Battlefield - Bad Company 2 REVIEW

The frostbite is back i'm afraid. But fear not for it's not a bad thing at all.

EA and DICE have finally let us free on their masterpiece Bad Company 2.
I've been one of the many fans literally wasting days away since it was released. The previous game was quite something but this one takes war to a whole new level, that's my way of thinking at least. I sneakily got it a day early from GAME having had it pre-ordered well in advance. I slipped it in on morning one and found myself killing things and blowing up objectives in no time at all.

Along with all the fun it brought, it did however bring a bit of anger (Not majorly in my case but with friends) EA had a massive server problem and surfaced a massive rush win of their own. No crates were harmed in the process making them pretty damn good defenders.
The servers are thankfully back up now without a hitch as far as i can see. So what exactly has brought me to Bad Company for a second stint you ask?

 If you know anything about your war games, you'll know fine well that Battlefield has been a massive part of them for years on end now. Funnily though, it's only been the second title to be released on next gen consoles. What wins it for me then is that "cool" Frostbite engine they have in their hands among other things. The amount of destruction you'll see and witness in a game is quite something. Exploding walls, gradual environment damage aswell as the ability to collapse entire buildings, buildings that can sometimes be full of your enemy..SCORE.

 

 That's the best example i could find at such short notice, but what an example it is. No longer can an enemy stay in cover behind a wall and be safe for the whole match. One or two rocket launcher shots later and he'll be a goner. It's happened to me a fair bit already and although it's annoying, at the same time you can't not sit back and admire just what's happened in the situation. Within the four multiplayer modes the game offers (Rush, Conquest, Squad Rush, Squad Deathmatch) Each round of either is constantly full of all these fireworks. Add that together with the sounds and you have yourself a very impressive atmosphere to explore and fight in. In total there are 8 maps (10 if the VIP codes are activated or bought) Each one is unique depending on the match type your taking part in. My personal preference at the moment is Conquest mode. The maps all run and work out nicely. A couple of maps in Rush mode just really annoy me at the best of times. I should also give a mention to Squad Deathmatch. It was only today i experienced it for the first time. No crates or flags involved, just deaths. First squad (of 2-4 players) to 50 kills win the round. One highlight is the fact that only one vehicle exists in this match type. Some squads prefer to use this to their advantage but others, including me, prefer to slowly work their way around the map eliminating enemies on sight. Definitely a round that has potential to be very popular amongst rush and conquest.

 

Along with the multiplayer goodness comes a much improved singleplayer story to divert your attention for a while. In it, Bad Company (Preston, Haggard, Sweetwater and Sgt. Redford) return once more to track down an important artifact that could potential lead them to uncovering a terrorist plot. The game takes place in many different parts of the world including, South America and Russia. 

While the story aspect has been greatly improved from the previous attempt, the humour is still present throughout, you'll be laughing with disbelief sometimes at just what the guys come out with. Highlights include little remarks towards another major shooter you all know..Modern Warfare 2.

Where do i stand with the singleplayer? 

I've played through it all already therefore it didn't really take long. It wasn't a wasted journey though. The missions vary a hell of a lot more. My personal favourite was a mission that has you trying to keep warm after a sudden turn in the weather. You race down a hill trying to keep warm and trying to track the rest of your squad at the same time. Definitely different for me. 

Overall though, i've got to be honest and say i did find it a little bit too easy to play through. The enemy AI wasn't really all that challenging for the majority of the game, apart from maybe a few mounted machine gunners. Even the last mission consisted of little challenge especially on the hardest difficulty. It was no harder than normal difficulty at all.

So while it's definitely an improvement over Bad Company 1's Singleplayer, there's still a massive hole that can be filled with improvement. It's common knowledge that the majority of people who will buy and play this will mainly be after the multiplayer side of things. If DICE can nail the singleplayer story, by extending the length a little, maybe making it that extra bit harder then along with them already having their multiplayer sorted, to an extent, surely they can have the ultimate war game in their hands?

  

-Dave