If you were to go back to Battlefield 1943 today, something I did very recently to check on the state of things, you’d probably be pleasantly surprised to find jumping into a quick match is still as quick as it has always been. Again, unlike most Battlefield titles, Battlefield 1943 did away with limited ammunition, and instead gave each class an unlimited supply, although explosives needed time to replenish to avoid player griefing and it worked well. Infantryman came packing a SMG and anti-tank rockets, Rifleman brought players a Semi-Automatic rifle and a rifle-fired grenade and Scout brought a Scoped Rifle, a pistol and Dynamite. Unlike most Battlefield games, Battlefield 1943 kept to just three classes for players to choose from. By this point however, Iwo Jima and Wake Island in particular had already made their name as some of the best Battlefield maps to ever grace the series, a statement that will still ring true today amongst many fans of the series. A fourth map, Coral Sea, was later made available but once more this was tied to players having collectively passed 43 million kills within the Conquest mode. Up to 24 players would jump into battle across three, now iconic, maps Wake Island, Iwo Jima, and Guadalcanal. Throughout each game, players take up the role of either the United States Marine Core (USMC) or the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The game takes place during the Pacific Theater of Operations in 1943, during the midst of World War II. But it was still the Conquest option which remained the favoured fight. Later on Air Superiority would become available after players had amassed a combined 43 million kills within the Conquest.
Originally Battlefield 1943 consisted of only one mode, which was accessed through Quick Match and quickly threw players into the one and only Conquest mode – the series staple mode for multiplayer.