I sprinted through the deserted homes and crumbling buildings, systematically crouching behind cover to catch my breath and listen for the occasional drumming of boots as they made their way hastily toward a distant chorus of screaming soldiers. The symphonic machinegun fire gave prelude to a crescendo of incoming mortar shells, making for an adequate distraction as my journey came to resolution. I entered the dilapidated factory through a side door, and headed slowly up the rusted ladderwell that moaned in discontent with my every footstep toward the top of the complex.
The roof provided an excellent vantage point to aid my advancing comrades scattered among the war torn ruins. Another had the same thought. Clad in a ghillie suit that made him stand out like a haystack in a city street, he was still and quiet, lining up shots to silence the melody that had already done me so many favors. With ravenous determination, I ran across the concrete rooftop, pushing to reach him before he could realize a serrated blade would be entering his chest. My footsteps grew louder as I closed the gap. He heard my intent and spun quickly to put me down. The bolt-action rifle gave this soldier only one chance to halt my advance; he did not take advantage. A single round sang a dissonant cry as it whirred past. A short-lived expression of pain crossed his face as tempered teeth sunk into regretful flesh.
…And then my audience stopped reading because I was severely creeping them out.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a game developed by DICE, and one of a number of sequels to the Battlefield franchise. Maintaining my personal title of “one of the most involved shooter experiences to date,” though maybe not as involved as a game like ARMA; BFBC2 provides a great wartime feel through amazing audio, fast-paced gameplay, easy to manage interface, and spectacular visuals.
Traditional to the Battlefield series, Bad Company 2 revolves around big battles of up to 32 players. Tanks, APCs, Helicopters, even Jet Skis and Off-Road 4x4s are among the vast vehicle armament persistent in many maps. Individual characters are put into squads of up to four players. Being part of a squad allows you to more easily communicate with other squadmates, and will even allow you to spawn on top of them in the very likely event of your death; this allows great tide-turning possibilities, being able to send a single man deep behind enemy lines, and then turn that one man into four by spawning near him. Players can be one of 4 individual classes, (Medic, Engineer, Assault, and Recon) whose loadouts can be changed while waiting to respawn, allowing you to change your tactics mid game (like equipping Anti-Tank mines instead of your trusty RPG-7.)
Players gain experience points based on personal performance during matches (unlike idling in Alterac Valley (WoW reference,) you have to actually participate in the game.) Players receive bonuses through a variety of different “pins” awarded at the end of the match. Pins can be awarded by anything from attacking and defending a base within a single round, avenging an ally’s death, getting multiple kills with a single weapon type, being part of the best squad, or being all around awesome. (On a side note, you also receive the dog tags of anyone you’ve knifed, and maintain a list of those players with a running tally of how may times you’ve stuck them.) Individual class levels are gained through experience; unlocking specific guns and equipment for that class, as well as an overall player level, which grants access to more equipment for multiple classes.
The interface in BFBC2 is extremely smooth and easy to use, allowing a lot of interaction between your environment and squadmates by pressing the Socialize button, originally bound to the ‘Q’ key on PC. The universal Socialize button allows you, when looking at a Medic in your squad, to verbally ask for First Aid, or tell an allied player in a passing vehicle to slow down because you’re “tired of hoofin’ it.” It also doubles as a targeting device for enemy players, placing a little red arrow above the target while providing a verbal warning to nearby allies. The arrow hangs around for a few seconds, just long enough to light him up, (unless he’s running around like Benny Hill with “Yakety Sax” on blast.)
Speaking of little red arrows. In a game like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, if you’re great at shooting people, you will do well in the game. You point, you click, things die, you get points, you tell your girlfriend about it, she’s not impressed, then she tells you that you don’t spend enough time together and that it’s because of “your stupid games,” but you ignore her and play more games, because she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Err, that’s just… speculation. Totally. Anyway; you can’t simply point and click your way to victory in Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
“Spotting” via the socialize button is one of the most important things you can do to up your chances at pocketing a win. Cover is utilized better in this game than in any I’ve seen. The reason for this is, essentially, environmental movement. In most games, if a player sits still looking at their screen, they can see figures move, even in the distance, it simply catches your eye. But if ‘everything’ moves, it’s difficult to differentiate between a cloud of smoke, trees swaying in the wind, buildings being blown to bits and pieces, the obscuring haze of a gusting sandstorm, all of which provide excellent sources of cover for the player. The little red spotting arrow does a great job of negating this cover, as it is visible from practically anywhere on the map. Even while you can’t see the enemy, you will definitely know where he is. Your foe will have a very bad day, and you will walk away with some extra experience as a “spotting bonus” when they die.
Cover is great while it lasts, and though there should always be ‘something’ you can hide behind, the statement becomes less and less true as the battle progresses. Buildings can incur gaping holes in walls from rockets, mortar fire, and tank rounds, these same buildings may eventually collapse, leaving you a big pile of concrete slabs instead of a cozy apartment complex. Trees and telephone poles may be mowed down, watch-towers can topple, vehicle “corpses” stay present for a good long while and act as cover themselves, even the dirt beneath you can crater from a blast. Nearly ‘everything’ in a game map is interactive and/or destroyable.
I could go on and on about how incredible the audio is; the deafening ring of an explosion landing nearby, shouts from allies and enemies that react to everything, usually with some “mature” language thrown in (to put it lightly,) the delicate crunch of boots through snow, and the rustle of brush as you move through the flora. Just individual strokes on the canvas of an aural masterpiece.
Each skirmish in BFBC2 tries to make it feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself. Planes may begin strafing runs at the beginning of the map, and make passes overhead throughout the game, land based artillery will fire at ships anchored just off shore, and red-hot bullets will fly through the air at a village off in the distance. While this is all aesthetic and will make no ‘real’ impact on your match, the attention to detail is amazing, and provides an overall feel to the game that you simply do not get to enjoy with other “wartime” simulations.
TLDR Version
Battlefield: Bad Company 2, by DICE is the next generation of war-time shooters. Hosting incredible video and audio effects that step in synchronous to the game’s 32 player battles and completely interactive environment, BFBC2 will possess FPS gamers from casual to hardcore alike from day one, and well into the foreseeable future. There is a well scripted and somewhat comical single player campaign to add to the already outstanding multiplayer aspect. The game is available to PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. War based violence and constant use of profanity make this game maaaaaybe not-so suitable for children.
Rating: A commendable 10/10
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