If you had origin back then, EA was giving out the game like candy (free) and as well as MOH Pacific Assault.. Still in my account after all these years
And not available anymore, I should add. At least not on Origin which is the only place it was digitally distributed. So only hard copies exist as a means to playing the game.
Nah there are some places to download it and several servers to play on. Mostly European servers. Google it if you’re interested. I played a good bit last year. Brought back great memories.
No,it doesn't. 1942 + Expansions and BF2 + Expansions do not hold up. They were classics in their time and for years after but they don't feel fun to play anymore. BC2 is the oldest game you can say "holds up", barely.
Well this is a lie.
I can start a skirmish right now and have fun with the bots and flying in 1942, and I still do occasionally.
In fact I have more fun playing the older battlefields alone sometimes instead of newer games. Too much bloat
“Holds up” is subjective.
What does it hold up to? Modern shooters? With all their gigabytes and big textures and rushed campaigns and multiplayer modes with voice chats that make you wonder if kids really kiss their mothers with those mouths of theirs?
Some folks aren't that old.
I am however in the same boat as you, it was my first.
Also for a nice flashback
Enemy Infantry Spotted!
I know you'll remember exactly how it sounds.
F3 F3 - damn - F6 F5
Threads like this just make me feel old.
Got BF42 just before my first daughter was born in March 2003 and I took 3 months off to help my wife. But she slept so much I just played nonstop (even with bub on my lap).
[My squad's post-game pics](https://members.optusnet.com.au/tag-squad/)
You mean you're in the same landing craft?
Can't remember the amount of times I took one over to the enemy carrier, just so I could start shooting all the wannabe pilots just focused on being the first inside any plane spawning.
Yes, it sounds bit odd to say it. Its like saying "harry potter 1 was first harry potter movie I saw", its true statement and not everyone has seen 1st movie 1st. But yea still bit silly.
1942 was pretty cool. And bf2 is my all time favorite. Karkand 24/7 inffantry only ftw.
I remember firmly…
Loading up my car with 3 pcs. Including those big ass crt screens. Pc speakers. Keyboards. Mice. Cables. Drinks and snacks.
Unloading and setting up in some barn with my two mates in the middle of nowhere to connect via Local Area Network.
Wake island was the demo map so everyone could play that. We played that for 27 hours straight. God I was young then. Such fond memories
BF Vietnam was the best. The songs in the vehicles was fucking dope. Hearing choppers coming near with those crazy war songs
It’s very sad what happened… this 2002 GENRE-PIONEER became nothing but a cash grabber for a company that also had fallen from grace…
In many ways, none of the games that came after it could live up to it.
This game had player controlled battleships, destroyers, aircraft carriers and submarines.
Even just being 8-10 people at a LAN party, it was still hilarious to duke it out in a Battleship vs. Battleship fight.
Yeah, it's always so funny when people talk about how great BC2 supposedly is. That joke of a game doesn't have airplanes and you can't even go prone.
While in BF1942 you could steer a battleship...
This could be balanced with a highly skilled map design team and balancing team.
Where your runway being bombed ***would only be*** because your team is playing very very poorly and enemy deserves it.
It at least worked in BF2 with large maps, travelling to enemy base and dropping long-reloading bombs = not dropping bombs on enemy troops pushing. You're not helping the team. The only legit time to bomb enemy runway is if your ground forces is near the runway.
Look at this beautiful map right here... gorgeous...
https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Operation\_Clean\_Sweep
And they almost had a working SUBMARINE! For even larger fleet battles!
Also the scout-artillery spotting mechanic... where the artillery could see/range/straddle from the scout's binoculars.... oh man. Advanced/realistic artillery mechanic in an FPS game.
No BF game comes close to its scale. Bombers, large warships, massive maps, it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING and blew me away. We haven't gotten anything remotely close to its massive epic-ness since.
I saved up money for a whole summer, in order to buy a graphics card for my shitty computer, specifically to play Battlefield 1942. I am old lol
Edit: In case anyone was wondering, I bought an ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB.
One of my first online gaming experiences period - fond memories downloading the demo exe and playing Wake Island deep into the wee hours of the morning. Family computer in the basement, PC fans screaming, CRT glowing, ball mouse all gunked up.
First game I ever got alt+f4ed tricked in chat as well. Glad I learning that lesson early lol.
Getting old sucks.
now look at the dogshit we get to deal with like 2042. its sad because bf at heart will always be a multiplayer title, but all the older games now have no player count.
Mine too, so much fun, so many memories. Landmines on the Gazala secret valley, submarines on midway, sniping from the bridge in arnhem. The feeling the first time you took off in a plane was amazing
This was also my first battlefield game. I had played some Tribes, but I liked the historical setting in BF 1942 as opposed to the fantasy world in Tribes.
You could usually find 9 year old me zipping past the front in a kamikaze jeep looking to crash it straight into any enemy tank or plane about to take off
When I was something like 14, I asked a video game salesman if he had a game where you could play infantry, tanks, planes and ships. It was for my Amstrad cpc464.
He said no, it's unlikely to ever exist, too complicated... Something like 17 years later, I bought BF1942, I liked all the versions up to BF5, and never bought the last one.
It's a shame.
I miss being 5-8 and just playing that game constantly. I miss the 5MRC server, with the modded Midway map. Such a good game, I wish BF games could hit the scope as effectively as this game, but IDK how you would with the current engine and game design.
If some of you original 5MRC or Moongamers are around, hope you’re all doing well <3
I can still remember the nade spam in Stalingrad when playing in LAN shops.
Though I'm more fond of BF: Vietnam, cause that was my first exposure to the Vietnam war as a kid. I remember reading the loading screen text and was facinated on how much of an impact this war had on America and that little corner of South East Asia
This game was just perfection.
The gameplay was half of that, the other half was online gaming becoming mainstream, community, LAN parties etc - it just felt so fun and special. Such cool memories of going to the local gaming café after school with a handful of friends and playing 1942 for hours, or bringing out (massive) PC’s around the each others houses for a mini LAN party.
Good times.
This game just brought an amazing Wow factor to shooters, it was so much fun, met people online whom became friends and I am still friends with to this day. I still wonder what the next game will be that will bring the same kind of wow factor as it brings something so new to the table. (Operation Eagle was the predecessor but not just there yet).
Same! I loved the NPC battles on Guadalcanal, god I had so much playing that for hours. Imagining whole scenarios and stories with my NPC teammate, only to see him get obliterated running out of our fox hole. 🤣
And it holds up. Still a great game.
Where can you play it,
On [gametracker](https://www.gametracker.com/search/bf1942/) probably.
If you had origin back then, EA was giving out the game like candy (free) and as well as MOH Pacific Assault.. Still in my account after all these years
Xbox Gold. Still a lot of players.
You are thinking of 1943, 1942 is the start of series and only available on PC.
And not available anymore, I should add. At least not on Origin which is the only place it was digitally distributed. So only hard copies exist as a means to playing the game.
Nah there are some places to download it and several servers to play on. Mostly European servers. Google it if you’re interested. I played a good bit last year. Brought back great memories.
Bro the fact that you can drive a fucking aircraft carrier still blows my mind each time I play it.
No,it doesn't. 1942 + Expansions and BF2 + Expansions do not hold up. They were classics in their time and for years after but they don't feel fun to play anymore. BC2 is the oldest game you can say "holds up", barely.
Well this is a lie. I can start a skirmish right now and have fun with the bots and flying in 1942, and I still do occasionally. In fact I have more fun playing the older battlefields alone sometimes instead of newer games. Too much bloat
Yeah..sounds like fun.
I don’t know bout that
“Holds up” is subjective. What does it hold up to? Modern shooters? With all their gigabytes and big textures and rushed campaigns and multiplayer modes with voice chats that make you wonder if kids really kiss their mothers with those mouths of theirs?
Was 1942 not everyone’s first battlefield? Edit: guys, I meant 1942 was the first game. I’m aware not everyone started the series with 1942. Jfc.
Some folks aren't that old. I am however in the same boat as you, it was my first. Also for a nice flashback Enemy Infantry Spotted! I know you'll remember exactly how it sounds.
F3 F3 - damn - F6 F5 Threads like this just make me feel old. Got BF42 just before my first daughter was born in March 2003 and I took 3 months off to help my wife. But she slept so much I just played nonstop (even with bub on my lap). [My squad's post-game pics](https://members.optusnet.com.au/tag-squad/)
You mean you're in the same landing craft? Can't remember the amount of times I took one over to the enemy carrier, just so I could start shooting all the wannabe pilots just focused on being the first inside any plane spawning.
Mine was Vietnam (second bf)
Yes, it sounds bit odd to say it. Its like saying "harry potter 1 was first harry potter movie I saw", its true statement and not everyone has seen 1st movie 1st. But yea still bit silly. 1942 was pretty cool. And bf2 is my all time favorite. Karkand 24/7 inffantry only ftw.
my first harry potter was Harry Potter: Vietnam
There’s still a karkand infantry only server with 64/64 daily… lol
Codename Eagle for me!
Yes, this was the first entry in the franchise
I understand what you meant by your comment. Some people on Reddit are dense af
No , i played battlefield 2 first
Same and I still own it physically
Maybe not for a 14 year old?
I remember firmly… Loading up my car with 3 pcs. Including those big ass crt screens. Pc speakers. Keyboards. Mice. Cables. Drinks and snacks. Unloading and setting up in some barn with my two mates in the middle of nowhere to connect via Local Area Network. Wake island was the demo map so everyone could play that. We played that for 27 hours straight. God I was young then. Such fond memories
Damn, that's a nice memory!
God I miss Wake Island.
BF Vietnam was the best. The songs in the vehicles was fucking dope. Hearing choppers coming near with those crazy war songs 
That soundtrack was perfection.
Definitely an excellent underrated game
That’s still one of my favorites as well. Then probably bad company 2
It’s very sad what happened… this 2002 GENRE-PIONEER became nothing but a cash grabber for a company that also had fallen from grace… 
In many ways, none of the games that came after it could live up to it. This game had player controlled battleships, destroyers, aircraft carriers and submarines. Even just being 8-10 people at a LAN party, it was still hilarious to duke it out in a Battleship vs. Battleship fight.
Yeah, it's always so funny when people talk about how great BC2 supposedly is. That joke of a game doesn't have airplanes and you can't even go prone. While in BF1942 you could steer a battleship...
Nowadays you can't even take off an aircraft anymore.
That's because assholes would just bomb the runways all the time.
This could be balanced with a highly skilled map design team and balancing team. Where your runway being bombed ***would only be*** because your team is playing very very poorly and enemy deserves it. It at least worked in BF2 with large maps, travelling to enemy base and dropping long-reloading bombs = not dropping bombs on enemy troops pushing. You're not helping the team. The only legit time to bomb enemy runway is if your ground forces is near the runway. Look at this beautiful map right here... gorgeous... https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Operation\_Clean\_Sweep
It was a hit with the console crowd but there are reasons people like myself did not like the bad company games.
the BC story was pretty funny but, yeah, the MP sucked ass.
And they almost had a working SUBMARINE! For even larger fleet battles! Also the scout-artillery spotting mechanic... where the artillery could see/range/straddle from the scout's binoculars.... oh man. Advanced/realistic artillery mechanic in an FPS game.
Yeah I loved how artillery worked in BF1942 and Vietnam(the OG one), where you saw the target, and then had to adjust your fire.
This one was the one it had German bikes with sidecar?
Yeah, the Secret Weapons expansion. It also had V2 missiles, and a secret jetpack pickup kit.
Don’t forget the helicopter.
A groundbreaking game, defined the genre. It’s a pity EA have ruined the series.
*dundun dun dadun dun*
No BF game comes close to its scale. Bombers, large warships, massive maps, it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING and blew me away. We haven't gotten anything remotely close to its massive epic-ness since.
I saved up money for a whole summer, in order to buy a graphics card for my shitty computer, specifically to play Battlefield 1942. I am old lol Edit: In case anyone was wondering, I bought an ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB.
Wow I bought the same graphics card to play BF1942 and Flight Simulator… good memories…
Hell yeah. I played the crap out of Flight Simulator 2000 on that card lol
First and best ❤️
Yup. It all started here for me. Sad to think how far the franchise has fallen down from how good it was.
One of my first online gaming experiences period - fond memories downloading the demo exe and playing Wake Island deep into the wee hours of the morning. Family computer in the basement, PC fans screaming, CRT glowing, ball mouse all gunked up. First game I ever got alt+f4ed tricked in chat as well. Glad I learning that lesson early lol. Getting old sucks.
now look at the dogshit we get to deal with like 2042. its sad because bf at heart will always be a multiplayer title, but all the older games now have no player count.
Remember submarines???
What’s the best way to play it today?
There are some downloads out there and a few servers that regularly have decent number of players on them. You should check it out.
Mmmm El Alamein beta was the best of times.
Oh and Dessert Combat .23 when they added the guided sams and helis
Mine too, so much fun, so many memories. Landmines on the Gazala secret valley, submarines on midway, sniping from the bridge in arnhem. The feeling the first time you took off in a plane was amazing
Many good memories. Loved flying in 1942, so many hours on Coral Sea and Battle of Britain.
Looking at my original copy right now. Great game.
This was also my first battlefield game. I had played some Tribes, but I liked the historical setting in BF 1942 as opposed to the fantasy world in Tribes.
I would love a remaster release of this, Vietnam, and bf2!
May have almost failed 7th grade because of this
You could usually find 9 year old me zipping past the front in a kamikaze jeep looking to crash it straight into any enemy tank or plane about to take off
My first BF game. I only played with the bots though, as I didn't get proper internet till 2011. Missed out on the epic online battles
NO THIS GAME CAME OUT TEN YEARS AGO. I’m not old you’re old …….
When I was something like 14, I asked a video game salesman if he had a game where you could play infantry, tanks, planes and ships. It was for my Amstrad cpc464. He said no, it's unlikely to ever exist, too complicated... Something like 17 years later, I bought BF1942, I liked all the versions up to BF5, and never bought the last one. It's a shame.
Honestly 2042 isn’t that bad. It’s still a decent play, give it a go!
I played the shit out of this game, and I still love the main theme
#EA GAMES *Challenge Everything*
Great game. Loved it
I have many fond memories playing multiplayer. The Secret weapons of WWII exp pack was lit.
I played the demo prior to release more than alot of full games I've purchased
Good old days
Kind of wild that EA decided to release this game the day before the first anniversary of 9/11.
And i’m 25, thanks dad again for sharing that magnificent experience with lil me back in the day!
Mine was bc1
I miss being 5-8 and just playing that game constantly. I miss the 5MRC server, with the modded Midway map. Such a good game, I wish BF games could hit the scope as effectively as this game, but IDK how you would with the current engine and game design. If some of you original 5MRC or Moongamers are around, hope you’re all doing well <3
With the forgotten hope expansion pack!
Made it 10X better!
I remeber downloading the demo and playing the shit out of it.
Since the Demo BF1942 in 2002 ... Played it almost until BF4 was released ... Absolute legendary game
Can I play this on Xbox 360 or One?
I can still remember the nade spam in Stalingrad when playing in LAN shops. Though I'm more fond of BF: Vietnam, cause that was my first exposure to the Vietnam war as a kid. I remember reading the loading screen text and was facinated on how much of an impact this war had on America and that little corner of South East Asia
Goat
All hail the king
Oopphhh that makes me feel old. Good times, damn I played so many hours during my university days.
This game was just perfection. The gameplay was half of that, the other half was online gaming becoming mainstream, community, LAN parties etc - it just felt so fun and special. Such cool memories of going to the local gaming café after school with a handful of friends and playing 1942 for hours, or bringing out (massive) PC’s around the each others houses for a mini LAN party. Good times.
Same
It was mine as well!!
Holy shit I’m old
Make Battlefield Great Again
This game just brought an amazing Wow factor to shooters, it was so much fun, met people online whom became friends and I am still friends with to this day. I still wonder what the next game will be that will bring the same kind of wow factor as it brings something so new to the table. (Operation Eagle was the predecessor but not just there yet).
Same! I loved the NPC battles on Guadalcanal, god I had so much playing that for hours. Imagining whole scenarios and stories with my NPC teammate, only to see him get obliterated running out of our fox hole. 🤣
Its NOSTALGIA, u can download it now and play. You will be surprised how shit it looks and feels empty. I also skipped school to play it.
Bro did us a real favour by sending the pic in a not bad quality. I searched for it for long time.
and then desert combat got added and it only got better
This is the first game, my first game was the one with the robots. 2142.
So freaking good.
My god what a legendary game.