While Battlefield 2: Modern Combat doesn’t push the 360’s hardware to the extremes, the graphics in EA’s latest first person shooter are certainly worth noting. The environments all look great, and the player models shine in the same manner. It’s not to say, however, that the game isn’t without its graphical glitches. The most notable is in the horrible shadows that are generated from the environments. These shadows are extremely pixilated and tend to be very choppy as they get displayed. Also very noteworthy is that when going into a building, the snow outside disappears altogether and magically reappears the moment you step through the doorway.

As far as the audio goes, Modern Combat includes all of the bells and whistles of your typical FPS. Everything ranging from the sounds emitted by your gun barrels, to the explosions of bazookas and tanks, all help keep you in the middle of the action without detaching you the way some games tend to do. The voices used in the game are great as well, but (like most games) online talking still needs improvement. The music in this title is also great and helps keep you in the action, even while in the menus.

Battling its way to your Xbox 360 is EA’s Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, a first person shooter that has a lot of personality, but is also not without its problems. The action of the single player game is fun, but a bit repetitive. As you progress through each of the game’s levels, you’ll be given a set of goals to accomplish, with more opening as you continue. Because of the setup involved, there is no ability to save until you fully complete the missions’ objectives. Unfortunately, this means that one screw-up will force you to replay the entire mission, sometimes causing a very frustrating experience.

In order to realize the potential of Modern Combat, you’ll need to take advantage of the Hotswap button. This button allows you to quickly take control of any visible friendly soldiers in the area. As long as you have visual contact with them, you can step into their shoes and gain a better vantage point on the action. This is the ultimate key to success, as it is the only way to truly rule your territory and eliminate the enemy’s forces.

To practice this Hotswapping technique, as well as other gameplay elements, Battlefield 2 does have a small Challenge mode. But where Modern Combat really shines is definitely the online multiplayer. While the single player experience lacks fun after some time, the online multiplayer experience is grand. Up to 24 players can take to the battlefield, with two sides controlling the action (US vs. Soviet). You’ll be able to hop into vehicles, choose your type of soldier (Assault, Sniper, etc.) between deaths, and join an online Clan if you choose.

It’s just unfortunate that a game with some great potential has so many glaring problems. The single player experience often feels like you’re on "rails" because when you replay the missions after dying, the enemy AI does the exact same thing and uses the exact same positions each and every time. That aside, the beautiful graphics in Battlefield 2 have serious problems. Most notably, the shadows are horrific, as they flicker with each step that you take, and are flat-out ugly with their low resolution. The other major take-away from an otherwise good game is that aiming your gun (especially with it zoomed in with a weapon like the sniper rifle) is a bit choppy. And finally... where is the OFFline multiplayer? Not everyone has broadband Internet, and those who don’t are going to be extremely disappointed to be without a split-screen option.

If you expect to just run and gun with Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, remember this: its title is Modern Combat. And with modern warfare, strategy is as much a part of the game as gunplay. This game does a great recreation of the strategies involved in today’s battles. Your party plays an integral role in this strategy by spacing themselves out tactically, which gives you the ability to take control of the situation from different angles, adding a whole new element to the gameplay. If you don’t do this and try to play it from start to finish with the same squad mate, you will have an extremely difficult time of it. The other factor in the difficulty is that the enemy AI is horrible. For the most part, you can expect soldiers from the other side to move to the same spots and continue with the same patterns of defense and offense, making it much easier to replay levels, but also makes replaying them much more boring.

The controls of Battlefield 2: Modern Combat are spot-on. Every button serves a purpose, and all are done with excellence. If I was to get picky, the only things that I would change would be to have the ability to quickly hop to your feet or dive to the ground as you’re moving. As is, you’ll have to cycle through the prone position first. The other element that I’m not such a fan of is the swapping of weapons. For whatever reason, it feels too complicated during a heavy battle where twitch reflexes are the key to survival.

As a whole, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is a pretty good game offline and an even better game online. But without any offline multiplayer support (no 2-player or 4-player), and way too many bugs that plague the quality of the game, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat doesn’t have as much shine for those without an Internet connection. Definitely worth a rent, Modern Combat is a game that fans of the genre will absolutely want to check out.