Game Title Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Developer DICE
Publisher Electronic Arts
Platforms PC • PS3 • XBOX 360
Genre/Category Action/Adventure • First Person Shooter
ESRB Rating Mature 17+
Release Date March 02, 2010
Product Description:
Battlefield Bad Company 2 is a first-person shooter, and sequel to Electronic Arts’ 2008 release, Battlefield Bad Company. Following the continuing combat adventures of misfits of the US Army’s Company “B,” Bad Company 2 features the characteristic humor and grit of the Bad Company series, as well as a variety of gameplay improvements and additions, including 2-24 player online support; all-new four man squad gameplay; and more.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will throw a weapon in your hands, shove you to the front lines and mercilessly pound your senses with enough gunfire, explosions, and head-swimming chaos to make you think you’ve just landed in a real war zone. In fact, if you don’t keep your speakers down to a reasonable volume, you just might get a foot kicked through your door from the cops investigating reports of mass murder.
DICE are the developers of this title, and they do an excellent job of making you feel right in the thick of things from the outset. Even during most cut-scenes, you can adjust your view to look around at what’s happening. And when you tie together the highly realistic feel of the gunplay, the vivid, nearly photo-realistic scenery, motion-captured movements, and solid voice acting, you can’t help but feel like you’re riding shotgun in a Hollywood war movie.
Unfortunately, like so many big budget action flicks, the under pinnings of the game’s plot fail to live up to the mystery and excitement the first few missions try so hard to instill in you. And the story is really only saved by the endearing characters of your squad mates, the pulse-hammering pace it maintains as you hurtle from one exotic locale to another, and the sheer variety of the scenarios and roles you’re made to play. Otherwise, it would have been in serious danger of falling flat if left to it’s own devices.
The game begins by letting you fill the shoes of a soldier during World War II who’s part of a special ops mission to extract a defecting scientist. This scientist is part of some hairy, scary experiments involving advanced weapons technology, but for the time being, you’re none the wiser as to what that tech might be. It serves as both a good tutorial experience and a truly engaging introduction to the game’s overall structure.
After this opening sequence, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 fast forwards to an alternate present day in which the Russians are running slipshod over the world at large. It tosses you into the role of Private Preston Marlowe, the actual character you’ll be playing for the remainder of the game, and isn’t shy in the least about throwing you into situations of extreme bodily harm with only your three squad mates to watch your back.
The game does an excellent job of setting and maintaining a breathless, scrambling pace as you’re tossed from the frying pan into the fire for one mission after another. But what really stands out about Battlefield: Bad Company 2′s single-player campaign is the almost overwhelming mix of genuinely creative situations you’ll find yourself in.
It’s never happy to just throw you against a group of generic soldiers, littered throughout a carbon copy environment for one level after another. The game is constantly mixing things up. Bad Company 2 will have you manning the cannon of an armored vehicle in one moment, laser-targeting hostile emplacements with binoculars in the next, and trying to find a route through ruined buildings to outflank a machine gun nest in the one after that.
But that’s not to say the game is without flaws. Minor annoyances that I encountered while playing were focused mainly around my AI squad mates and the punishing realism of how easy it is to die. Bad Company 2 doesn’t give you any control over your fellow soldiers. So if they decide to just hang back and stare at the backside of a rock, rather than covering your ass from hostile fire, that’s exactly what they’re going to do. And trust me, it will happen more often than you like.
There were so many times that I wanted the simple functionality of being able to instruct my team to keep up with me, or advance in front, that it became something of a near constant agitation. And when you couple this with the fact that it only takes a couple well-placed shots from the rifles of your enemies to put you ten toes to the wind, it only makes the absence of this level of control all the more obvious.
Another negative aspect of the single-player experience is that it comprises a mere thirteen missions and can be played through in less than ten hours. DICE obviously went to a great deal of trouble to make sure the main campaign was both highly entertaining and memorable, but it’s also inescapable that they intended the multiplayer component to be the main draw.
So if you don’t mind a game that has a campaign this short (which many of the multiplayer FPS’ do these days) and expect to do most of your playing online, then it’s probably not an issue for you. But for those looking for a good deal of value for their money who don’t play multiplayer, consider this fair warning.
In the online arena, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has quite a robust set-up. You’re able to choose one of four different roles to play when you log-in to an online match, and these roles are referred to as kits by the game. They include Assault, Engineer, Medic, and Recon.
Unlike the relative homogeny of most online shooter experiences, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 makes genuine strides toward attempting to give you a defined role to play within your group. If you choose to play the Assault kit, you’ll start with a powerful machine gun with a grenade launcher attachment and a pistol for a sidearm. You can do a lot of damage and feel free to pretty much hard-charge at will. But if you decide to go for the Recon kit instead, you’ll get a sniper rifle, a pistol and a supply of C4 charges. So you’ll be much wiser to go for long-distance kills from high vantage points or sneak around and set off explosions at key choke points.
The Medic and Engineer kits are equally well-defined, not only in the gear that’s available for them, but also in the abilities you’re able to unlock for them as you earn points by playing matches in your respective role. The Medic in particular shines in this area, as playing this kit allows you to render aid to your teammates in varying degrees depending on how much time you invest in leveling that kit up, and lends a unique sense of purpose to one’s play style.
So as you can see, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has quite a bit to offer. The single-player campaign, while disappointingly short, is extremely well put together and exhibits more variety and excitement than many games three-times the length. And the multiplayer, which is obviously the true long-term draw for this game, has a great system of being able to play some truly unique roles, rather than just making you one more indistinguishable face on the battlefield.
If you’re looking to scratch that ever-lovin’ FPS itch, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 should certainly be a title you consider. I had a great time playing it, and I can’t imagine most fans of the genre feeling much different.
My Review
Pros Tons of mission variety; Action movie feel; Multiplayer roles feel truly different.
Cons Sometimes it feels too easy to die; AI squad mates can’t be controlled; Short single-player campaign.
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