The Company We Keep

A look at Battlefield: Bad Company 2

To start with, I need to clarify 2 things...

Firstly, This is not a REVIEW of the game, Nor is it designed to make you want to buy the game or not, This is my THOUGHTS about the game, So if you want to debate them in a calm manner then feel free to drop a comment, But any over-the-top, "who do you think you are?" type responses will be promptly ignored.

Secondly, I did NOT play the multiplayer on this game, Nor do i have any intention to. If a game can't stand up in single player then it should be an MMO.


Now then, Onto my thoughts...

I was worried when starting the game because i couldn't remember exactly what had happened in the first Bad Company, But my fears were put to rest when i realised you didn't really need to know what happened in the first game... Hell the first game didn't even need to exist and you'd still be able to keep up here. The story is the same as every other recent FPS... Country A and Country B are at war, Country A sends in a ragtag group of soldiers with no chance of success, Who then break through the battle lines, Discover Country B has some super special awesome secret weapon that could destroy civilisation as we know it. The ragtag team then manages to steal the weapon or find someway to stop it (Seriously, If i had a super weapon, I would have an entire battalion of soldiers standing in the room with it) only to get double crossed by Authority figure A. The team then goes rogue, Takes out evil double crossing authority dude, Stops the weapon from going off and saves civilisation as we know it... Huzzah. But seriously, In terms of story, Bad Company provides nothing new, Nor does it improve upon anything old...

But surely the gameplay is far superior, You say. No... Right off the bat i found the controls to be sluggish and not as responsive as you'd expect from a FPS. Sure, You could adjust the settings from the options menu, But it's not like it's a new control scheme or anything, other FPS's handle just fine straight out of the box, Why the dodgy settings here?

Graphically the game goes for the usual high detail and as realistic as possible, But ultimately ends up looking no better than any of it's competition, In fact i think the characters in Modern Warfare 2 were far more detailed.
Level structure is pretty straightforward without many alternate routes, Which means the game doesn't really allow for much tactical thinking, Instead you just end up running to a set point, Clearly marked by the sudden increase in available cover, Kill off a wave or two of enemies, Before advancing to the next point. Some levels attempt to add interesting sections such as a vehicle section, Or a particular section in a snowstorm, But it just seems like they're being added to stop you realising how repetitive the shooting is getting, And you never see them again.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is an average game, But with the kind of advertising and budget it gets, And with the experience behind it, It really SHOULD have been more. The mistakes that were made are sloppy and simple, And really shouldn't be something you see in a game that's supposed to be a major release. And before anyone says, Oh, But it's better in multiplayer, My opinion is that ANY game should be able to stand up in single player at LEAST as well as it does in multiplayer... If you are going to make a multiplayer game, At least be like Shadowrun and admit it's made for multiplayer alone.