Battlefield 1942 Secret Weapons of WW2 (EA, PC, M15+)

By PETER ELEY

(Herald rating: * * * *)

It is November 1943 and the race is on to develop the first atomic bomb. The Allies have learned the Nazis are trying to produce heavy water, a key ingredient of such weapons, at Telemark in occupied Norway.

This sets the scene for one of the eight new missions in the latest expansion pack for EA's blockbuster war title, Battlefield 1942.

Secret Weapons of WW2 mixes fact and fiction, much as the parent title does, to create a hugely entertaining game.

As well as having to penetrate Telemark and destroy the heavy water plant, another mission sends you off to Kbely airbase near Prague, where the Germans are thought to be developing UFOs in a top-secret hangar.

Far-fetched? Many witnesses have sworn they saw disc-shaped aircraft in the skies over Kbely during the war.

There is no doubt about the historical accuracy of another Secret Weapons mission, the race to Peenemuende during the latter stages of the war.

This was the home of the V2 rockets that almost swung the war back in Germany's favour.

Britain and the US were petrified that their so-called ally, Russia, would get there first and be able to use V2 technology to wage long-range war.

The V2 wasn't the only thing Hitler had up his sleeve towards the end of the war. A V3 gun was being developed, with a 130m barrel that could fire huge shells every 12 seconds into major British cities.

In this mission, you have to drop explosives into vents in the tunnels where slave labourers are developing the supergun. It is all great fun and, as well as the full-on missions, the expansion pack adds new weapons and vehicles to Battlefield 1942.

These are all based on prototypes, including a German rocket backpack, the Shwimmwagen, an amphibious armoured car, and a Harley-Davidson with a powerful machinegun mounted on its sidecar.

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