- Publisher: EA
- Developer: DICE
- ESRB Rating: “M” for Mature
- Genre: FPS
- Pros: Great sound; deep multiplayer; destructible environments; solid gameplay
- Cons: Weak solo campaign; graphics glitches; the Bad Company attitude is toned down
The single-player campaign in Bad Company follows the same four soldiers introduced in the first game. Instead of the open levels and “finders keepers” vibe of the first game, however, Bad Company 2 is a much more linear story driven game where Bad Company plays good soldier instead of going all rogue and awesome, which is kind of a letdown.
The story in BC2 centers around a top secret Japanese super weapon built in World War II. Rumors of the weapon have resurfaced in the present day, and Bad Company has to try and track it down and keep it out of the hands of the Russians. This mission takes them from frozen mountaintops to dense jungles and sweltering deserts among other locations through North, Central, and South America.
Campaign
While the story is fairly good, I’m not sure how I feel about the campaign itself. It features plenty of firefights, but also a more than healthy dose of vehicle and turret missions or even a handful of situations where you mark specific targets with your optics to be flattened with air strikes. On one hand, the variety is appreciated. On the other hand, though, the vehicles aren’t that fun to drive, turret missions almost always suck (not just this game, every game), and sometimes variety for the sake of variety (which is what this feels like because they pop up so often) isn’t always necessary.
EA
Outside of the handful of standout set pieces, however, the game isn’t all that special. Sure, it has a crazy destruction engine where you can take buildings down Red Faction-style, but you don’t really ever get to use it. There are also some just plain silly things here as well, such as the fact that your A.I. squadmates can’t die (they’ll take dozens of rockets to the face for you) and they will literally teleport along the path to keep up with you if you get too far ahead. I also discovered that in missions where you only have to go from point A to point B, you don’t really even have to fight the enemies. As long as you reach the next checkpoint, your teammates teleport to your location and you move forward with no worries even if there are a dozen enemies still alive at the battle you just ran past.
All of this adds up to be a fairly so-so experience. There are high points, sure, but it rarely maintains that level of quality for more than a couple minutes at a time. The game is fundamentally sound; it just isn’t all that interesting.
Multiplayer
Graphics
Graphically, Bad Company 2 is a nice looking game. Some of the outdoor areas are massive and you’ll come across some gorgeous vistas during the campaign. Special effects for explosions and fire are nicely done, and the smoke and dust kicked up during battle is spectacular. I did notice a fair bit of tearing (particularly ground textures with big creases in them as you move along) and some serious clipping.
EA
The sound is really well done as well. The music and general sound effects are kind of bland (“epic” war games all sound the same), but the gunfire sounds are really nice. They are realistically loud and echo just the right way and really stand out. Voice acting for the four main characters is also very good, and outside of battle they will talk about the most random things (mixed martial arts, 50 Cent, where Hags wants to be buried, etc.) but you kind of have to stop moving in missions and wait for them to start talking before you hear any of the good stuff.
Bottom Line
In the end, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a solid game that multiplayer shooter fans will really enjoy. The single-player campaign is pretty weak, but the multiplayer is extremely good and will keep you busy for weeks. My recommendation is to rent it if you’re only interested in solo and buy it if you plan on spending time with the multiplayer. It doesn’t quite reach EA and DICE’s goal of topping Modern Warfare 2 (MW2 has better campaign and better graphics, multiplayer is pretty even, though), but Bad Company 2 is a fun game that is worth a look.
