Muziq and PK Interviewed - Reacting to Battalion 1944

The hype train for Battalion 1944 is still leaving the station, and you all loved our last interview with some local competitors regarding the title. For those who managed to miss out, catch up here. With that being said, we figured that more interviews were needed to further increase coverage over the local opinions. Hence, today we've brought the opinions of Matthew "Muziq" Grima and Marco "PK" Bugeja  - a contrast between an ex-veteran and a lively player shaking things up as we speak. We asked them the same questions below. 

We'll start with Matthew "Muziq" Grima. 

1.) To begin, we'll start with an introductory question to familiarise yourself with our readers. Please describe your history as an eSports player in Malta, having especial detail on your relationship with the title of Call of Duty 2. 

I honestly have no idea about when I started playing online, I must have been around 11 or 12 playing Quake II on a server hosted at the University of Malta with a couple of friends from school. I then jumped from game to game, mostly FPS. I had occasionally played Unreal Tournament Call of Duty 1 and CS 1.6, but not too frequently. When Call of Duty 2, everyone at MCAST IICT was talking about it, so I immediately got myself a copy and started joining Maltese public servers. I had joined up with a couple of guys from MCAST, mainly Bruce_Malti, and n0luck, we formed a clan called eR. From then on I jumped from one clan to the other until I found myself with s.M.u, the only clan which I played competitively with. During this time I had played some matches with Team Malta. Eventually, I had to cut my playing time a lot due to work and family commitments, especially with having a child at a rather young age. Eventually, I came back for a while and played some Clanbase wars with Rex, but it didn't last long as commitments took over again.

2.) Call of Duty 2 was resurrected in the community last year; as Gamers.com.mt re-introduced the game in the Malta Cyber Series #3 and the largest event of the year - the MESF 2017. What was your initial reaction to this inclusion? Looking back now, reveal your thoughts on Call of Duty 2 in 2017.

Truth be told, I had no idea about this up until the event actually happened when I saw an ex-clanmate of mine Steven 'GunN3R' Silvio post about his team's win on Facebook. I immediately started remembering what playing the game was like. I joined a couple of Maltese facebook groups, got myself a new PC, and before you know it, I'm now playing again. The best thing about it is that I re-connected with a number of people I hadn't talk to in years, it also feels a bit weird hearing people call me by nickname :)

3.) Gamers.com.mt is clearly eyeing Battalion 1944; the apparent successor to Call of Duty 2 in terms of gameplay and community feedback. Bringing it to our shores would definitely be interesting and relevant. What are your impressions of the new title, especially after the beta recently? Have you had the chance to play the game yet?

I've been playing the game quite a bit, played a bit of beta too. I bought it the moment it was available. It's still got a few rough edges, especially when it comes to sounds. But I've enjoyed it from the first time I played, probably because of the similarities with Call of Duty. It's very interesting to me; as I stated previously, I've connected with a number of old friends and also managed to play a couple of wars locally.

4.) Our last question. Bringing back Call of Duty 2 last year wasn't too attractive for youngsters starting out as individual competitors due to reasons of aged mechanics and a fast-moving modern selection of games which would rather be played - but Battalion 1944 looks to change that with contemporary graphics alongside refurbished content. What potential do you see in the title for Malta as a retired COD2 player? 

Considering the number of games available, especially from big studios, the guys behind Battalion 1944 have some stiff competition. I'd expect with further updates and continuous support, the game would be much better and maybe attract more people. I believe that if local tournament organizers get behind the game, offer a couple public servers, and make the game the main attraction in a local tournament, interest would grow.

I for one am hoping it succeeds.

Hearing from "Muziq" after such a while is fantastic, and having a veteran's opinion is exactly what we need to move forward.