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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Review

Tuesday, 9 Mar 2010 - 14:24PM

When EA DICE announced that they were working on Battlefield: Bad Company, many believed it would be the beginning of the end for its main rival, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Unfortunately the hype was too much for the title, and its quality didn’t hit full potential. Two years on and we’re in a similar position: Modern Warfare 2 has just been released, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is hacking at its ankles. But will it reach up and stab its rivals in the neck? We found out.

Before we get to the likes of B-Company squad, there’s a prologue to talk about (we were the first to reveal it to you all). This takes you back to World War II where a catastrophic Japanese weapon of mass destruction is tested, setting the purpose of the main campaign: saving the United States from total destruction.

Then comes along the nitty-gritty modern combat, where, like in the original, you’re placed in the boots of Preston Marlowe. Along with Haggard, Sarge, and Sweetwater, you’re put to work against the force of the Russian army. 

You’re taken across the world in both single-player and multiplayer. Starting with white-capped mountains where you’ll hear the crunching of your footprints in the snow, whilst white mist blows past your screen. You’ll also be moving through the lush surroundings of the South American jungle, and concrete urban environments. 

The story for Bad Company 2 really isn’t much to go by. It’s a cliché campaign with an A-to-B objective of destroying the main threat and the villain who’s hoping to rule the world by the end of the day. It does however, have a lot more seriousness to it, with the squad losing their humorous perspective of life, slightly. You’ll hear the odd jibber jabber from Haggard – who believes that American football and cheerleaders are the answer to all of life’s problems – but all in all, B-Company have grown up.

To sum it up, the story has been seen in video games and movies many times before, and won’t surprise you in the slightest, with twists and turns which you can spot a mile off. 

Now we move into the gameplay, which in contrast to the original Bad Company is a lot better. You’re offered a lovely range of weapons, which will all be used affectively if you’re switching at every ammo crate you pass. Unfortunately, weapons only seem to be affective for Marlowe. You’re squad mates on the other hand, are as useful as a chocolate teapot. This isn’t the worst feature in the world though, as you’ll get more battlefield action, storming through environments full of enemies, unleashing your inner soldier. 

In my personal opinion, the game feels as if it’s been placed right in the middle of an orb which separates arcade from simulator; Modern Warfare 2 from Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, if you like. This gives you a great shooting experience right through till the end, and maybe one of the best shooting experiences on consoles.

Like the first game again - and unlike Modern Warfare - DICE offer military vehicles for you to take a ride on. These vehicles include tanks, jeeps and quad bikes, whilst in the multiplayer you’re given a few more options including helicopters, jet skis and patrol boats. All very easy to use, the vehicles will get you from A-to-B in a multiplayer match, and who knows, you may kill a couple of lingering shooters on your way there.

Another thing which returns from the original is the Frostbite engine. This time though, it’s a lot better. After a new upgrade, you’re now able to destroy the whole building instead of blowing a hole through the wall of an objective, that is. It’ll come down like a ton of bricks, and sounds spot on. 

Now we move into the visual side to the game. I can happily say that this is one of the best looking shooters that isn’t a platform exclusive. You’ll realise it almost straight away, once you’re swept into the jungles of South America, the amount of detail included is outstanding. 

In the early stages, the snow-capped mountains look crisp and fresh. As you progress, blizzards look realistic, water effects stream exceptionally, fire looks pretty natural and whilst the character models suffer slightly, it’s one of the best multi-plat games around for detail.

Even though the single player offers enough action, it doesn’t give a good enough story to go back to it multiple times (unless you’re a Trophy/Achievement whore). No, the lasting appeal comes from the games multiplayer, which DICE have spent a pretty penny in improving the mode which could take the games quality that little bit extra, and in front of Modern Warfare 2. You just need to look at the box art where it states ‘Defining Online Warfare’ to realise that.

The Battlefield community aren’t given many game modes, but what is there, is pretty damn brilliant. There’s Rush, where you take the position of either the attacker or defender, and complete your duties of blowing multiple M-COM stations up, or in the defenders case; keep it safe for a good period of time. This personally, was the favoured mode for me, bringing a strategic feel for everybody that plays in that way. On the other hand, those who go out to kill and kill only, can do that without being punished.

Then comes Squad Rush, which is basically Rush, but with only one M-COM station, as opposed to six to eight. The third mode is Conquest, which is a simple Capture the Flag mode, with a few tweaks from DICE. The final, Squad Deathmatch, features four different squads and a lot of bullets flying. Simply brilliant.

To conclude, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 doesn’t offer the best story in the world, but what shooter does? What it does give every single Battlefield gamer, is superb gameplay. With tense action, bullets coming at you from all directions, and an utterly brilliant multiplayer component, there’s no wonder it’s the fastest selling title of the year. A must-buy for any modern combat shooter fan.

Pros

• Tense gameplay
• Multiplayer is excellent
• Visually brilliant
• The humour is still there, just

Cons

• Paper thin story
• Squad mates are useless in combat

Final Score: 92/100

 

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