Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Buy Now) is sort of a do-over for DICE. Better known for ambitious and epic PC multiplayer shooters, Bad Company was its first salvo fired in earnest toward the console market, and while the multiplayer was lauded as fun and different, the single player was considered less successful. With copious notes in hand from reception to the original and a good amount of player feedback from their successful release of Battlefield 1943 on consoles last summer, DICE and EA have returned with a game that feels tighter and more refined online and which offers a grand globe-trotting adventure solo that has genuine character.
With copious notes in hand from reception to the original and a good amount of player feedback from their successful release of Battlefield 1943 on consoles last summer
Right away, Bad Company 2 introduced me to characters I got to know and like—and who developed as the game went on. DICE convincingly establishes the idea of Bad Company as a dysfunctional family. From anecdotes about their favorite scenes in "Predator" or their favorite Harrison Ford role to their obvious loyalty to one another, I felt more invested in the characters than any shooter in recent memoir
In Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the B company fight their way through snowy mountaintops, dense jungles and dusty villages. With a heavy arsenal of deadly weapons and a slew of vehicles to aid them, the crew set off on their mission and they are ready to blow up, shoot down, blast through, wipe out and utterly destroy anything that gets in their way.
"A solid first person shooter with questionable staying power."
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 arrived in the United States on March 2, 2010, to no small applause. Part of what is fueling people's desire to outright love this game is that the online FPS (first person shooter) genre is currently ruled by Modern Warfare 2, whose reputation as a noob-friendly glitch fiesta is in no way an exaggeration. People wanted something different. They wanted a return to a more skill based shooter where teamwork is key. Little were the masses aware that such a proposition would lead to the double-edged sword that comprises the multiplayer of Bad Company 2. Be warned... the blade is sharp.
"Bad Company 2 moves the series in new and fun directions."
Bad Company 2, Bad Company 2, what can I say about Bad Company 2...? Not much, which in my case is a good thing. I'm not an easy guy to please, and while not having much bad to say about a game doesn't quite equate to having good things to say about it, it is definitely an improvement.
I guess the first thing I'll say is that this game should not be called Bad Company 2. Everything about this game, apart from the characters, is dramatically different from the first, and I do mean dramatically. Firstly, if the original Bad Company were a movie, it probably would have been classified as an Action/Comedy, like the Lethal Weapon movies (excluding the original) or the Rush Hour movies. Bad Company 2 would be an Action/Drama, closer in tone to the original Lethal Weapon or to Braveheart than its predecessor. That's not to say it's all dramatic, but when you're coming off a game that's all comedy all the time, the tragedy mask appearing at all is surprising. And in Bad Company 2, it shows up more than once. I knew something was up when I first popped in the disc and saw the title screen: even the title screen seems to take itself more seriously! I suppose there wouldn't be much wrong with the story if DICE had elected to create all new characters for this game. They never even address what happened between the end of the original and the beginning of this game. The characters often don't even feel like the same people. In the beginning of the game, your squad watches someone murder the guy your squad is supposed to be meeting. Rather than simply react, the route the Bad Company members would have followed in the original game, the characters of Bad Company 2 call in for PERMISSION to kill the guy. Hrmm... No, I just can't see four guys who were willing to not only ditch the Army for gold (not that I blame them), but also to STEAL the gold from the Army at the end of the game, ask permission to kill someone who they just watched murder a guy they knew. Beyond the changes to the company's characterization, I had a great deal of fun with the campaign. There are tons and tons of changes to the original gameplay. Whereas in the original game, you could only carry one gun and they all largely felt very similar, BC2 politely “suggests” you try out all the guns (via achievements for kills with each type: sniper, SMG, light-MG, etc). The guns look and sound much much more crisp too (except the water, oddly enough, which looks like its covered in a shiny layer of cellophane). Rather than the auto-injector, BC2 opts for the standard self-regenerating health system, which I do have a small qualm with. It seems to me if you take damage quickly (i.e. from standing in front of MG fire for three-quarters of an instant), the game doesn't give you the “you're taking damage feedback” (i.e. the screen edges going red and whatnot). It almost seems like there is a tiny delay on the whole damage feedback system. I only really noticed it when taking a lot of damage quickly, but it did kill me a few times, so it's worth noting. Bad Company 2 doesn't have quite the same level of love for constant, huge explosions, but the campaign is so much improved that quite frankly, I'll take it. The first pre-mission mission of BC2 got more invested in the campaign story than the entirety of the first game did. Sure, it pulls a few pages out of the rulebooks of every-action-shooter-ever, but it utilizes them well and adds some stuff here and there. In one mission, you're stranded by yourself in the mountains, frantically running from shack to shack trying your best to avoid freezing to death. For me, that was one of the highlights.
There are a couple missteps, but nothing game-breaking or entirely too serious. I already mentioned the drama is hit or miss, but usually miss. There's a weird point near the end of the game: a burning truck is coming towards you while you're in a tunnel. For me, my first instinct was to run, but apparently, as I heard the Sarge say while I died, I was supposed to shoot the truck, which doesn't really make much sense to me. So I pump this truck barreling towards me full of bullets, which somehow not only stops it, but makes the burning pile of wreckage disappear. But while this scene was definitely bizarre, it didn't annoy the hell out of me and cause me to want to stop playing the game. Ironically, this is one of the few games I've played where I actually wish it was a little longer. It clocks in at just under eight hours, but I probably could have stayed interested for another two or so. As it stands, it's not so short that I fault the game for it, so I can't complain. Also, the length never seemed to affect the story or the pacing, so that's really all I can ask for, I suppose.
All in all, Bad Company 2 has less of the features that made the original game unique, but it polished everything to a mirror, un-irritating shine. All in all, Bad Company 2 has less of the features that made the original game unique, but it polished everything to a mirror, un-irritating shine. After finishing the original, I was confused as to why they'd bother making a sequel, especially a sequel with another campaign mode, but after beating BC2, I'm truly excited to see where this franchise goes.
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