Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: DICE
Rating: M for Mature
Released: March 2nd, 2010
Type: First Person Shooter
Version Reviewed: PC
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC



So, what makes a "Bad Company" game? The destruction? The large scale sandbox style take on warfare? The dry sarcastic humor? Of course not...well, sort of. All of these things go into "Bad Company," but really it is Bad Company that makes it a "Bad Company" game. Haggard, Marlowe, Sweetwater, and Sarge, along with a few new faces, all make their rounds in DICE's Battlefield Bad Company 2.

The game's single player opens with a World War II mission which parallels with some of the events taking place later on the game. Following this brief, yet fun, mission, it is back to modern times with players controlling Preston Marlowe, in yet another set of skirmishes for the U.S. military. Wait, what? If you haven't completed the previous entry in the franchise, the first Bad Company, spoilers lie ahead. At the end of the first Bad Company, players watch as Marlowe and the rest of bad company break away from the convoy, veering off into the horizon with a truck full of gold. Bad Company 2, instead, ignores this fact. It is never explained why these events are ignored, and thus stands as a massive contradiction to the events of the first game. Ignoring this, the story is tenuous at best. There are some interesting plot points revolving around some less than well known real life technology, namely scalar weapons. However, that's the extent of the depth of Bad Company 2's story. While the protagonists range from quirky and enjoyable to irritating and one dimensional, the antagonists are much more notable for the fact that they are essentially Saturday morning cartoon villains. This doesn't stop the campaign from being enjoyable, but this is the wrong place to turn if you're looking for a deep and compelling storyline.

And of course, the campaign wouldn't be the same without Bad Company's brand of humor. From the special activities division (SAD company), to Haggard's off-beat challenge of an ATV race, to the various facetious jabs at Modern Warfare 2, Bad Company 2 still brings an element of off-key humor, even if the game is somewhat more serious in nature.

Along with the original cast of characters returning, their respective voice actors are also returning, and give as fantastic of a performance as before. Furthermore, Battlefield games have always been hailed for their incredibly accurate true-to-life sounds, and Bad Company 2 is no exception. Explosions at close range are still deafening, and will leave you with ringing in your ears, the gunshots sound perfect almost across the board, and the pin-point detail of grass crinkling beneath the feet is especially rewarding for players who are particularly aware of the sounds around them. One exception to this game's stellar array of sound effects is the pistols. The game's pistols still sound as though they are hissing; firing out puffs of air with a lot of bass, but no bang. This is true even of the unsilenced pistols, and it leaves the handguns seeming limp.

Accompanying a symphony of bullets whizzing past your ear and explosions in the distance, is an epic score that can be both catchy and heart pounding, and remains unintrusive throughout the game, single player or multiplayer. Oh, and for a substantially more intense sound experience, set your sound settings to "war tapes."
Just as the sounds are used to enhance the game play, the game's graphics accomplish a similar feat of being both 'fashionable and functional.' The game, while not always intensely vivid or vibrant, is far from monochromatic. From lush tropical locations, to harsh desert terrain, to snowy peaks, the game delivers a variety of settings that look and play well. On top of this, the maps and missions are tremendously detailed, and filled with doodads and objects that add to both the look and game play.

Of particular note here are the new particle effects. Enormous curtains of dust which blanket desert maps serve to not only make the game more detailed, but these dust storms provide tactical advantages as well. The explosions are more badass than ever, thanks in part to the new particle effects, and to the new Destruction 2.0 system. It should go without saying, but blowing the foundations out from a multi-tiered structure with C4 and watching it come crumbling and crashing to the ground will never get boring.



On the game play side of things, there are a variety of new mechanics introduced in Bad Company 2, along with the basic structure provided not only by the previous entry in the series, but from the Battlefield series in general. Destruction, as I said before, is ramped up a ton, chaotic vehicular combat still takes center stage, even more so than ever with an even greater variety of tanks, choppers, and now quad bikes. Shooting is still shooting, recoil is still recoil and varies between guns. The maps are still enormous open sandboxes which put the potential for amazing tactical variety and execution in the hands of the players. The more noteworthy changes aren't ones that revolutionize FPS game play, but ones that supplement; small things with large impacts upon the game play.

Something that will immediately stand out is the absence of a numerical HP indicator on the HUD, along with the omission of the health injector. Instead, players will have to determine how damaged they are based upon aural and visual input, and estimation. Health will eventually regenerate (slowly) on its own, or an allied medic can drop a health pack to expedite the process. This might not be a welcomed change for some, but it's here to stay, and to its credit, the new system does help alleviate some fragmented combat experiences. Bad Company 2 also begins to delve into enhanced bullet physics. For the time being, all that means is that gravity now acts upon your bullets, and they will drop as they travel through the air. This is, however, a rather welcomed and significant change, particularly for snipers. The new bullet drop system makes for some hugely rewarding marksmanship displays.

The game employs varied pacing, making frequent shifts between high-octane symphonies of explosions and all out hectic gunning for your life combat, and urging players to play very slowly, steadily, cautiously, and deliberately, waiting to take single shots concealed by thunder, or slowing advancing forward at a crawling pace at times.

Unfortunately, while the multiplayer is enormously open, the single player tends to be substantially more linear, or at least as linear as a Bad Company game can be. On the bright side though, the single player does provide some fresh ideas and fun encounters along with the standard shooter conventions, such as a skydiving pistol face-off and a mission at the peak of a frigid mountain which requires players to move from house to house in order to utilize the fireplaces to keep from freezing; explosions can be used creatively to improvise some fire during longer treks with no shelter in sight.

DICE made the effort to share the spotlight between the campaign and the multiplayer, but it's clear that the multiplayer is what will keep players interested after they've finished the 8-10 hour campaign. The frantic and tactically varied combat across a decent sized selection of maps, and an enjoyable but slim assortment of game modes are addicting enough to keep you playing on the merits of the games fun-factor alone, but the unlockable weapons, gadgets, and specializations, along with the ranks, experience, pins, and medals are truly addicting. Bad Company 2 rewards your actions, from killing, assisting, and defending, to supplying your squad mates with ammo and healing them, with points. These points allow you to rank up and earn new rewards. Furthermore, you can earn pins and medals to gain some neat, if not arbitrary, declaration of your awesomeness; they will also augment your points/rank. For example, you can earn multiple pins, such as hitting five headshots in one round, each round, and multiple long term medals, such as killing 5,000 players in total.

The Bad Company 2 multiplayer experience isn't without flaws. The majority of these are external, though. At the time this review was written, the EA servers across all three platforms are suffering a bit of instability, making it difficult to find a server. Furthermore, the server browser on the PC version is a bit slow to gather data and refresh. These are smaller issues than they are made out to be, and when you can connect, the game is an absolute blast. One of the more glaring flaws with the game play itself, however, is the balance, or lack thereof, in hardcore mode. Due to the open nature and sheer scale of the maps and the substantially increased bullet damage in hardcore, the recon class dominates most non-softcore matches, as a sniper will one shot anybody not in vehicle from any distance. Hardcore is still a more intense and challenging experience, but it is imbalanced. If you're looking for a balanced game, or to personally test your sniper skills, you might want to consider playing softcore (regular).

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 isn't fundamentally new or revolutionary; instead DICE has chosen to expand upon the formula of Bad Company 1 and the Battlefield franchise in general. This is not a bad thing in any way. It may not be competing for the title of most innovative game on the market, but it delivers the fun in immeasurable quantities. A handful of mostly minor flaws hold this game back from perfection, but they don't stop it from being one of the most enjoyable and addicting experiences full of vehicular and team-based combat, intense gunplay, and highly coordinated tactical mayhem out there today. Bad Company 2 is an excellent pickup not only for fans of the Battlefield franchise, not only for the Bad Company 1 die-hards, not even only for shooter fans in general, but anyone who is a fan of thrillingly hectic and thoroughly enjoyable game play. Conversely, if you have never been fond of the Battlefield series, that isn't necessarily going to change with Bad Company 2.

9/10

Please feel free to comment on anything that stood out to you. I'm especially interested in criticism as my writing style in general is something I'm always looking to improve, and reviews are a whole new animal for me. Again, criticism and comments are both welcomed and appreciated.