I find the original version (the one taking place in 1942) too "slow" regarding action and guns in general, that are rather lame, exactly like they used to be. But I also remember a lot of people who loved that game precisely because of that, so it depends what kind of player you are
Now the desertcombat mod is one of the best I've ever played, it's pretty fast action, tons of fun guns and modern vehicles and it's not TOO realistic as in everything is a pain in the ass to just take off), it's the ancestor of BF2, the original BF2 (which I find boring in comparison)
Now the problem, is that I don't think there are a ton of people still playing that game, but there still are, mostly for the 1942 version btw
What else? Ah yeah, if you install the desert combat mod, you need to install the 0.7 version first, and the "final" version on top of it
And patches for the original game, as usual
It also features a solo campaign mode so you aren't forced to play online or nothing, but the AI isn't what we have today, that's for sure
I think I’ll try the solo campaign mode, I like doing the campaigns before playing multiplayer. I liked BF2-4 I just can’t take BFV with how stupid it looks.
there's an addon also for the 1942 version that is quite good, it's called road to rome https://oldgamesdownload.com/battlefield-1942-the-road-to-rome/ it adds additional maps and weapons
And "secret weapons" https://oldgamesdownload.com/battlefield-1942-secret-weapons-of-wwii/ but I haven't tested this one
There's that mod also that I loved https://www.moddb.com/games/battlefield-1942/downloads/bf1942-pirates-final-mod
But it's multiplayer only... And I'm not sure people are still playing it, it's a mini mod https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-2Q_SKZLS8
Here you have a mod to add 255 bots in case you need to boost the action https://www.moddb.com/mods/desert-combat/downloads/bf1942-255-bot-overhaul-mod-hd
Desert combat 0.7 https://www.moddb.com/mods/desert-combat/downloads/desert-combat-07
And this is desert combat final update https://www.moddb.com/mods/desert-combat/downloads/desert-combat-07-to-final-update
There are patches also that you need for the 1942 version, fixes for multiplayer
First this one https://www.moddb.com/games/battlefield-1942/downloads/battlefield-1942-v16-patch
And then this one https://www.moddb.com/games/battlefield-1942/downloads/battlefield-1942-v161-patch
And you should be good if memory serves
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