pwnophobia
04-29-2010, 01:13 PM
Title: Battlefield Bad Company 2
Platform: Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC
Platform Reviewed: Xbox 360
Developer: DICE (http://www.dice.se/)
Publisher: Electronic Arts (http://www.ea.com/)
MSRP: $59.99
Writer: Adam 'pwnophobia' Cogswell
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Review
This is not Modern Warfare 2.
Sometime around the beginning of the year many of us played Modern Warfare 2. We tried to play the game co-operatively by joining in Search and Destroy and Headquarters matches but every time it ended in a noob-tubing grenade fest. Then, along came Battlefield Bad Company 2, the game that helps define cooperative shooters by rewarding those who can play, survive, and communicate together. I've spent the past month putting over fifty hours of play into the multi-player so I could give you a true review, and as soon as you step in with a squad you'll see that the only thing this and MW2 share is simulated war.
http://evavhost.com/i/press/bc6.jpg
BC2 brings back the "Bad Company" battalion where you'll find yourself playing as Private Preston Marlowe on a mission to stop the Russians from invading America. While not the selling point of the franchise, the campaign mode introduces you to new weapons, vehicles and the destructible environments that await you in multiplayer. Trekking through snow, forest, and open fields you can tell it isn't as sand boxed as the original game but provides you with enough open space to make it different each time allowing the campaign to feel less linear. The best parts of the campaign come from the banter between squad mates and at points even taking the liberty to bash on Modern Warfare 2 (snowmobiles are for wussies!) followed quickly by epic chase and gun battles between you and the guerrilla forces. It is extremely easy to get lost in the beautiful scenery that DICE's Frostfire engine cranks out, providing lush landscapes and expanding horizons. With that being said the story is rather dull, but it serves its purpose as to prepare you for what is to come in the multi-player.
Before you decide to hop into the multiplayer and cause havoc you need to prepare yourself for what I'm about to tell you: BC2 is not a game for the lone wolf. If you enjoy run and gun, camping or playing by yourself you'll want to stay as far away from this game as possible. Even though you can play BC2 by yourself, you'll never fully experience the game. If you've found yourself some buddies to play with then by all means jump right into the action. BC2's focus IS on multiplayer as this is obvious as soon as you enter one of 4 different game modes; Rush, Conquest, Squad Rush, Squad Deathmatch. Breaking it down, Rush is your classic Bad Company mode where you're either an attacker or defender and you've got to destroy or protect two crates, respectively. Conquest is your classic Battlefield mode where there are upwards of four points of contention, standing at one starts a timer to take it over. The more points you take, the more tickets are lost over time by your opponent and once the counter reaches zero the game ends. Next you've got Squad Rush which is a eight player version of Rush mode, and Squad Deathmatch, which is an eight player version of run/gun style game play. Even though there are only four type of game modes, two of which are truly only playable alone, and it never got boring to be "doing the same thing over and over." Each map is different; each game is unique.
http://evavhost.com/i/press/bc7.jpg
In BC2's multiplayer you'll have access to unlock new weapons for all four of your classes: Assault, Medic, Engineer and Recon. Each class has their own specialty and each gets a different type of weapon a long with a gadget. For example the Medic class can toss out health packs to heal team mates and when one dies can be resurrected by the way of defibrillator. This is just one of many areas where team based game play comes into play because you get more points toward your total score the more you use your gadgets and abilities. By healing your squad and team mates, you'll gain more points than if you were to run and gun and take no objectives. In turn this allows you to rank up faster, unlocking more weapons and accessories. While not all of the classes, such as recon, have a way to assist the team directly, DICE did add one great feature to all normal games: Enemy tagging. Any time you see an enemy you can press the "back" button on your controller and your character will cry out to his teammates and "mark" the enemy with a red triangle. The enemy is oblivious to this action but the tagging allows everyone on your team to see that person for a short period of time. This feature should be in most large scale games because it can give you that advantage as any class to snipe out an enemy or follow them behind an object.
On top of using different classes BC2 allows players to take control of a wide variety of vehicles, each with their own unique properties. If you're a master pilot you can hop in a blackhawk and rain down fire upon the opposing team. If flying doesn't suit you, you can hop into an Abram and ride around the battlefield like a lumbering Titan, causing death and destruction with your 120 mm artillery shells. BC2 introduces a new mechanic entitled Destruction 2.0 allowing you to fold any building in half by the way of almost any vehicle or explosive. Don't like that wall in front of you? Blow it up! Are you playing Rush and can't plant the bomb? Drop the house on it! BC2's destruction is another reason that this series is set apart from other run and gun.
http://evavhost.com/i/press/bc8.jpg
Holding strong to its roots the Bad Company series will always attract the player who wants to play with others, but if you decide to go at it alone you won't be completely dissatisfied. Each game and map is unique as the Frostfire engine does an incredible job of immersing you into the combat zone with the sites and sounds of a real battle. If you want a team and objective based shooter that promises death, destruction, and vehicles then Bad Company 2 is for you. Putting over 50 hours of play into this game I cannot recommend this title strongly enough.
Score: 5 out of 5
http://evavhost.com/public/5.gif
The Good Enemy Tagging. Tanks, Jet skis, Quads and Helicopters! Expansive maps and fine tuned game modes. The balance between soldier and vehicle is near flawless.
The Bad A fairly generic single player story. Not designed to be played solo.
The Ugly Multi player knifing is terribly clunky.
Platform: Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC
Platform Reviewed: Xbox 360
Developer: DICE (http://www.dice.se/)
Publisher: Electronic Arts (http://www.ea.com/)
MSRP: $59.99
Writer: Adam 'pwnophobia' Cogswell
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Review
This is not Modern Warfare 2.
Sometime around the beginning of the year many of us played Modern Warfare 2. We tried to play the game co-operatively by joining in Search and Destroy and Headquarters matches but every time it ended in a noob-tubing grenade fest. Then, along came Battlefield Bad Company 2, the game that helps define cooperative shooters by rewarding those who can play, survive, and communicate together. I've spent the past month putting over fifty hours of play into the multi-player so I could give you a true review, and as soon as you step in with a squad you'll see that the only thing this and MW2 share is simulated war.
http://evavhost.com/i/press/bc6.jpg
BC2 brings back the "Bad Company" battalion where you'll find yourself playing as Private Preston Marlowe on a mission to stop the Russians from invading America. While not the selling point of the franchise, the campaign mode introduces you to new weapons, vehicles and the destructible environments that await you in multiplayer. Trekking through snow, forest, and open fields you can tell it isn't as sand boxed as the original game but provides you with enough open space to make it different each time allowing the campaign to feel less linear. The best parts of the campaign come from the banter between squad mates and at points even taking the liberty to bash on Modern Warfare 2 (snowmobiles are for wussies!) followed quickly by epic chase and gun battles between you and the guerrilla forces. It is extremely easy to get lost in the beautiful scenery that DICE's Frostfire engine cranks out, providing lush landscapes and expanding horizons. With that being said the story is rather dull, but it serves its purpose as to prepare you for what is to come in the multi-player.
Before you decide to hop into the multiplayer and cause havoc you need to prepare yourself for what I'm about to tell you: BC2 is not a game for the lone wolf. If you enjoy run and gun, camping or playing by yourself you'll want to stay as far away from this game as possible. Even though you can play BC2 by yourself, you'll never fully experience the game. If you've found yourself some buddies to play with then by all means jump right into the action. BC2's focus IS on multiplayer as this is obvious as soon as you enter one of 4 different game modes; Rush, Conquest, Squad Rush, Squad Deathmatch. Breaking it down, Rush is your classic Bad Company mode where you're either an attacker or defender and you've got to destroy or protect two crates, respectively. Conquest is your classic Battlefield mode where there are upwards of four points of contention, standing at one starts a timer to take it over. The more points you take, the more tickets are lost over time by your opponent and once the counter reaches zero the game ends. Next you've got Squad Rush which is a eight player version of Rush mode, and Squad Deathmatch, which is an eight player version of run/gun style game play. Even though there are only four type of game modes, two of which are truly only playable alone, and it never got boring to be "doing the same thing over and over." Each map is different; each game is unique.
http://evavhost.com/i/press/bc7.jpg
In BC2's multiplayer you'll have access to unlock new weapons for all four of your classes: Assault, Medic, Engineer and Recon. Each class has their own specialty and each gets a different type of weapon a long with a gadget. For example the Medic class can toss out health packs to heal team mates and when one dies can be resurrected by the way of defibrillator. This is just one of many areas where team based game play comes into play because you get more points toward your total score the more you use your gadgets and abilities. By healing your squad and team mates, you'll gain more points than if you were to run and gun and take no objectives. In turn this allows you to rank up faster, unlocking more weapons and accessories. While not all of the classes, such as recon, have a way to assist the team directly, DICE did add one great feature to all normal games: Enemy tagging. Any time you see an enemy you can press the "back" button on your controller and your character will cry out to his teammates and "mark" the enemy with a red triangle. The enemy is oblivious to this action but the tagging allows everyone on your team to see that person for a short period of time. This feature should be in most large scale games because it can give you that advantage as any class to snipe out an enemy or follow them behind an object.
On top of using different classes BC2 allows players to take control of a wide variety of vehicles, each with their own unique properties. If you're a master pilot you can hop in a blackhawk and rain down fire upon the opposing team. If flying doesn't suit you, you can hop into an Abram and ride around the battlefield like a lumbering Titan, causing death and destruction with your 120 mm artillery shells. BC2 introduces a new mechanic entitled Destruction 2.0 allowing you to fold any building in half by the way of almost any vehicle or explosive. Don't like that wall in front of you? Blow it up! Are you playing Rush and can't plant the bomb? Drop the house on it! BC2's destruction is another reason that this series is set apart from other run and gun.
http://evavhost.com/i/press/bc8.jpg
Holding strong to its roots the Bad Company series will always attract the player who wants to play with others, but if you decide to go at it alone you won't be completely dissatisfied. Each game and map is unique as the Frostfire engine does an incredible job of immersing you into the combat zone with the sites and sounds of a real battle. If you want a team and objective based shooter that promises death, destruction, and vehicles then Bad Company 2 is for you. Putting over 50 hours of play into this game I cannot recommend this title strongly enough.
Score: 5 out of 5
http://evavhost.com/public/5.gif
The Good Enemy Tagging. Tanks, Jet skis, Quads and Helicopters! Expansive maps and fine tuned game modes. The balance between soldier and vehicle is near flawless.
The Bad A fairly generic single player story. Not designed to be played solo.
The Ugly Multi player knifing is terribly clunky.