Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the continuation of the long running Battlefield series finally graced our presence earlier this month. I'd heard of Battlefield before and knew of its premise, but it was a game that I just never got into in my days of PC gaming; far too busy wrapped up in Counter-Strike to notice or care about any other FPS experience on the market. Recently I've been so wrapped up in the Call of Duty experience that I forgot how good objective based gameplay can be. Obviously there is a single player component to this game, but I've yet to even explore it; this article will strictly focus on BC2's multiplayer gameplay.
For comparison's sake, gamers are essentially going to be split into the MW2 crowd and the BC2 crowd. Yes, both games are first person shooters, but the similarities end there. MW2 is more about individual greatness with players more concerned about their kill:death ratio as opposed to their win:loss ratio. BC2 rarely rewards the lone wolf behavior, the exception being the recon class, but even they serve a greater purpose; teamwork is instrumental and tantamount to succeeding in BC2.
If you'd read my earlier piece on the BC2 demo, you'd know I was already impressed with what it had to offer. As an aside, I'd like to offer kudos to EA/DICE for making this demo available to everybody, without it, I never would have even considered this game. Too many times these days, demos are delayed or made exclusive to those reserving the title. By giving me some lead time to get used to the controls and overall gameplay, I was able to make a conscious decision regarding the purchase of this title.
All demo praise aside, it's time to get to the nitty gritty of the full BC2 multiplayer experience. Some things to consider while reading through this are as follows:
1. I'm playing this on PS3. I know that some purists will say the only way to play a Battlefield game is on the PC, but I've gotten pretty adept with a controller.
2. I didn't get a chance to unlock Squad Rush mode early because I didn't reserve a copy at GameStop. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's reserve bonuses. Yes, the mode will be unlocked at the end of the month, but come on. We're all paying the same price for the game, don't limit my experience based on my choice of game store at which i reserved a title. Support your local game stores (Just Press Play in Lancaster, PA) and don't give in to the temptation of this bonus madness.
Multiplayer serves up a few gametypes: Rush (and Squad Rush), Conquest and Team Deathmatch. Rush mode tasks you with either attacking or defending M-Com stations. After the attacking team has destroyed the first set of stations, another set is opened until all have been taken out. The defending team has an unlimited number of respawns, attackers only have so many tickets to be punched until they blow up Com centers. Run out of tickets and your match is over. Conquest is a King of the Hill type mode that will have teams vying for control of 3 points on the map. Both teams have tickets in this mode and the team with fewer capture points held loses more tickets per death. Team Deathmatch is just that, not much more to say about it.
The maps you'll play on in Rush mode are large, but opened in small chunks as M-Com stations are destroyed. In presenting the maps this way, it helps to keep the gameplay concentrated in more focused areas. Conquest maps are medium to large and either have 3 or 4 points to capture and hold. In Conquest the entire map is opened from the start and teams start on opposite ends. As of this writing, I haven't dabbled much into the Deathmatch aspect of this game because that isn't designed for TDM, it's made for squad based gameplay.
On every map, you'll find a wide variety of vehicles; tanks, apcs, helicopters for attack or transport, atvs and uavs abound. Vehicles can turn the tide of a battle quickly and a great helicopter pilot/gunner combination can flat out dominate. There is a steep learning curve to flying the choppers, but once you get it down and can make fluid passes around the map, you'll rack up the assist points in no time. As you're given the ability to spawn on your squad, vehicles are a welcome safe-haven to get back into the action quickly without dying straight away.
There are 4 sets of character classes you can play with; Assault, Engineer, Medic and Recon. The Assault class is your run of the mill rifle carrying grunt. He'll be on the front lines trying to capture points, but more importantly, resupplying the rest of the team/squad. The Engineer is your best line of defense against enemy vehicles and also your best chance to keep friendly vehicles in working order. He's also pretty adept at taking out enemy snipers with a sub-machine gun. Medics are saviors on the battlefield. They have light machine guns to lay down cover fire and medi-packs that keep your team healthy and happy. Throw in the ability to revive downed friendlies after a few level-ups and you've got the makings of a power class. The Recon class catches the most grief from the community. Donned in a ghilly suit, armed with a sniper rifle and the ability to see enemies from a great distance, this class has the important task of picking out enemy troops to keep those on the front line in the know of enemy positions.
There are 3 leveling systems in the game; individual class leveling, vehicle leveling and overall ranking. You could theoretically play through your entire multiplayer existence as nothing but a single class; at some point, you'll want to try others out to get a better feel for the game. Leveling specific classes will unlock new weapons and gadgets for that class. Overall ranking will open up weapons and abilities that can be used across all classes. Vehicle leveling will give you new vehicle perks.
The ambiance in this game is superb. Bullets zoom past you, explosions boom in the distance and buildings groan as they begin to fall around you. The sound in this game will be music to your ears. There's no other way to describe it but enveloping. The gun and player models may not be as stunning as their Modern Warfare counterparts, but they still look good. The bulk of the graphical prowess of this game went to the environment and vehicle modeling. You will be absolutely blown away once you realize virtually everything can be destroyed. Need a path through some buildings? Throw some C4 onto the wall and open a hole. Sick of snipers in attics? Take a tank and launch a few shells to get rid of his little hiding spot.
The absolute best part of the game is the bullet drop. If you aim across the map, you have to shoot above your target. When your target is moving from side to side, you'll need to lead them. The bar has been set remarkably high for multiplayer experience in shooters moving forward. This game is what we all hoped Modern Warfare to be; realistic and fun.
Greatness withstanding, there are a few flaws that have been a bit irking in some of the matches. Sniper's ghilly suits will pop in from time to time. Randomly, your game may drop its connection to the server. The PS3 in-game store was down until the game was patched this weekend; that's a full 2+ weeks of missing content for some gamers. Some maps that have heavy particle effects making sniping almost impossible with framerate slowdown. Twice, everything I'd unlocked, weapons, perks and vehicle abilities, disappeared. All in all, these occurrences are quite rare and won't detract from your overall game experience.
If you're looking for a breath of fresh air in a crowded and cloudy FPS marketplace or just need a break from the frenetic and selfish Modern Warfare playground, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is your ticket.
I've been a BF fan since the 1st BF and yet I still am! Really nice article. Everything you say is well thought and more than true.
What i like the most is to hear that you preferred CS/CoD and you have given BF a chance and you did love it. I hope more people will realise that BF is a great serie of games and with BF3 comming out at the end of 2011 i'm quite sure they will take the lead within the FPS market. I'm not saying CS and CoD aren't epic games but BF has more to offer!
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I'm playing on PC and it has horrible lag all the time. Once again PC gamers get fucked.
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