Today, I completed my 50 hours with EU and got the service medal. I only started (again) because some clanmates decided to give the booster a(nother) try and go for the medal. My first impressions of EF (equalling about 50 hours total but just about 27 with the EU forces) weren't too positive and so I simply decided to abandon it soon after it had been released.
Well, as if it wasn't enough of a bad sign that there's just a few EF servers left, I did not see either of them full ("as in filled to capacity") in the past week, except for a european 20 player IO Great Wall, which, despite of retarded power-hungry nerds as admins, was still the most enjoyable EF experience I look back to, after having played the booster for about 75 hours.
It took me a while to understand the greatness of the Special Forces expansion pack, which I had also already abandoned after playing it for a few dozen hours. In fact, I realised that after a long break from SF and on return playing with a very skilled infantry player and squadleader (yes, the talk is about Nasty_Butler).
Either way, EF is far from being great. It's boring. The maps may have a certain appealing flair around them, but gameplay-wise, they just combine the worst aspects of Operation Clean Sweep and Zatar Wetlands - which basically drive the BF2 foodchain to the extreme: jets & bombers >>>> helos >>> armor >> grunt > sand. You may score a lot as a grunt, if you manage to make your way past all those who come before you in the foodchain and manage to cap a few flags, but you're more likely to just be cannon fodder.
I used to like Great Wall when I first played EF, and I still think it has a lot of potential, especiall in IO mode. However, some of the shit I had to endure due to the lack of servers spoiled the fun for me and I doubt I'll be playing that map online again.
To cut a long story short, I got my medal and after having spent about 75 hours online and another 25 in LANs and single player, the feeling of wasted ~10 bucks is gone. Would I buy the expansion again? Rather not. Would I recommend buying it? Only if you're willing to tk your way to the jets if necessary.
Well, as if it wasn't enough of a bad sign that there's just a few EF servers left, I did not see either of them full ("as in filled to capacity") in the past week, except for a european 20 player IO Great Wall, which, despite of retarded power-hungry nerds as admins, was still the most enjoyable EF experience I look back to, after having played the booster for about 75 hours.
It took me a while to understand the greatness of the Special Forces expansion pack, which I had also already abandoned after playing it for a few dozen hours. In fact, I realised that after a long break from SF and on return playing with a very skilled infantry player and squadleader (yes, the talk is about Nasty_Butler).
Either way, EF is far from being great. It's boring. The maps may have a certain appealing flair around them, but gameplay-wise, they just combine the worst aspects of Operation Clean Sweep and Zatar Wetlands - which basically drive the BF2 foodchain to the extreme: jets & bombers >>>> helos >>> armor >> grunt > sand. You may score a lot as a grunt, if you manage to make your way past all those who come before you in the foodchain and manage to cap a few flags, but you're more likely to just be cannon fodder.
I used to like Great Wall when I first played EF, and I still think it has a lot of potential, especiall in IO mode. However, some of the shit I had to endure due to the lack of servers spoiled the fun for me and I doubt I'll be playing that map online again.
To cut a long story short, I got my medal and after having spent about 75 hours online and another 25 in LANs and single player, the feeling of wasted ~10 bucks is gone. Would I buy the expansion again? Rather not. Would I recommend buying it? Only if you're willing to tk your way to the jets if necessary.
Proud member of a dead community.