I was pretty disappointed by both tbh, if i had to choose though id pick bf2,  i got bored very quickly with 2142.

Certain elements from 1942 that made it fun to play (for me anyway) should have been included in both games . They've added some cool features since bf1942 and some not so cool ones, and imo the games have suffered because of the developers focusing too much on these features.

They started of in bf1942 with what, 4 factions? Now with bf2142 its down to 2, and still they only have 6 vehicles for each side. Then you look at the maps, no maps that allow for large tank battles , no maps that allow for air to air combat on a decent scale( Although with the current crappy aircraft ingame i doubt that kind of map would be much fun anyway) Not to mention no naval element ingame at all. Each game in the bf series seem to have gotten steadily worse... anyway , thank hamsters for mods .