The developers should be a bit more tactful with which weapons to add and how to do it.
The Chinese and MEC get semi auto sniper rifles while the Marines get the M24. First off, Marines would use the M40A3. That's not what's important. What matters is that the USMC commonly uses the M14 DMR as a sharpshooting weapon. Why didn't they add that? It's a much cooler weapon and it would balance things some.
The MEC have a semi auto shotgun, and Euroforce gets the M1014 shotgun, which happens to be used by the USMC today. EA neglects to allow the USMC to use it in-game. Why?
Although not as big a deal, I think the M240G would have been a better choice than the PKM. It is used by 1st and 3rd world countries, including the USMC and some middle eastern nations. Not too big a deal.
Why is the M16 gimped? Other weapons including the L85A1 and the AK101. And I mean noticable damage difference (
http://matt.carter.name/blogpics/bf2weapondamage.jpg). Actually, the M16 should be more powerful since it has a longer barrel. As far as game balancing goes, it cant shoot full auto so really it logically should be the same or more powerful. The AK101 is so powerful that it is only 1 point lower in damage than the chinese AK47, which shoots a much more powerful bullet. The AK101 should be lowered a bit and the M16 be raised a bit to meet halfway and balance it.
Why is the RPK74 so much more powerful than the M249? It shoots the 5.45 bullet which is not much different in performance than the 5.56.
Whats with the obsession with G36 family weapons? There are like 3 or 4 replacements from it. I mean, theyre decent but they aren't used by any of the countries in bf2. *sry, the Euroforce army would I suppose. Doesn't matter much though. Just another crazy rant.
Some of the upgrades are strange choices. The Protecta? Used by no military. The Jackhammer? Never made more than a dozen prototypes of them. Only 2 full auto models were ever made. In general I don't like how the replacement weapons are so overused. F2000? I laugh every time i see a chinese or middle eastern grunt assault soldier carrying one of the most high tech special forces assault rifles ever made.
In general, these unlock weapons seem to make the game seem less and less like a modern warfare game and more like a counter strike ripoff.