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7.8
The Good
Great graphics * Fully destructible environments * Great variety of vehicles to pilot in online multiplayer * Unqiue class system * Good variety of online multiplayer modes
The Bad
Small generic environments which recycle themselves heavily * Vehicle segments bring nothing new to the genre * Poor A.I. * Weak weapon details * Short single-player campaign * Seems to have a shortage of maps for online multiplayer
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If Bad Company 2 had been released before last year’s Modern Warfare 2 or even before the first Modern Warfare in 2007, it could have been something worth recommending. Featuring a single-player campaign that has you waging war across the globe and an intense online multiplayer which allows you to pilot massive vehicles across expansive landscapes in a frantic fight for territory, Bad Company 2 could have been a winner. Add in fully destructible environments and you have a recipe for success. But coming in right after the 2nd game of Activision’s highly acclaimed Modern Warfare franchise is a bad, bad choice for the Battlefield series. Almost everything in Bad Company 2 has been done better in the first Modern Warfare and its sequel and because both games in the Modern Warfare franchise are readily available, there’s little reason why anyone should play Bad Company 2.
On the single-player front, Bad Company 2 mimics so much of Modern Warfare 2 that it’d be a challenge not to draw comparisons between both games. Like Modern Warfare 2, Bad Company 2 has that similar the US vs. Russia plot. And like Modern Warfare 2, Bad Company 2 sends you into combat with a squad of believable soldiers. And both games have you trotting the globe as you attempt to track the antagonist down and put an end to his nefarious plans. This paints a reason for Bad Company 2 to take you across a variety of exotic locales to showcase what its graphics engine can do. And like Modern Warfare 2, Bad Company 2 puts you in control of various situations where you need to pilot the guns of a helicopter, the turret of a humvee, a tank, call in artillery strikes using binoculars, as well as perform stealthy sniper kills. Both games gun for that epic feel which tries to involve you on a great level by wrapping it all up in a cinematic peel. The main difference between Modern Warfare 2 and Bad Company 2 is that the former succeeds in offering a rather immersive experience while the later stumbles in bits and parts. The result is a modern military shooter that has the right ingredients for a killer of a game but the sum of its parts doesn’t quite come together to form one cohesive experience.
The single-player campaign starts with great promise as the game takes you back to the World War 2 era for the prologue mission. It lays the foundation for the interesting tale which has you and your squad of comrades hot on the heels of an archetypal Russian villain attempting to capitalize on the forgotten technology of a mass-EMP device developed by the Japanese during World War 2. Like any bad guy in any military shooter, this Russian villain doesn’t make himself a convenient target, hiding himself in secluded locations around the world. What ensues is a chase that takes you and your squad of soldiers across nations like Bolivia, Chile and Colombia.
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It’s not too difficult to see what Bad Company 2 is getting at. Over the course of 13 missions, the game inserts you into vast icy landscapes, dense jungles and urban environments. There’s no doubt that the game does a capable job of pairing these locations with its powerful graphics, ensuring that each scene looks as realistically gorgeous as possible. As much as I’d like to praise the game for its graphics, it just seems that the developers hardly managed to convince any sane player that they are actually fighting the war in Bolivia, Chile or Colombia. More often than not, you’d find yourself shooting bad guys in repeating generic environments that it’s pretty much obvious that the developers missed out on that important sense of scale and epic which they were going for with the plot. It wouldn’t be long before you start questioning the authenticity of the story and its various cut-scenes because it really feels like you are fighting the war in just one country, albeit in different parts of the nation.
Bad Company 2 also suffers from a largely linear structure. While there’re many other military shooters out there, including Modern Warfare 2, which push you along a linear adventure, they often cover this shortcoming with environments which present themselves as huge, though largely unexplorable spaces. The developers of Bad Company 2, however, seem more interested in highlighting this unsightly fact with mostly empty environments. Often times, there’d be a few buildings dotted around the landscape and everything beyond these buildings is represented by a blanket of nothingness. It’s ironic because the whole idea of having you fight the war across a variety of nations is the presentation of a game world that feels varied and huge, giving you the perception of fighting a war that feels epic, and while the plot presents the game with much potential, Bad Company 2 goes on to botch itself up dramatically with small generic environments that have no qualms recycling themselves over 13 missions. It’s a case of the developers being too lazy to do any good to their game.
The developers attempt to reintroduce a sense of scale and epic into its game with a great variety of scenarios that put you in control of devastating weaponries. You will get to rain death from above with a chopper’s machine gun turret and pilot a tank that pops massive firepower capable of crumbling buildings. Before 2007, the idea of doing such stuffs in a military shooter may seem novel, even impressive because not many games actually implement such on-vehicle components into their gameplay. But it’s 2010, and to actually impress players, you actually need a bigger, more creative idea to bring your game to the forefront. The fact is that there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done better in other military shooters. The Modern Warfare franchise has already introduced fantastic set-pieces which involve players on a highly emotional level. This made you care about what you’re doing. In Bad Company 2, however, there’s this feeling that you’re actually just blowing up stuffs for the sake of doing it. Being able to blow up stuffs from the comfort of a helicopter is great, but the game just overdoes it to such an extent that you’re actually in the chopper every other level, and it isn’t long before the whole thing feels old.
The single-player campaign here is absolutely horrible. The entire experience is a mundane journey to see the credits. You’re on a vehicle only to hide the fact that on-foot combat is marred by truly incompetent A.I. Often times, you’d find the enemies standing in the open, very much oblivious to your gunfire. They don’t move and neither do they take cover. It’s amateurish A.I. direction at best. It’s so easy to bring up your iron sights without being interrupted and when you do bring up your iron sights, you’ll be blown away by the weak gun details. The scope is a plain single-color ring slapped on a sheet of single-color plastic with a red reticule in-between. Look at the side of the weapon, and you’ll notice it’s just a blocky piece of grey material.
If there’s something that Bad Company 2 does right for its single-player campaign, it’s the fully destructible environments. The claim is true, so expect yourself to blast chunks of walls out from a building. It adds a much welcomed layer of strategy to an otherwise run-of-the-mill experience. For instance, to counter an enemy who has holed himself up in a building, you can either go for a precise headshot or expose him by blowing his cover. Or perhaps you could just topple the entire structure with a few good grenade throws and some rockets.
The forgettable 6 hour long single-player campaign wouldn’t matter one bit if you’re one of the many players who go for the Battlefield series trademark online multiplayer. For someone who has played a number of prior Battlefield games, including Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142 and the download-only Battlefield 1943, I have to say that Bad Company 2 retains the convention of the franchise’s traditionally strong online multiplayer. Against many of the other military shooters out there, Bad Company 2 is a competitive player in the market.
Like the Battlefield games before it, the online multiplayer formula here remains largely unchanged. One part of the fun that can be had from playing the online multiplayer here is the ability to jump into any of the several vehicles available for each match. There’re tanks for outright destruction, infantry support vehicles to make quick work of light vehicles and enemy soldiers, ATVs for getting to point A to point B fast and choppers for killing tanks and just about everything else. Besides vehicles, there are also various stationary defenses to man, including machine gun turrets, anti-air turrets and missile turrets. All in all, there’s a great variety of controllable vehicles and equipment that make the territory grabbing gameplay a blast to play again.
The class system from previous Battlefield games also makes a return. The said system has been a staple of the Battlefield series for several years now and like always, it adds a significant amount of tactical depth to the online multiplayer. Each class has a set number of swappable weapons and equipment unique to the specific class. For instance, playing as the Engineer unlocks the repair drill while playing as the Assault enables you to resupply troops by dropping ammo crates. Each class has its strengths and weaknesses, meaning that there is a great level of teamwork needed if your team wants to win a match. What I like is how seamlessly each class serves to complement each other during combat. It is this system that makes the online multiplayer here so unique and so enjoyable.
Besides the popular Conquest mode, there’re also Rush, Squad Rush and Squad Deathmatch modes to toy around with. Each mode introduces a different style of play which affects the general strategy and overall length of each match. Conquest mode is the famous territory control mode which can last for a considerably long period as the pair of team slug it out over extensive landscapes for extended lengths of time. Players looking for a shorter match can look towards Rush or Squad Rush for a shot of adrenaline. What this all means is that there’s something for everyone in Bad Company 2’s online multiplayer.
My only complain about the online multiplayer is how there seems to be a severe shortage of maps as the games keeps cycling between the same few maps during my extended playthrough. The Battlefield series could also look towards the direction of the Modern Warfare franchise for additional options which could make its game better. Perks have already been implemented in this iteration of Battlefield and that’s a great addition. Rewards could also be added for players who round up consecutive kills. These additional options could provide more strategy to an already tactical online multiplayer.
Closing comments
You either hate this game or like this game. If you’re expecting a decent single-player campaign, you would hate Bad Company 2 because the single-player experience is so full of flaws that you’d be better off playing Modern Warfare or its sequel. On the other hand, if you’re getting Bad Company 2 solely for the online multiplayer, you would be rewarded with the same enjoyable formula that has been representing the Battlefield series for years. Personally, I’m more orientated towards the single-player experiences of games – so I am largely disappointed with what Bad Company 2 has to offer. The online multiplayer presents some great fun, though what you’re essentially paying for is only half the package.
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