|
|
|
Platform
Xbox 360
Genre
Shooter
Publisher
Electronic Arts
Developer
EA Digital Illusions
CE
ESRB
M (Mature)
Released
March 2, 2010
|
 |
|
- More comedy than I expected, usually at the expense of Modern
Warfare 2
- DICE makes awesome multiplayer
- Destructible environments are awesome
|
 |
|
- Some unfair checkpoints
- Not being able to issue even basic commands to AI buddies
- You'll need to put in some time with multiplayer to actually
start having fun with it
|
 |
|
Review:
Battlefield: Bad Company (360)
Review:
Army of Two: The 40th Day (360)
Review:
Battlefield 1943 (360)
|
|
Newsletter |
|
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter
sent out twice weekly.
Enter E-Mail Address Below:
| |
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Score: 8.5
Sometimes I really wish I could just turn
off the critical part of my brain when playing a game, especially when
I'm having fun. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 leaps around the world during
its single-player campaign in an effort to show off scenery (and a
glimpse of the multiplayer environments) and offers only the slimmest
plot connections between locations.
I actually have no problem with this globe trotting -- you're a soldier
and you go where you're told; I've swallowed that premise a thousand
times -- but it just feels
|
|
|
silly to the critical side of my brain.
The Aurora Device, some kind of experimental weapon out of WWII, at the
center of the action is another prime example. In the opening chapter,
when the device is activated it causes a massive wave, hundreds of feet
high. All through the game I'm thinking, "Yeah, I want to get my hands
on this before the |
Advertisement
|
|
enemy does because controlling water like
that could obliterate coastal cities and lock-down ocean shipping, which
would in turn cripple the world economy!" I was over-thinking it. Then I
arrived at the end of the game and the Aurora Device is used again, only
this time it's just your garden variety electromagnetic pulse. Ho hum. I
was disappointed that the game didn't end with Bad Company riding a
massive wave and shooting enemies off surfboards.
The points in-between I actually enjoyed, especially because using (and
obliterating cover) is used so effectively throughout. Not everything in
the environment is destructible but enough of it is to make even simple
engagements far more interesting than they should be. At one point I was
completely pinned down inside a building where an exit out the front
would have meant instant death. I punched a hole in the back of the
building with a remote charge and escaped to a better position then
completely destroy the building where most of the enemy fire was coming
from. These moments are what made the game so fun for me. Well, that and
the constant ribbing of Modern Warfare 2 and a couple of lines directly
aimed at Ubisoft.
The single-player makes a good primer for the online experience. But
just like paint, it's only the base coat; you'll have to put in some
time with the multiplayer before you'll have any level of success. With
more than a dozen vehicles and many customizable options in terms of
equipment and weapons, and a selection of maps that require varying
tactics, you might have some work ahead of you in figuring out how all
of it "works."
Tactical coordination is something else though. Having a group of
dedicated players makes all the difference in the world. I've had a few
of these experiences and enjoyed them tremendously but it seems that
every server has one or two people that just don't get it. Those fools
that jump in a helicopter and immediately dust off or run off on their
own, taking the lone wolf approach. (Tip: A lone wolf is a dead wolf.)
Getting some firepower in the air and working with a ground squad,
that's where Bad Company 2 shines -- partially destroying a building to
force the enemy out in the open to be taken out by ground squad makes
for some great gaming.
Having only been out for less than a month, the dust definitely hasn't
settled on Bad Company 2's multiplayer and the basics are so good that
chances of a strong community building around the game appears to be
inevitable. DICE also has a long history of supporting their games and
there are already plans in place to offer DLC in the coming months. This
has all the markings of a long-term investment in fun.
- Aaron Simmer
(March 25, 2010)
|
