Visit the lovely frozen Germany

Enemy assault pod shooting up to the neighboring Titan pier

Out of the three new maps, one stands out as an early public favorite. Port Bavaria is perhaps the most innovative map in all of the Battlefield franchise. The EU literally faces an uphill battle as it tries to take back its Titan port from PAC forces. The EU staging area is at the bottom of a steep incline, and on the top are three Titan piers. The only way up is by launching assault pods from APCs, which makes for great breaching action and an impressive sight. The odds are stacked against EU in this map but it seems to be the only Assault Lines map where the EU has a realistic chance of taking PAC's home base, before either side's tickets run out.

View from the frozen riverbed

Northern Strike follows Battlefield 2's footsteps in recreating an old battleground in a future setting. Bridge at Remagen made an appearance as a downloadable add-on map for Battlefield 1942 and although the design is different, BF2142's Bridge at Remagen is based on the same idea: assault through a narrow choke point. The map is very large and open compared to other BF2142 maps and the game's new vehicles play a principal role here. Fighting usually gets bogged down at PAC's end of the bridge, and rounds can be pretty repetitive because of the single, easily defensible choke point. In fact, this map seems to work better in Titan mode, which gives both sides free of movement and eliminates the choke point.

Explosions look dramatic in the dark streets of Leipzig

Liberation of Leipzig is BF2142's first night map. The darker atmosphere is a welcome change, but it is actually cosmetic, as units and vehicles are quite visible in unlit areas. Only recon soldiers using their active camouflage may be harder to spot in the dark. Fixed assault pods, discussed on the previous page, distinguish Leipzig as the only pure Assault Lines map, and there is no Titan mode. Fighting in or against and EU convoy across a frozed, dark city is a thrilling experience at best, and there are many nooks, crannies and sniper nests to discover.