This game sets you down on the hilly landscapes of a fictional European nation where Americans and Russians are shooting at each other. You're part of the U.S. military, but your side mission is to enrich yourself by finding gold bars that mercenaries have stored all over town squares and barns.
To pull off such a cynical storyline, the war you are engaged in must seem morally iffy. Otherwise you'd be a bad guy, looting towns instead of fighting for freedom and other apple-pie Americanisms.
The plot is meaty, and the game play is stellar. The battlegrounds are huge, sprawling terrains. You drive tanks, helicopters and boats. And you jog across hill and dale, shooting bad guys with machine guns, sniper rifles and shotguns. The most promising action is going online to join battles of up to 24 people in showdowns where you alternately play on offense, trying to blow up the enemy's bases, or on defense protecting your own bases.
