Students Blog

Before I got any further, let me define flow as talked about by Csikszentmihalyi. Basically, flow is the concept that when someone is engrossed in a game and loses all sense of time and “reality.” Great games are designed to make the user achieve flow easily. Flow is achieved by a correlation between skill and challenge. As the skill lever increases, so does the challenge, or as the challenge increases, so does the player’s skill. When there is a direct equivalent of challenge to skill, flow is achieved.

When I went back to play Battlefield 1942 again, I found myself temporarily lost. I had spent so much time play the newer Battlefield games, Battlefield Vietnam and Battlefield 2, that I had forgotten what it was like to play the original. As a consequence, I found myself playing as if I were a nearly new player to the game and trying to re-learn the dynamics of the game. I got the hang of it, but my skills were not nearly what they were before; however, I found that completely irrelevant, as I quickly found myself lost in the flow.

The major reason I rate Battlefield 1942 so high in terms of its flow is because you can adapt the gameplay to fit your level of expertise. Even though there is a myriad of different players online ranging from expert to novice, you can still find a challenge no matter what you do. First, the character selection adds to the challenge. Second, the variety of vehicles and styles keeps the game interesting. Third, the selection of maps makes for a great challenge and variety.

The character selection is a great feature that keeps the game moving. You are presented with five basic types, or kits, each with a separate weapon and fighting style, though grenades, pistols, and knives are standard for all characters. That in itself is enough to keep you engrossed in the game. For example, when you choose to spawn, are you going to take the assault kit and try to take out people in a hail of bullets? Are do you take the scout kit and pick people off from a distance? Or maybe you know you will be facing a lot of vehicles, so the anti-tank or engineer kits might be the best option. These choices provide a great depth of challenge. The novice can learn to take people out with the assault kit. Then, when the player becomes more skilled and wants to spice things up, the player can choose a different kit and is presented with a completely new set of skills to master.

As if that wasn’t enough, the addition of vehicles adds to the styles of gameplay. Tanks, jeeps, airplanes, ships, APC’s, mobile artillery, and more all add an even more in-depth level of gameplay. If the player has become bored of running around on foot, or a little upset at being blown up by a tank repeatedly, then the player can grab a vehicle and is again presented with a whole new set of skills that the player must learn. And combine this option with the player kit selection and the difficulty can increase drastically: does the player take the engineering kit to keep the vehicle at full health, or does the player take assault to run into the enemy with the vehicle only to jump out before the vehicle is destroyed and lay waste to the enemy on foot? And these are just a few options.

Once the player starts to feel comfortable and begins to get the hang of it, the game ends, and a new map is loaded, which really keeps the game interesting. The types of maps are extremely varied and each one calls for a unique style of play. Some almost require the player to enter a vehicle to succeed, while others are best suited for a player on foot. Not only that, each map can be played in different ways. By using the main roads and obvious access points, the strategic points of the map can be reached; however, there are always other ways to reach a point. When a frontal assault fails, the player is forced to explore the map for weaknesses in the enemy’s defenses. All of these options add to the already many layers to make this game truly challenging for any player.

Now, before one gets lost in all of this complexity, let me reiterate again that these options are by choice. The new player will find just as much challenge as an experienced veteran by choosing how to play the game. This is what gives the game such great flow. As your skills increase so does the complexity. Every time the game is played, something new can be discovered, and it is extremely easy to get lost in the game world and ignore reality.

The other players also add to the challenge and skill. By combining players of different skills and placing them on the same team, they work together towards a common goal. All of the players make the teams relatively equal, so a sense of cohesiveness is achieved. This unity is what DeKoven defines as CoLiberation. This oneness and working together to the collective experience and challenge to increase the flow of the game.

When the player logs onto the server and joins a game, the player can instantly feel like they are part of the game and part of a team. As you see your teammates rush forth, you have this urge to protect them and follow along in a common goal. You type to your teammates and strategize to win the game. This CoLiberation makes the game a great multiplayer experience and very rewarding. The player really feels like a soldier doing there small part to win the war for the team.

However, the interaction is not just in the team aspect. When a member of the opposite team does something great, even if it is detrimental to your team, that player is congratulated. For example, one player was flying around and took out three tanks on my team in an extremely beautiful set of rapid moves, and we were more awestruck and inspired than mad at having died; we congratulated the player, and it felt like everyone was working together to have fun and the outcome wasn’t as important.

Battlefield 1942 can be equated to a game of chess: there are different pieces on the board each meant to be played in a certain way. But the truly great players will learn how to use these pieces in truly unique and powerful ways. However, whether you are a novice or a veteran, the game is challenging and fun. Thus, Battlefield 1942 is a time tested game that has great flow because the skill and challenge increase at equivalent rates.