942 Road to Rome (RTR) is a satisfying, well-priced upgrade to an already top notch multiplayer first person shooter.

Don't be put off by the seemingly few additions to the game. The 5+ maps, additional weapons, and new vehicles add TONS of new strategies, tactics, and of course replay value. You're not just getting re-skinned variants of BF:1942 tanks, planes, and fortifications - you're getting a whole new battleground experience that significantly alters the way you approach each objective.

BF:1942 has never been a strong single player game, and this expansion is no exception. Like the original, if you don't enjoy online gaming, this is not something you should buy. There has been some single player "bot" improvement in this expansion, but the game's forte is multiplayer. Gamespy Arcade is included but I would recommend to ignore it and immediately download All Seeing Eye for your BF1942 game matching. DSL and Cable modem users should stick to games with less than 40 players, regardless of Ping, or risk choppy gameplay.

This expansion (especially the vehicles) focuses much more strongly on teamwork. Many of the new vehicles are only effective when you have multiple people inside, each manning a position. When on a public server, finally you have a chance of NOT being ignored when you "Request a Pickup". Friendly aircraft camping is still too common, and some vehicles, such as the stationary artillery cannon, look great but have very limited use in most battlefield situations.

The maps so far are a mixed bag. All are interesting and have multiple and creative ways to conquer flags. I have noticed that most game outcomes lean heavily on the team that somehow grabs the most flags in the first couple of minutes of gametime. It's far too easy to grab a few key flags, overwhelm the opposing team, and then spawn camp until the rest of the enemy tickets count down.

At least half of every new game I've joined has resulted in this overwhelming inbalance - very different from the original BF1942 maps. The number of vehicles available in each map compounds this problem, and it's not uncommon to find a talented and patient enemy team constantly bombarding your only spawn point with two artillery guns, four tanks, and three bombers. It grows very tiresome to wait out a 20+ second respawn on a public server just to be immediately destroyed by campers - who you really can't blame too much, because they currently have no other flags to claim or objectives to meet. Additionally, many flags have a *very* small capture radius, and it sometimes seems like you need to practically wrap your legs around a flag pole for 20+ seconds in order to capture it.

RTR's aircraft have been significantly enhanced, while flak and normal hand-held gun damage to planes has been reduced. Most of RTR's aircraft seem to take as much damage as a BF:1942 B-17 bomber, thus making an adept pilot a ridiculously overpowered force. Enemy planes now do more damage to other planes, increasing the need for dogfighting.

However, a very common tactic is to continually bomb and strafe an enemy airfield, reducing a losing team's effort to launch interceptors to defend against the bombers. AA guns are also relatively scarce in the expanion maps. Unlike the original game, aircraft are truly a force to be feared. This may sound more realistic, but in the balanced, arcade-style gameplay of BF:1942 it doesn't work well. On most of the new maps, an above average pilot can just devastate the opposing team. Hopefully this inbalance will be addressed in an upcoming patch.

Many users have reported sound problems (Audigy cards especially) wth this expansion, and many sounds (and some graphics) have been replaced. Personally, I like the new sounds, but many others in multiplayer do not, and expect to hear them complain. Graphics remain fantastic, and although RtR does not play as smooth (or load as fast) as the recent, 1.3 BF:1942 patch, chances are it will soon.

Despite the above listed gameplay issues, you can't go wrong. It's a great priced, solid expansion to a wonderful multiplayer game.

More of the same, plus some bonuses.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Since the only other review here is a "I haven't played this, but..." review, I figured I'd stick my two cents in here. First off, if you haven't realized it yet, this is an expansion pack and you'll need to have Battlefield: 1942 to play this expansion. If you already have that, you should have some idea of what you think of the game. This expansion is a little more of the same, plus a couple bonuses. There are six new maps included in the expansion, all enjoyable to play. There are a lot more maps like the original's Omaha Beach map; maps where one team has a very tough battle, but the pay off if they win is great. There are also quite a few maps which are completely balanced, in which neither team has an advantage when starting off. There are a couple new light tanks and some twin engine planes which are just way to powerful (they can drop more bombs/minute than the B-17 and fly much better/easier). If you enjoy BF:1942 and think you'll play more than 10 more hours of the game, this expansion is worth your cash in my opinion.

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