A fan modification brings Electronic Art's Battlefield 2142 back from the dead, though only time will tell if EA will eventually shut down the unofficial mod.

Veterans of the Battlefield franchise will remember the titan-filled futuristic shooter Battlefield 2142, a game which enjoyed the peak of its success back in 2006. The title was one of the victims of the GameSpy server shutdowns of 2014, which meant that gamers attempting to play the game online were suddenly unable to do so, essentially locking everyone out of the entire game.

Several years later, a collective of fans has now taken it upon themselves to develop Battlefield 2142 Revival, an unofficial modification that brings online gameplay back to Battlefield 2142.

As one might expect, taking an entire game from a publisher and releasing it for free seems like a recipe for legal troubles. As it turns out, Battlefield 2142 isn't the only post-GameSpy server victim to receive the fan revival treatment, and so far the fans behind the modification haven't been forced to remove any of the content. The modification seems to average around 200 concurrent players, which is certainly enough for several full servers of futuristic Suez Canal madness (a map which was destined to return to the series at a later date).

Unfortunately, it looks like any statistics and unlocks players previously had on the GameSpy servers have been lost to the annals of time.

As we stated before, there's been no indication that Electronic Arts will move in and shut down the unauthorized Battlefield 2142 servers, but it's still something that could happen with minimal warning. A quiet post-release takedown would echo Nintendo's actions earlier this month, when the company waited until Pokemon Uranium was finished before taking it down. However, given that there are no official servers for Battlefield 2142 left running (and no plans to start any official ones), it seems like a win-win for EA to let Battlefield 2142 Revival set up camp and let veterans reconnect with or experience an old entry to the series - especially so shortly ahead of the release of Battlefield 1.

Now that EA DICE is taking gamers into the past with the upcoming title, it looks like Battlefield 1 will feature a much grittier emphasis on melee combat - although we're sure each veteran Battlefield 2142 player will miss those glorious defibrillator kills. The new game's multiplayer has no shortage of things to see and do, so it's a good time to be a Battlefield fan right now.

At the time of writing, there are currently 7 Battlefield 2142 Revival servers online, and about half of them are full of the 64 player madness that the Battlefield series is famous for. Interested gamers can take a look at the modification here, and if that link is dead, that means the Electronic Arts legal team likely paid the website a visit.

Are you interested in going back to the future with Battlefield 2142, Ranters?

Source: Battlefield 2142 Revival