Darryn Bonthuys reviews EA’s squad shooter.
Rogue Russian colonels, a doomsday weapon aimed at America and a squad of expendable soldiers caught in between… welcome to Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
Dropping the outlandish Three Kings inspired story of the first Bad Company game for an even more outlandish weapons of mass destruction scenario, players will travel from the frigid Siberian highlands to the tropical jungles of South America, shooting whatever comes into sight.
Developer DICE have created one of the most beautiful games around. While it‘s not as perfect as its counterpart Modern Warfare 2, Bad Company 2 does go the extra mile with its environments, from lush jungles to war torn Russian villages and beyond.
The sound design also deserves a moment of praise for its exceptional authenticity. From the distinctive crack of sniper rifles, to the whistle of bullets rushing past your head, or even when the sound itself becomes dull and distorted as a nearby grenade goes off, Bad Company 2 is an experience that is complemented by a decent sound system.
Bad Company2 boasts a fully-destructible environment in which combat takes place, but if you‘re expecting an experience similar to Red Faction, you might be a little disappointed.
Sure, you can use a rocket launcher or a tank to blow apart houses and enemy combatants from their hiding spots, but the system doesn‘t extend to your rifles and shotguns, meaning that a full metal jacket won‘t do squat against even the thinnest of wooden walls. It‘s a great idea ruined by sloppy implementation.
Gameplay consists of your standard cover-based shooter mechanics, mixed in with a few driving segments and scenarios that task the player with eliminating enemies with different methods, such as using a thunderstorm to mask the gunfire of your sniper rifle.
While you won‘t be fighting on your own, the game will make you wish that the friendly fire option was turned off. The Bad Company squad may be competent enough, but beyond spewing one-liner wisecracks and being generally annoying one-dimensional characters, they serve little other use during the main campaign.
Looking past your irritating brothers in arms, Bad Company 2 is a solid shooter that doesn‘t deviate much from the FPS path. Its story may drag in the beginning, but it gathers enough momentum to keep players interested towards the end.
While the single-player experience is a short 6-8 hour jaunt, the game really shines in the multiplayer department. Playing as one of four classes, the multiplayer also rewards players who play with tactics and teamwork, instead of kamikaze shotgun rushes and grenade spamming.
It‘s not the best FPS on the market, but Bad Company 2 is an adequate shooter that features a strong multiplayer component that makes up for its average single player campaign.
