Battlefield Bad Company 2: The Final Review

Battlefield Bad Company 2 got hyped up early, and why not? EA Digital Illusions CE (aka: EA DICE) has always made sure that its Battlefield collection of games had the classic warfare feel in each one of the titles. But when I heard Battlefield I instantly thought of World War 2–based settings, sequences, and squad combat. And of course, I knew there would be huge battles on large detailed maps.

Battlefield Bad Company turned it all around. Since playing this first iteration and completing the campaign within some well-spent hours, I felt I’d beaten a well-rounded game. When I heard that Battlefield Bad Company 2 was to be released, being a rabid Battlefield fan myself (I have a 2 for my veteran status for those of you hardcore fans), I was ecstatic. Continuation of the story, same characters, new places to destroy, and of course, new guns! It’s now been nearly five full months since I first dropped it into my painfully empty Xbox 360 disk tray: Did BFBC2 live up to my hopes and dreams?

Who played the first BFBC? Raise of hands?

After BFBC1 becoming an classic for the Xbox 360, BFBC2 was obviously going to become a platinum hit. The latest version had some new features for the single-player campaign as well as a few pitfalls.

Notice to all readers: I will be mentioning some things here that may ruin the game for you if you haven’t finished the campaign. You have been warned!

After playing through the campaign, I once again felt content with my accomplishment of beating it, however the continuation of the new storyline seemed a bit too similar to another great game we have come to know as Modern Warfare: Americans versus Russians — classic Cold War, blow-those-commies-up games.

This sequel did not continue where you left off in BFBC. What happened to the all the gold and riches in the back of that truck? Who knows, but from playing this game you can tell they didn’t get to keep any of it.The storyline in BFBC2 was completely new, and it didn’t tie any of the events that occurred in the first game to this one. Each level had something unique — be it jungle, desert, arctic, or urban warfare. And it covered all the landscapes with good reason: You are constantly moving around the globe hunting down the villain and his evil plot to tear down the U.S. with a secret weapon developed by the Japanese during World War 2.

The levels worked based on a linear style of play — no sandbox environment here. There are a series of automatic save checkpoints throughout the levels, some in great locations, some in “why in the hell are we saving here” locations. And then there was the locations you never reached because you died before reaching them. Damn I hated those points, and you probably did too because there were a lot of them in the mission levels. Unfortunately you couldn’t save at your leisure and you had to hit a save point before you decides to toss the controller at something — or someone.

BFBC2 runs off DICE’s Frostbite engine, which has been improved over the previous game in a few great ways. One of the major improvements is the noticeable pixel increase for sharper gameplay images, smooth lines, and details. The biggest improvement is the environment itself. Yes, you can destroy everything! Anything you see in the world is up for demolition, be it a telephone pole, car, house, armored APC, or sandbag turrets. This added realism and destruction brought a whole new way to playing the game, which also transfered over into the multiplayer online. Why flank a turret gunner when you can fully demolish the house he’s in and kill his buddies downstairs, too, while the rubble falls down? Ah, it’s a beautiful sight — not to mention just plain fun to make buildings collapse.

The game itself runs smoothly, with high details to the map you are on. I especially like the jungles of South America with the fantastic shading from the trees and the movement of many of the plants that you see in the game from wind. Another added bonus is that the designers made every point of cover destructible, which means you must keep moving to stay alive. Computer AI seems to have decent aim, and is rather good at launching 40-mm grenades without ever seeming to run out and of course, they are great at wearing away the cover you have taken behind.

BFBC2 wasn’t without glitches, though.

First off, I have a small 20-GB hard drive that came with my Halo 3 edition Xbox 360. This means I have, on a good day, about 3 GB of open space on it to install demos or the like. Some of these problems may be a direct result of not installing the game to the hard drive, but while playing I have had some sound-byte cut-outs where the sound is not synched up with what is happening in the game itself, or it ends up repeating the sound byte for that scene or area. If I see a helicopter fly over and away, I don’t want to hear it fly overhead and fly away five seconds after the fact.

Another small problem was with the loading splash screen. After loading a new mission level, or if you died and have to reload the checkpoint, the screen will flicker to black after loading and then return you to the loading screen again before it finally got you into the game. To me, this looks unprofessional and quite frankly, ugly. I paid $60 for this game; you’d think DICE could have made sure something this simple didn’t occur during loading times in the game.

Lastly, while swapping for a different gun, whether it is from a body or a crate, I noticed a lag of equipping the weapon to use. In a firefight, you should be able to pick up any gun, instantly aim and shoot. Why is it that the designers felt that you should have a five-second lapse between the time you pick it up, cock it, aim it and shoot? There is no way around this, even if you choose to swap to your secondary weapon which has been equipped before. Those five seconds are crucial to surviving in the game during a firefight or when you decide to pick up that new collectable item.

Most of these pitfalls were fixed in subsequent updates, but it was pretty annoying on purchase and should have been fixed before it hit retail shelves. But to its credit, DICE did what it could to make right things that were very, very wrong.

Finally, let’s examine the aspect of BFBC2 that was, ultimately, reason why you truly buy a Battlefield game — 12-versus-12 multiplayer battles. You can join in solo or join in with a squad of friends. A squad consists of you and three other members. With this sequel came the deletion of the gold-rush crates and the addition of the M-Com station (which is pretty much the same thing just with some computer equipment on top of the crate). You also have several multiplayer games: Conquest (capture the flag), Squad Rush and Squad Deathmatch. There was also the addition of a “hardcore” mode, which enabled more powerful bullet damage and less health given to you while in combat. One of the unique settings Battlefield creates online is the amount of teamwork that must occur for a side to win. The side that has the players most willing to work together will win — every time! Yes, I am yelling at all you Modern Warfare players. Battlefield is not lone-wolf, do-what-you-want, just-get-kills, gameplay. Yes, it is important to get those kills, but that is not how you will win online, unless of course you are playing Squad Deathmatch. Work together, hold the fort, kick some ass with your squad, and you are guaranteed to win and have a great time online. Did I mention you get the unlockable weapons, gadgets and awards faster that way?

While playing online you have access to many vehicles and tools at your disposal. Some of these tools range from a small ATV, a remote-controlled, armed UAV helicopter, a AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter, a UH-60 Blackhawk, M1A2 Abrams MBT or a Bradely APC. The Russian side has their versions of each of these units as well. Each has its own weaknesses, strengths, and challenges to use. Each Blackhawk has two mini-guns attached to each side of the helicopter and can also hold an additional two teammates in the cabin. A total of five players can be in this one helicopter! One tactic is to shoot, soften, and death drop. What is a death drop? Jumping out of the helicopter while being shot at, deploying your parachute, and landing behind enemy lines. If done unnoticed, you can cause unthinkable damage to the other team. Another team tactic used is to have a sniper hide in a building inside the enemy base and have his team spawn off him constantly. This allows for easy takeovers of a rush crate or to get that last push for kills.

For all of you gamers who love to camp — and you all know who you are — Battlefield created a environment that requires you to move around. Once killing an opponent, your location is shown to that player, along with what you have equipped, gadgets in use and any other specialties that you have. This includes your current BFBC online rank. Watch out, we’ll be coming for you. Nothing is more satisfying than knifing someone in the back while who thought they were hidden in some bush on the corner of the map. Revenge is a beautiful thing. The maps do provide some great sniping positions as well for those gamers who consider themselves to be great snipers under pressure.

As with the first BFBC, you can win patches, pins and medals from your online performance. Although there are fewer to earn than in the first version of the game, each has its own challenges and are a little easier to attain during a normal online battle. For those of you that are achievement hogs (like myself), half the achievements are from playing the single-player campaign and the other half are from online play.

All in all, BFBC2 was and still is a great game to play. If you are into a large-map shooter that requires you to use some teamwork, creative thinking, and of course, proper use of explosives, this game is definitely for you. Modern Warfare players can easily convert to the online play offered here as the pace is just as fast but with the added ability to destroy the cover you cower behind when it gets hot. And who wouldn’t want to drive a tank or fly a attack helicopter every now and then? Remember, there are no heartbeat sensors here and as Haggard mentioned, Snowmobiles are for pansies. If you haven’t picked it up yet, go pick up a copy, even though, five months later, it’s still almost as expensive as it was day one. It remains a game I play regularly and stands the test of time. Then get out there, kick some ass, destroy some buildings, and enjoy the victories with your teammates!

Battlefield Bad Company 2
EA Digital Illusions CE/Electronic Arts
Reviewed for Xbox 360 (also available for Playstation 3 and Windows)
Released: March 2, 2010
$44 to $57 on Amazon.com