Battlefield 2

Battlefield 2 is a tactical first-person shooter developed by Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. The game is set in modern ear and like the original it combined nearly every aspect of warfare like air, infantry or tank combat.

The game received an expansion called Battlefield 2: Special Forces with a theme of special forces, it introduces a number of new factions, weapons, and maps centered around black operations.

Also 2 booster packs were released with new factions, maps, vehicles and weapons. Both packs were later included into the 1.5 patch for free.

Where can I get it?
After the Gamespy shutdown in 2014, EA dropped the support/sale of the classic Battlefield games. So, have to get it from Amazon or Ebay.

How can I install it on Windows 10?

 * 1) Install the game from the DVD
 * 2) Install the Patch 1.41
 * 3) Install the Patch 1.5
 * 4) Install the hotfix for 1.5 (Fixes a crash issue when using Alt+Tab)

Multiplayer after 2014?
From 2014 to 2018 the best place to play and even get classic Battlefield games was the Battlefield Revive Project, sadly EA didn't like the competition and forced them to shut down. Today the only way to play the game online is via the BF2 Hub. Just go to there homepage and download the client.

Alternative you can manual change the master server without the client. You just have to creat with a text editor, like Notepad, a text file called hosts.ics in here: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc Here you have to copy&paste the following text: 92.51.181.102	battlefield2.available.gamespy.com 92.51.181.102	battlefield2.master.gamespy.com 92.51.181.102	battlefield2.ms14.gamespy.com 92.51.181.102	gpsp.gamespy.com 92.51.181.102	gpcm.gamespy.com 92.51.180.45	eapusher.dice.se 92.51.180.45	BF2web.gamespy.com
 * 1) BF2Hub - begin of redirect (established on 2015-08-07 18:04:39)
 * 1) BF2Hub - end of redirect

How to update Punkbuster?
Like most game from this time, it uses Punkbuster as an anti-cheat software. If this software is not installed or outdated on your system, you will be kicked shortly after joining a server. Since Even Balance has officially discontinued support for bf2 as well, the update has to be done manually and adjusted a bit:

To update Punkbuster manually, you need the program pbsetup.exe, which you can also download at Even Balance. After you started the setup, you will see that BF2 isn't in the supported list. For that you have change the pbgame.htm.
 * 1) Open with a text editor the pbgame.htm
 * 2) Overwrite the complete content of this file with the following text inside this link
 * 3) Save the changes and restart the pbsetup.exe
 * 4) Battlefield 2 should now reappear in the list of supported games
 * 5) Performs now the Punkbuster update for BF2

What mods can you recommend?

 * Allied Intent Xtended: new maps, vehicles, weapons and full bot support
 * Forgotten Hope 2: brings BF2 into the WW II with a lot of realism and historic accuracy
 * Project Reality: a standalone mod with an extrem focus on realism

Links

 * Battlefield Wiki: here you can find a lot more information about the content of the game
 * ModDB: the best place to find mods
 * Punkpuster setup/fix