Battlefield Bad Company 2

[mekanor]

I finished the singleplayer for this last week and loved it. It wasn't quite as battlefield as I expected it to be (mostly on foot with the occasional vehicle). It really looks good too (playing it on the PC), probably the first game I've played that rivals Crysis. Destructible environments are great fun too and add quite a bit to the game. Naturally the singleplayer story was rubbish, but I think they just strung together a bunch of multiplayer maps and made a story to fit.

I tried playing online yesterday, and I'm pretty rubbish. Whenever I do quickplay or whatever, it always puts me in an empty server. I did have a good match against this one guy though. It was initially me on my own exploring the map until this guy joined. He dominated me at the start until I got serious and started hunting him as a recon. It was actually quite fun trying to find each other and hoping not to be seen.

Full servers aren't so fun though. Being new at the game I'm naturally rubbish and even if I occasionally have a good run I inevitably get killed by someone I never saw. The ranking thing seems a bit pointless though. I assumed I could join servers with similarly ranked people or something, but instead I'm just in with people 50 levels higher than me with awesome weapons, makes it tough to get motivated to keep playing, especially because the rifle that I know I like from the singleplayer game is the very last unlock for the recon...

[nonny]

I just re-purchased this after finding out Australia finally got local servers for xbox/ps3 in December. I absolutely slated EA & Dice for how bad this plays online up until now but I was curious to experience what it's supposed to be like when latency isn't so much of an issue.

So far I'm pleased. It's a completely different game when you're getting a good connection. Everyone bags COD and it's host advantage but honestly at least it's playable when you have a poor connection. From my experience on BFBC you absolutely must have dedicated servers local to your territory.

For me the game still isn't perfect. I dislike some of the map design that can be abused to spawn camp and I also think the general movement is overly sluggish. The controls and movement in particular stand out for me as the Vietnam content seems improved?

Anyway it took EA and Dice nearly 10 months to fix this game for players in Australia and the general Asia Pacific region. If they want BF3 to be a success worldwide they need to solve this for every territory before release.

[Richard.John]

Vietnam is great. I like how they tweaked the iron sights as in the main game, they are too obstructive, too in your face, in my view, but in the the add on they are more CoD like, as in slightly further away from your virtual eyes, which I prefer. I just love the atmosphere in Vietnam, they really nailed that period feel. From the patina on the guns to the general haze and jungle feel, and music.

I find the online okay, certainly better than CoD:BO in terms of connection issues. My only dislike is that you can't chat to other players on your team, apart from your squad. So often I'm behind a tank that needs fixing but because I can't shout out, the other players just drives off into a mine, etc.

I liken this game to a co-op campaign experience, just with human players as the enemies not bots. It's certainly far deeper than CoD which can only be a good thing. Cant wait for BF3.

[nonny]

Yeah I am warming to the Vietnam DLC for those reasons. The iron sights and more close nature of the combat just seems to work that much better than in the main game. I also like how you can still rank-up just playing the DLC as I'm still only a lowly 13-15 rank.

Some of the 'nam levels have stupid choke points and spawn camping abound but others are pleasingly balanced enough. I'm still learning them myself so no doubt I may not have come up against people abusing such things. The Hastings maps in particular I really enjoyed the other night.

Connection wise it's now acceptable playing from Australia. I still think COD:BO has a better all round connection but in that I always set the locale filter on to search locally first. With a lower player count as well it isnt as critical to gameplay to have a great connection (I'm not saying it doesnt matter, just it's not critical) but in BFBC2 because of the higher number and dedicated server setup its an absolute must have for success.

Right now I think BFBC2 does what it sets out to do well (i.e. large scale battles, vehicles, team-play) but it's individual mechanics could do with some major polish. The controls are still sluggish, it's too easy to get stuck in the environment and the animations arent the best I've ever seen. That plus I would like to see them expand squads to 6 players equal to what the group chat is on the 360. It's disappointing you cant chat to everyone on your team but at the very least I'd like to chat to half of them.

I'm now just hoping BF3 will be all this and more...

[Richard.John]

nonny,

I hear you on getting stuck, as it's bloody annoying. Here's a two foot slope but Mr.Super Soldier can't even climb it!! Aargh. The blacked out areas of the maps piss me off too, as they create huge sandboxes but limit your movement within them. Perhaps not so bad on the main game as the maps are larger, but the expansion has relatively small maps. I still love though that even the smallest maps are huge compared to Black Ops. Not M.A.G. sized but still great.

I'm getting into hardcore conquest now on Vietnam, as I like that the guns are more powerful, so take fewer shots to kill, plus the recons can take down an enemy with just one body shot as it should be. Game gun damage always amuses me. Okay, so it's a game,but a centre mass body shot with a high powered rifle will always kill or seriously disable an enemy in real life. No getting up from that one....

I love just hiding in the bushes over looking a flag, and watching a brave player try to steal it and then BOOM. How I love C4...

It's a shame that the Huey is incredibly weak in Vietnam, but I suppose they did that to stop aerial rapeage, but at least they should allow an engineer to fix mid flight as whenever I try, the flame never seems to touch the body of the Huey. And let's not get started on players who cant fly

Another odd thing is players who don't match their class to the map. For example, Hill 137 and Cao son Temple don't have heavy armour or Hueys. I joined a game late on Cao son Temple and the NVA had captured all three bases so were spawn camping the US deployment. My squad consisted of three engineers, but the best way to take out the boats is with a mortar strike as they are weak and slow moving. The RPG is hit and miss as most move far away from shore to avoid RPGs. I wiped out maybe five or six of those bitches, just by using my handy binoculars. A message sent in my opinion. Get in a boat and attempt to spawn camp us, and you will die at the hands of a rain of death.

[cHawKso]

You can repair the Huey mid-flight, but it needs to be moving quite slowly or hovering. You can't do it at full pelt.

If you've got a competant pilot he'll hide somewhere out of view to repair when suitably damaged - although I appreciate that this isn't the norm!

[nonny]

I guess they made the Hueys weaker as you dont have the tracer darts in Vietnam?

I cant fly the helicopters at all at the moment. I usually get one chance to try every 10 or so games but within 30 seconds of being in the air (an achievement for me) I get gunned down. How the hell are you supposed to learn?

I suppose youtube is my friend for such noob questions...

[Richard.John]

The best way, if you can stomach it, is to buy Onslaught and practice flying the Apache. I think it's not too hard to get the hang of, just requires an understanding of the controls. Rant time...

I love this game to bits. I also hate it as well. I love being part of a good mixed class team, and whether we win or lose, it's fun. I hate being in a squad with three pricks who won't for the life of them play anything but Recon. And of course they all sit back, taking shots at anything that moves. Change class to capture a flag etc? No way in the world, even if we are being spawn camped because of their stupidity. That's another annoyance. Fair enough, it's a legitimate tactic, but when you're outnumbered because said wookies have quit as losing the match, it induces the symptoms known as rage quit!
Not that I do, but this game actually grinds my balls even more so than Black Ops, amazingly enough. And snipers, make me want to quit the most. You're so clever, hiding behind a rock with your 12x scope, acting like a pussy. Aargh.

[englishbob]

I hate being in a squad with three pricks who won't for the life of them play anything but Recon. And of course they all sit back, taking shots at anything that moves. Change class to capture a flag etc? No way in the world, even if we are being spawn camped because of their stupidity. That's another annoyance. Fair enough, it's a legitimate tactic, but when you're outnumbered because said wookies have quit as losing the match, it induces the symptoms known as rage quit!
Not that I do, but this game actually grinds my ball even more so than Black Ops, amazingly enough. And snipers, make me want to quit the most. You're so clever, hiding behind a rock with your 12x scope, acting like a pussy. Aargh.

Its still a great great game online, but I've said as-much on this too. If I find myself in a squad made up of 3 snipers, I just leave the squad and try and find another one if there is a spare slot elsewhere (from the START pause menu). Otherwise I will quit the game and try another match!

[Richard.John]

It rocks online, that's why I get pissed with people who refuse to play as intended.

[EvilBoris]

There is way too much of that, what is people's fascination with Sniper rifles in games in general? Surely it's the pussiest weapon there is?

[Rossco]

Yes and no. I love sniping and I'm good at it. But I'll generally use it when needed. Like maybe to take someone out from a stationary gun placement or to stop people going to blow up MCOM stations etc. I won't just stand there shooting randoms that aren't a proper threat to the team.

But it's much more enjoyable to be in amongst it repairing tanks or blowing **** up. Really need to get back into this game since I've given up COD now.

[MJ]

snipers, make me want to quit the most. You're so clever, hiding behind a rock with your 12x scope, acting like a pussy.

Nothing brings me more pleasure in BC2 online than sneaking around the outside of the map and relieving a bunch of Wookies of their Dog Tags.

[nonny]

Agreed...

Gotta love out flanking them and taking each one out silently. Same goes for guys using the UAV but at some point I've got to remember to drill them with the repair tool for the dentist achievement because I just keep stabbing them due to muscle memory...

I did kill someone with the defibrillator yesterday. Been spending lots of time in both engineer and medic class. For me both seem the most under-used online but then the other two classes seem to have easier roles for newcomers to understand.

That said I've spent a lot of time watching some guides and tips on a site called battlestrats.com and one was about using recon class with short range weapons & claymores. Essentially you assume the role of wookie M-COM/Flag capture master. Get in there, claymore and throw out proximity sensors etc... right in the thick of it.

I found it so refreshing I gave it a try last night and it was great fun. Lends itself to Squad Rush quite well.

[Richard.John]

Yeah, the offensive Recon is great. Equip a red dot or 4x scope to the fully auto sniper rifle and go get them. That VVS or whatever it's called is essentially a silenced assault rifle. Add in C4 and you can cause mayhem.

I think the issue with these defensive Recons is just pure laziness. I mean they can spend the whole game doing bugger all, not getting killed but bagging a few kills for themselves, whilst NOT helping out their team at all. How can that be fun? I think the most amusing class is the Engineer. Wiping out tanks with AT mines never gets old.

Yesterday, one wookie on my squad spent the entire game hiding in a building at our deployment. WTF was he doing? Even though we were getting spawn raped by tanks, he wouldn't move, to use C4 or mortar them. Things like that boil my blood, as it's clearly a KDR issue with them. Oh look, I shot you from across the map, I'm an amazing sniper. No you're not, you just happen to have a high powered scope whilst the other player doesn't so will never even know where the fire is coming from, particularly when playing hardcore.

I hate to lose, but the satisfaction of a tight game where either side can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, if the tide turns against is thrilling. So often you see wookies end up with a few hundred points even though they were in from the start. That sums it up really. Pussies...