Battlefield: 1942

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Battlefield:1942 PC Boxart Release Date: 2002 Developer: DICE Publisher: EA Series: Battlefield Platforms: PC Genre: First-Person Shooter

The first game in the hugely successful Battlefield series, Battlefield: 1942 was released in 2002 for the PC, with two expansion packs (The Road to Rome and Secret Weapons of WWII) following later.

The base game follows the main theaters of World War II, focusing primarily on the Americans, British, and Soviet forces (patches later added a mission for Canada as well) facing off against the Axis powers, Germany and Japan. The first DLC, Road to Rome focuses heavily on the Italian campaign and introduces the forces of the Free French and Fascist Italy. Secret weapons of World War II was the final expansion, and is a more fictionalized take on the war, with the British and Americans facing off against Nazi Germany, with both sides using increasingly more outlandish weapons. The game and both DLCs, alongside the Battlefield Vietnam: Redux were later made available in a box set, titled Battlefield Anthology.

The following weapons can be seen in Battlefield: 1942 and its two expansions:

Handguns

Unlike many modern first person shooters, Battlefield treats handguns as a part of a player's "kit" and therefore switching to another faction's kit (i.e., playing as the Red Army, killing a German sniper, and stealing his rifle) will result in changing handguns. This is, in reality, purely cosmetic, as both sidearms are functionally the same.

Walther P38

The Walther P38 is the standard pistol of the German and Italian forces. It has black grips and a silver finish. It is also the standard handgun of the Imperial Japanese Army, despite Japan never issuing it to their forces. Statistically, it is identical to the Colt in all respects.

Walther P38 pistol (manufactured at the Mauser Factory) - World War II dated - 9x19mm

A Russian soldier wields a Walther, taken from a German who doesn't need it anymore.

To prove a point, a very confused Japanese soldier also wields the Walther.

Not to be left out, an Italian anti-tank soldier begins the reload cycle for his Walther. Note that his slide has partially locked back, just like on the Colt. Almost as if they use the same animations...

Finishing the reload animation makes him look far too happy to be on a modern battlefield.

M1911

The M1911 (just referred as "Colt") is the standard sidearm for all Allied forces. It is highly incorrect, shown as a double-action handgun, and firing from an eight round magazine. While this would be possible when reloading with a round in the chamber, the player pulls back the slide whenever a reload is initiated. This is because it is just a reskin of the game's other handgun, inflicting the same damage, having the same capacity and rate of fire, and being just as accurate.

The pistol is the standard handgun of all American military forces, but is also seen in the hands of Commonwealth, Soviet, and Free French soldiers as well. While it's possible in the case of the Canadians and French, the British should be using a Webley revolver or Browning Hi Power (when playing as the SAS) and the Soviets instead fielded a completely different pistol.

Original Colt M1911 (dated 1913) - .45 ACP

A Soviet soldier kills a German machinegunner during the Battle of Berlin; someone has seen fit to equip him with a weapon he'd never carry in reality, and, judging by the uncocked hammer, a broken one at that.

An SAS Commando begins the process of reloading his 1911, the slide helpfully locking back for him. It's possible this is accurate to the time, as the SAS did field a few Colts chambered in .455, although it's likely more a matter of DICE programming the wrong guns. The slide has already partially locked back, for no discernible reason. The streak to the player's right is from a bazooka, though perspective conspires to make it seem the Colt is firing rockets.

A US Army Ranger, likely a member of the 101st Airborne, finishes the reload animation for his 1911. He is preparing to rack the slide; he is not applauding the empty tank before him.

Submachine Guns

Submachine guns, rather than being issued to officers or scouts (the former because they don't exist; the later because they use sniper rifles instead) are the mainstay of Battlefield's Medic Class. SMGs have roughly equivalent stopping power (which is realistically depicted as identical to the handguns), so the only real difference between them is their capacity. Some of the expansion maps feature suppressed SMGs, for variety's sake.

Maschinenpistole 40

The Maschinenpistole 40 is the standard weapon for the German and Italian Medic classes.

Maschinenpistole 40 - 9x19mm Parabellum

An Italian Medic wields an MP.40 during the invasion of Anzio.

The same Medic aims his SMG at a mildly annoyed American M3 Grant, realizing this was probably not the wisest weapon to antagonize a tank with.

Having expressed his displeasure at the cranky Yanks in the clanky tank, the Medic ejects the magazine from his SMG.

He then manages to live long enough to shove a new magazine into place...

before chambering a round in the weapon. Since the MP.40 fires from an open bolt, this shouldn't be necessary or even possible.

Sten MK.II Submachine Gun

The Sten Mk.II Submachine Gun serves as an alternative for the British and as the standard for the Free French Forces Medic class in the expansion pack Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome. A suppressed version, the Sten Mk.IIS is also available in the expansion pack Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII for the SAS Medic class.

Sten Mk.II 9x19mm Parabellum

Sten Mk.IIS - 9x19mm Parabellum

An SAS Medic holds a suppressed Sten during a raid on a German weapons factory in Secret Weapons of WWII.

The same soldier "aims" his Sten, giving us a better look at the model, including its apparently empty magazine.

M1A1 Thompson Submachine Gun

The M1A1 Thompson Submachine Gun is the standard weapon for the American, British, and Canadian Medic classes.

M1A1 Thompson Submachine Gun - .45 ACP

A member of the 101st Airborne participates in fierce fighting to the south of the famous Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest), Thompson in hand. Such a battle is completely fictional, but makes for interesting gameplay, and is the closest to historical accuracy in Secret Weapons of WWII.

Shotguns

Browning Automatic 5

Introduced in the expansion pack Secret Weapons of WWII, the Browning Automatic 5 is issued to the SAS Engineer class and is simply called "shotgun." It is the first shotgun in the series, and is extremely lethal in close quarters. Due to the game not having the ability to keep tracking individual shells (as the only other internally fed weapons are bolt action snipers with stripper clips), the A-5 has an extremely odd reload, wherein the player awkwardly tilts the weapon, apparently inserts a few shells, then pulls the charging lever; ammo is represented in full magazines, as it is for all other guns, and reloading from a non-empty magazine will result in lost shells.

The A5 is the most powerful close quarters weapon in the game, and is surprisingly deadly at range as well, often lethal from the chest up even at medium range.

Browning Automatic 5 - 12 gauge

A British SAS Engineer wields a Browning Auto 5 during a raid on a German weapons factory in Secret Weapons of WWII.

The visible portion of the A5's reloading animation, which consists of dropping the weapon out of view, then raising it back up and pulling the charging lever. Somehow, this completely empties the weapon (and destroys any unfired shells) and refills it, all in the space of about three seconds, with no noise. The Engineer in question has just gotten a kill with the weapon, and its name can be seen in the "killfeed" to the upper left.

Rifles

Despite being the most common infantry weapon of WWII, rifles are only available to two classes (if that often): the Recon (sniper) and Engineer classes. The main difference between the two is that snipers are issued a scope and less ammo, while engineers have more reloads and just the game's basic zoom mechanic.

Lee Enfield No.4 Mk.I

The Lee Enfield No.4 MK I is the standard weapon for American Army, British and Russian Engineer classes. A bayonet version is available in the expansion pack Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome for the Allied Engineer classes.

Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk.I - .303 British

An American Army Ranger Engineer holds a Lee Enfield while taking part in a battle near the Eagle's Nest, wondering why, if he must carry the wrong rifle, he can't at least have a full magazine for it.

Lee Enfield No.4 Mk.I(T)

The Lee Enfield No.4 Mk.I(T) is the standard weapon for all Allied Sniper classes. This is highly incorrect, as it should only be available to British and Commonwealth soldiers; it also has a capacity of five rounds, half that of the real rifle.

Lee Enfield No.4 Mk.I(T) - .303 British

A very confused US Army Ranger wields a scoped Lee-Enfield SMLE during an American raid on the Eagle's Nest. In reality, he should be carrying a scoped Springfield 1903 or M1 Garand; more bizarrely, the rifle only ever has five rounds in the magazine, despite the SMLE's main advantage being a 10-round capacity. This is likely for balance, as the rifle is functionally identical to the German Mauser 98k.

An SAS sniper, someone who should actually carry this rifle, works the bolt, while hunting the man who told him it can only hold five rounds at a time.

Light Machine Guns

Most "Assault Class" kits feature some form of easily man-portable LMG. Unlike the rifles and handguns, these weapons for the most part of have variable stats, although this mostly just pertains to magazine capacity.

Breda Modello 30

The Breda Modello 30 is the standard weapon for the Italian Assault class in the expansion pack Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome. It is incorrectly shown with a detachable magazine.

Breda Modello 30 - 6.5x52mm Mannlicher-Carcano

Glad he's been fortunate enough to be issued a weapon actually from his nation, an Italian assault gunner wields a Breda Modello 40 during the Battle of Anzio. Unfortanately, someone has seen fit to issue him and every other Italian in the game with a weapon whose magazine is on the wrong side.

He then immediately mistakes a fellow Italian for an invading American, with unfortunate results.

Che sera, sera he says, loading a new magazine into his LMG in a manner that should not work.

Bren Mk.2 Light Machine Gun

The Bren Mk.2 Light Machine Gun is the standard weapon for the SAS Assault class in the expansion pack Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII.

Bren Mk.2 Light Machine Gun - .303 British

The player reloads his Bren Mk.2 during an SAS raid on a German weapons plant, a burning Flak Panzer in the foreground.

M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle

The M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle is the standard weapon for American, British, and Free French Assault classes.

M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle - .30-06 Springfield

A US Army Ranger carries a BAR during a battle near the Eagle's Nest in Secret Weapons of WWII.

The same Ranger removes the magazine from his BAR, having just provided the punchline to the old joke "So three Nazis walk into a BAR..."

He then loads a new magazine into his rifle and looks for more comedic potential.

A loading screen for Road to Rome when playing on a map featuring the United States depicts an American soldier carrying a wounded comrade and a BAR.

The American Assault Class pickup model is a very low resolution BAR.

Anti-Tank Launchers

Panzerschreck

The Panzerschreck is the standard weapon for all Axis Anti-Tank classes. While it's moderately logical for the Germans and Italians to use these weapons in the numbers they do (a better choice would be the Panzerfaust), things take a turn for the surreal when Japanese soldiers wield them during the Battle of Wake Island.

Panzerschreck

"Aiming" the Panzerschrek results in the rather odd fact the model's sights are completely lined up due to the changed perspective...due to the game's mechanics, the shell will still not land anywhere near this point.

An Italian soldier armed with a Panzerschrek demonstrates what happens when it's fired at something not a panzer. Apparently someone was using this Jeep to smuggle the American invasion force's entire supply of dynamite.

A German soldier, having managed to schrek an actual panzer, reloads his AT launcher.

M1 Bazooka

The M1 Bazooka is the standard weapon for all Allied Anti-Tank classes. The bazooka is surprisingly accurate at range and is lethal anywhere, making it an oddly effective sniper rifle.

M1 Bazooka

An American Army Ranger holds an M1 Bazooka during a raid on the Eagle's Nest.

The same Ranger loads a new rocket into his launcher.

The Ranger completes his reload animation elsewhere on the map, having just put a rocket into the smoldering Sturm Panzer in the foreground.

The Ranger kills an enemy Sturm Panzer, one of the eponymous Secret Weapons of WWII with his not so secret M1 Bazooka, causing a spectacular explosion in the process.

A soldier aims his bazooka at a Panzer V during the game's opening cinematic. This is one of the few small arms shown in the FMV.