Death comes easy in the Battlefield 2 mod, Project Reality (PR). After waiting several minutes for a chopper ride to the front line, you’ll spend two more looking for the ideal LZ, and another five crawling on your belly through grass. Just when you’re within a grenade’s throw of the objective, the crack of an unseen sniper’s bullet sends you hurtling back to the spawn screen, where you’ll stare at a black screen for another thirty seconds. It’s very frustrating if you’re not accustomed to it, and definitely not recommended for those with the attention span of a goldfish. But it’s the realisation that all your hard work is one trigger finger away from obliteration that makes Project Reality unquestionably the most realistic, and tense, simulation of the modern battlefield available to today’s gamers.

The reason it’s so easy to meet your maker in PR is the same reason it’s so easy to die in a real conflict; today’s battlefields are full of technology designed to reach out and touch you in the blink of an eye. The mod includes many of the weapons used by the United States, Great Britain, Middle East, Russia and China, covering small arms, armour and even a select few aircraft. Each of these weapons are modelled very differently to those in vanilla BF2. New animations for many weapons accurately represent the safety checks and reloading procedures used by today’s troops, while bullets drop over distance and accuracy is minimal for the first few seconds of aiming. To successfully hit the side of a barn in PR you’ll need to drop to a knee, steady for a few seconds and then shoot. Fire from the hip or while on the move, and you’ll be lucky to hit the ground, let alone a head-sized target at range. All of the weapons have these kinds of limitations - they take longer than expected to deploy, but this pays off when you follow the correct procedure and turn your target into a cloud of fine red mist.

PR isn’t limited to the weapons of the world’s modern armies though, with the Taliban, Insurgents and Chechen militia also playing a major role. Whether it’s an IED waiting to welcome a Humvee convoy or the civilian collaborator class that can be used for spotting (kill one and your respawn timer goes through the roof while your team gets hit with a range of penalties), the developers have tried to accurately model the “other side” in today’s biggest conflicts.



Combine all of these toys from the nine factions and PR ends up with one of the most comprehensive armouries ever found in a game. Learning how to use them expertly takes months, giving this mod longevity unheard of in most of today’s casual-oriented shooters.

These forces need a place to wage war, and PR doesn’t disappoint. A mixture of real world locations and fictional maps offer plenty of combat variety. From the desert plains of Al Basrah, with its massive shanty town in the centre offering prime IED opportunities , to the lush forests of Korengal Valley, the epic vistas make vanilla BF2 maps look like mere postage stamps. Due to their immense scale, the use of vehicles is a must, and this duty is usually taken care of by a dedicated vehicle squad.

The BF2 graphics engine has been tweaked to provide a much greater draw distance, allowing you to soak in the grand scale of these maps from elevated positions. Unfortunately this has introduced the unwelcome side effect of substantial graphical glitches, which dampen the otherwise splendid visuals. While many of BF2’s original statics, such as trees and shrubs, appear to have been reused, a wide range of new objects have also been included. The end result is a game that looks much bigger and prettier than BF2, but doesn’t quite reach the lofty heights of the gorgeous Forgotten Hope 2 mod.



New armies and maps aren’t the only fresh content in PR. A mass of new gameplay mechanics have been added. From the ability to guide a friendly A-10 (piloted by another player) on to its target via a laser, to the kit system which limits high value weapons to a select few players, the PR devs have gone to town in this regard.

Some might argue that they’ve gone a little too far though, making the learning curve for PR feel more like a learning cliff. To this we answer, RTFM... all 38 pages of it. This game is not Call of Duty. You can’t just jump in and figure it out on your own. It’s much more like ARMA2... but even more complicated. Thankfully all the info you need is in the manual and the existing community, who are happy to help you out when you join a squad. VOIP is a must for this, as well as operating like a cohesive squad – don’t bother playing until you’ve picked up a $5 microphone from Dick Smiths.

As the version number of the existing mod indicates (0.87), this mod hasn’t reached a state where the developers are comfortable to call it a final release. While it’s definitely extremely playable, there are still a few areas that need some TLC; some weapons are missing animations, while glitches in some of the new gameplay mechanics rear their ugly head on the odd occasion. Don’t let these put you off trying the mod though, and we’re very confident these kinks will be ironed out by the time it hits v1.0.

Even once you’ve learned the ins and outs of PR, she’s an unforgiving beast. Just when you think you’ve figured how to stay alive longer than three seconds, you’ll get spanked into tomorrow by an exceptionally well organised opponent. But stick with it, and you’ll discover the most accurate simulation of combined arms combat currently available in a video game. Don’t be surprised if any ambitions you may have to join the army evaporate, as the game serves as a chilling reminder that death lurks around every corner on today’s battlefield.

So you think you’ve got what it takes to prove yourself in Project Reality? Here’s what you’ll need to get started on the modern battlefield:
1. Click here to download and install BF2 1.41 patch
2. Click here to download and install BF2 1.5 patch
3. Click here to download and install the 0.87 Project Reality Core file
4. Click here to download and install the 0.87 Project Reality Levels file
5. Stick with your squad, ask lots of questions and practice the patience of a Shaolin Monk