Battlefield Bad Company 2

[PeteJ]

I have only done the first mission of single player, not touched multi yet.

The game opens with a rather cool mission which I won't spoil. To begin with it feels a little dated, however it suddenly gets really good about ten minutes in. Graphically in particular it ramps it up massively. You'll know when you get there!

The battles are already nice and action-packed, helped hugely by the extremely impressive destructable buildings (though not every building and object takes damage however, which is a little jarring).

Graphics are ace (not seen any slowdown or tearing), sound is incredible as you'd expect after the first game and the controls are spot on. I've found the AI is a little dumb already but the action is so fast and they go down so quickly that it doesn't have a huge effect.

One issue I have got is the integration of cutscenes, which is handled very poorly. The game suddenly stops and goes black for a second, the cutscene will play (not a cgi movie. It stays ingame and often without changing from FPS, though it stops you from moving), then it goes black again and then back to the game. I don't know why they've done it like this, because it kills the atmosphere.

Other than that though, thumbs up so far.

[ezee ryder]

Yeah I just played through the first mission (bit of the second too) on the PC version and, well, it's quite enjoyable. Nice graphics and solid gameplay, the key ingredients for a good FPS these days. More importantly, it is a huge improvement over the originals single player mode, which I thought was dull and boring. You can even tell from the first couple of missions that more thought has gone into the single player aspect this time round.

However, after a while I jumped on to the multiplayer and lost a good 2 or 3 hours to it. It is really good, highly addictive stuff. Comparisons will be made with Modern Warfare 2 but, for me, Bad Company 2 is a nice alternative rather than being a direct competitor. Yes, they are both online shooters but their styles are quite different. Free-for-all, Modern Warfare 2. Team based matches, Bad Company 2. That's the way I see it.

I doubt the single player mode will even get another play from me now to be honest! It's all about the multiplayer, and I'm looking forward to sinking some hours into it over the next few days.

[FelixofMars]

Just played some of the Singleplayer and a few Multiplayer maps, some Conquest with the Freaks so they where clueless and ran around like headless chickens and we all died. Then I tried the Squad Deathmatch, that was beter people seemed more organised and the smaller squads made for some quick fun matches.

Going back to it in a minute with a full squad of friends so hopefully the Conquest/Gold Rush will be more fun.

Looks brilliant though, have really enjoyed the first few maps on the solo mode.

And yes the ingame cutscene things seem the worse bit, completely breaks the immersion but I assume that is because the first mission is just a load of setpieces/tutorial rather than a full level

[Uli]

so how does the single player campaign hold up? in contrast to most English review sites, German reviews are unfourtunately not very positive about it. attributes range from solid over bland and unimaginative to flawed and forgettable. i am a little worried

[FelixofMars]

Wow, they sound pretty harsh on their reviews, like most military games it probably wont win awards for creativity but it general its very well thought out, a few minor bugs so far nothing that breaks the game. Visually stronger than the last game and with better destruction.

Nice little scripted events and some real work gone into it, and dare I say better than MW2. But then it doesn't use horrible BSP or an aging engine.

Also they seem to have got rid of most of the feeling the singleplayer is just the dressed up multiplayer.

The only thing that I don't like is it feels more serious this time round, from what I have seen gone are Preston and Sweetwater playing rock,paper,scissor behind Sarge. They all seem to have had a personality removal since last game. Maybe this will pick up later.

[Orgun]

Played only Multiplayer so far, love it ****ing love it, gotten up to level 5 methinks.

Two silly favourite moments so far for me, running people over in the UAV and killing people with the defibilator

[FelixofMars]

Try the drill

Two silly favourite moments so far for me, running people over in the UAV and killing people with the defibilator

[Golgo]

The million dollar question: do I trade MW2 for this? Had a shedload of playtime from that and don't feel I need two military shooters in my life...?

[MJ]

Try the drill

http://www.battlefieldbadcompany2.com/achievements-challenge

[rmoxon]

Wow, they sound pretty harsh on their reviews, like most military games it probably wont win awards for creativity but it general its very well thought out, a few minor bugs so far nothing that breaks the game. Visually stronger than the last game and with better destruction.

Nice little scripted events and some real work gone into it, and dare I say better than MW2. But then it doesn't use horrible BSP or an aging engine.

Also they seem to have got rid of most of the feeling the singleplayer is just the dressed up multiplayer.

The only thing that I don't like is it feels more serious this time round, from what I have seen gone are Preston and Sweetwater playing rock,paper,scissor behind Sarge. They all seem to have had a personality removal since last game. Maybe this will pick up later.

Alot of people complained that the characthers in the first game were far too annoying, they have been purposley tonned down by the developer here.

Played the first few missions, love it, not much else to say really, its a fantastic big budget blockbuster style first person shooter, and I dont think I have played a really great one since MW2 so its very welcome for me.

[FelixofMars]

What? It was one of my favourite things from the first game.

Alot of people complained that the characthers in the first game were far too annoying, they have been purposley tonned down by the developer here.

[GarageNation]

Currently on mission 6 at the mo , and I think the graphics are almost simulation , I love the forest/jungle environments. it definatley feels more in depth then MW2. Multiplayer is good also, no instant kills from the word go and you can actually move around for more then 2 mins without dying.

[Brad]

What? It was one of my favourite things from he first game.

This! I loved the over the top nature of it all.

[elaniel]

I've just received this through the post, if anyone is up for some games (360): GT: Elaniel

[Eight Rooks]

Just the singleplayer for me so far. Mixed feelings; they've certainly improved everything over the first game, but that Eurogamer review is... questionable, shall we kindly say. Like a Shane Black script from the mid-90s? Has the guy ever actually seen any Shane Black movies? This doesn't come even remotely near being any such thing. Clunky presentation, poor to mediocre writing, makes no sense and/or doesn't work as a blockbuster movie (why the hell should I care about any of it?)...

On the other hand, while the AI on both sides is pretty crap and the level design still suffers from being a multiplayer game first and foremost, the gunplay's still pretty satisfying (sound is indeed tremendous) and the Frostbite engine makes everything feel a hell of a lot more solid than most of the competition. It feels a bit like Killzone 2 to me, minus the glorious AI and the weight of your character (insert rant from Uli here, I guess) but with the same sense of immersion and tons more environmental interaction. (Both games have terrible stories, I guess, though I couldn't say whose is worse.) And the scale of it! The GRAW-esque missions (war porn, tanks, UAVs, blowing **** up) are especially impressive in that regard.

Dunno as it'd get too many playthroughs out of me, and I can see why people don't really care about the campaign (and that's without even trying the multi). But it definitely has some memorable moments, and DICE are clearly trying fairly hard to make it work. I skipped MW2, but I'm quite pleased I gave this a shot even if I do end up trading it in (no longer that keen on multiplayer, especially progressive multiplayer).