Battlefield: Bad Company Demo Now Available (Xbox 360)

[fitbabits]

Major Nelson (http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/06/05/demo-battlefield-bad-company.aspx) with the news:


Content: Battlefield: Bad Company Demo
Price: Free
Availability: All Xbox LIVE regions
Dash Text: [ESRB: T (Teen) ALCOHOL REFERENCE,STRONG LANGUAGE,VIOLENCE] Battlefield: Bad Company follows a wayward band of ordinary soldiers who decide that sometimes the gratitude of a nation just isn't enough. Featuring a dramatic storyline loaded with a unique attitude, the game delivers the series' trademark sandbox gameplay in a universe where almost everything is destructible. The game also features the all new, objective based multiplayer game mode "Gold Rush".
Size: 1.50 GB

Note - I believe the PlayStation 3 demo is also available, but I have no confirmation.

The moment of truth is almost upon us.

[Grifter]

It wasn't too bad, it definitely feels like a poor mans CoD4 but I think it will be fun. I noticed quite a few little graphical glitches but hopefully they will be ironed out before release. The game also doesn't feel quite as balanced as CoD4 and the controls are way too loose. The destructive environments aren't nearly as detailed as I was hoping they would be but things definitely blow up real nice with plenty of smoke and debris. The characters seem well flushed out and funny so I'm looking forward to playing through the rest of the story as well.

Do we know if we are going to get a PC version of this or is it console only?

[oldschooldimo]

downloading it now. It might just be might but i feel every war shooter is nothing after playing CoD4. Yesterday i played Bf2 (PC) and CoD4 back to back and was amazed at how much more fun i had with Cod4.

[fitbabits]

Do we know if we are going to get a PC version of this or is it console only?

Console only. No PC version planned.

[Mr.Green]

Vehicles, what about vehicles?

[Lind]

The PS3 Demo is out now (at least here in Sweden).

[TrackZero]

So far I've still got zero interest in bad company. I wonder if it'll turn around after this.

[Gorvi]

Got a chance to play it for about 30 seconds this morning. Movement felt sluggish.

[SPBTooL]

Can't wait to get home. Between this and the CivRev demo I might actually make some time to play something. Now if the NG and Too Human demos would come out.

[Mdot23]

Is this the same as the Beta? I wasn't terribly impressed by that, to be quite honest. The destruction was pretty cool though.

[Zanzibar]

Gah, at first glance I thought this was about Battlefield: Heroes.

I really have no interest in another shooter like this one.

What I'd really like to see is a console version of BF:1942. The maps in that game are INCREDIBLE, and the gameplay is simple and well-balanced.

I could play Wake Island forever.

[Com_Gaunt]

Is this like Mercenaries? Like Mercenaries = Must buy :)

[Mortis]

Got in with the pre-order the other day, I like it a lot. They sent two keys so a friend and I played together. The SP seems decent and the MP was a blast. Very much looking forward to the release.

[ÜberJumper]

Oh fuck yes.

[bub64882]

Gah, at first glance I thought this was about Battlefield: Heroes.

I really have no interest in another shooter like this one.

What I'd really like to see is a console version of BF:1942. The maps in that game are INCREDIBLE, and the gameplay is simple and well-balanced.

I could play Wake Island forever.

Seriously, none of the subsequent Battlefield games have topped 1942 for me. In terms of gameplay, and fun fights, 1942 really nailed it. The Pacifc theatre maps in particular (like Wake) were especially fun.

[Earth Djinn]

Downloading now.

So is this demo SP or MP? Or am I lucky enough for it to be both?

[f1sh3r]

downloading downloading downloading woo woo woo.

nothing ever eclipsed bf42 but i'm still a sucker for battlefield games, even after bf2142.

[UnderHero5]

Downloading now.

So is this demo SP or MP? Or am I lucky enough for it to be both?

It's both.

I tried it, and it was pretty fun!
My biggest complaint is that there are no Southpaw control options in the demo. There had better be in the final game.

I liked the story telling in single player. The characters seemed like they would be likable. The gameplay seemed fun. Graphics are nice, and it ran good.

As for multiplayer, I only tried one game and it was full of horrible lag. I'll try again later, maybe.

[Mortis]

As for multiplayer, I only tried one game and it was full of horrible lag. I'll try again later, maybe.

They did some work on the servers to prepare for the public onslaught, seems it wasn't enough. All the games I played the other night were totally lag free, I think it will be fine by the time it goes live.

[Inspector Fowler]

The moment of truth is almost upon us.

And the truth, at least for me, was terrible to hear.

The single player is pretty mediocre. The aiming feels off, which I could get used to, but there are some weird...I guess they're bugs. At one point, you are supposed to "follow the convoy". So I got in a truck. My friends refused to get in, so I left without them. They just appeared in the truck, no problems. Huh?

Also, fully destructible environments? Nope. At one point there are machine gun towers- I thought I'd aim a little low, and blow the whole front off - it's just concrete, and I had an RPG. No no, silly gamer, you have to aim at the fragile wooden top! Bleh. Try shooting through fences- nope. You can eventually destroy it, sure, but you can't just shoot through the thin wood. What?

But the MP is what I was looking forward to, and it was, simply put, terrible. I mean, TERRIBLE. The lag and atrocious hit detection, even from explosions, made me want to vomit.

Hit a soldier with a tank round? Nothing will happen. I mean it. I have hit people with tank rounds, and nothing will happen- I presume it's because the lag is so bad, they actually aren't there, even though my screen shows the guy standing in a cloud of smoke and flames.

Two other guys and I, at the same fucking time, emptied our entire magazines into a single guy. I know for a fact I put at least 25 rounds into him, and he didn't die. I'm being dead serious. I think it was the hit detection- that may or may not be a function of lag, I dunno.

And still speaking of lag, watch the special Star Trek vehicles teleport around the battlefield. Think you've got a lock on a guy? Well, you're wrong.

Man, I played the shit out of Desert Combat and BF2, so I had hopes, but the online play was absolute dog shit. YMMV, but my internet connection is doing fine, and I don't have significant lag issues in any other game (usually), so I think this was really more the game/servers' fault.

Isn't this what the freaking beta was for? Gah.

[DraggnKnucks]

The single player is pretty bland. But wow the destruction makes me salivate... You can pretty much destroy everything. If they added this level of destruction to CoD4 I don't think I would ever play another game for the rest of my life.

[f1sh3r]

why the hell would you go against years of convention and make the left trigger the gas pedal?

[DraggnKnucks]

why the hell would you go against years of convention and make the left trigger the gas pedal?
HAHAHAHAAH I was thinking that exact same thing!!!

[Zanzibar]

Seriously, none of the subsequent Battlefield games have topped 1942 for me. In terms of gameplay, and fun fights, 1942 really nailed it. The Pacifc theatre maps in particular (like Wake) were especially fun.

Yeah, it was interesting, I had a blast with BF2, but it just seemed 'off' to me. All the technological advancements in gameplay just made the game feel cheap. I mean, the commander ordering an airstrike? How difficult is it to press a button to unleash death upon an entire squad that's trying to take a flag?

In BF1942, if something bad happened, you knew it was your own fault. 'Ah, crap, I was running around outside of cover.' 'Ah, hell, I just left that flag alone, and now some creeper is taking it.'

Likewise, if you wanted something done, odds are you'd have opportunities to do it yourself. Plane causing havoc? Man an AA gun and take it out. Ship shelling the beach? Go grab a plane.

[Mortis]

why the hell would you go against years of convention and make the left trigger the gas pedal?

Yeah I was like WTF? Use option 2, you just point a direction with the left analog stick to go.

[DraggnKnucks]

Also why does it always have to be the Russians? Couldn't the game find a new enemy to fight? I really want to take a crack at those goddamn Canadians.

[Vulture]

the problem with the engine for BF:BC is that it is brain dead simple in its physics and modeling. They created destuctible environemtns but gave the objects hitpoints. That was the only proprerty they added. no DR (damage resistance) no PV (penetration value), and nothing but HxWxL and Mass.

So an RPG round will expend ALL of it energy on a picket fence and do nothing to the soldier behind it. A MG will tear up a bush completely before it startsx damaging the sniper hiding behind it. one of the glitches was that snipers were hiding in trees (base) and you could not kill them before they turned around pulled out a pistol and shot you 4 times.

[DraggnKnucks]

Yeah I have been noticing this as well. I really thought if DICE was making the game it would be as well put together as BF2 or BF1942. Because if I'm not mistaken all the previous console Battlefield games have been done by other developers.

[Vulture]

Also why does it always have to be the Russians? Couldn't the game find a new enemy to fight? I really want to take a crack at those goddamn Canadians.

But then we would have to be a bunch of little kids in order to balance out the sides. ;)

[f1sh3r]

Yeah I was like WTF? Use option 2, you just point a direction with the left analog stick to go.

it makes sense once you're in a tank i guess. you can use A/B to move as well.

i'm going to put in my pre-order for this. as much as i love the CS type action of COD4, i miss the bigger battlefields of the BF series.

[Knite]

I loved 42. LOVED it. BF1942 is likely in my top5 list of games that I've spent faaaar too much time on (and considering one is a MMO, and 2 others are RPGs, you know we're talking a lot of time). Hell, the Wake Demo alone had me up at 2 AM before work saying "just one more round... just one more round".

Vietnam? Fun. Lots of fun. Especially the choppers... but something was missing.

BF2, another step down. and 2142, yet another.
Focus seems to be more and more on some sort of imagined "balance".

There's not been maps like Wake Island, Iwo Jima (come on, wingriding to get to the top of the mountain base? Awesome!), and Aberdeen (I think that was the name of it. All out tank warfare in the desert)? The MAPS of 1942 were much better than anything after it.

I don't have high hopes for this, but definitely gonna give it a shot. If they could only capture the silly feel of 1942 someday with modern technology, I'd be in heaven. lol.

[Karamazov]

I don't think its horrible... just needs about 6 more months of tweaking.

[DraggnKnucks]

I don't think its horrible... just needs about 6 more months of tweaking.

Yeah that's what I thought but apparently it's coming out this month. I'm not really surprised though because it is EA pushing a game out before it's ready.

[f1sh3r]

unfortunately it's full of retards who don't know that every game is not team deathmatch.

idiots.

[Vandabo]

Eh, this was not my thing. Took about 30 seconds to figure it out. Controls felt terrible and the view looked all wrong. This coming from someone who beat CoD4 on the 360.

[f1sh3r]

Eh, this was not my thing. Took about 30 seconds to figure it out. Controls felt terrible and the view looked all wrong. This coming from someone who beat CoD4 on the 360.

yeah. if you're into the fast paced CS type action this won't appeal to you. if you're a BF fan, who likes vehicles and bigger maps, i think you'd be happy with this next chapter. i like both, so i win either way. battlefield has always had a larger scale than call of duty, single player and multiplayer.

[Wackman3000]

Still not on the PSN over here....

[LionEyez]

So there's only Oasis in the demo or am I unlucky and keep joining the same level? I was hoping for the MP version of farm.

I can see some improvements over the beta, and the in-game message in the menus is assuring everyone the lag issue is being worked on. I doubt I''ll be buying the game though.

Oh, and another 1942 Pacific Theater fan here! Loved the Japanese kits and voices.

[ZeroType]

A mini-review for the 360 Demo.

It's a cross between CoD 4 and Front lines Fuels of Lag. That is to say, it's rather laggy, but I'm sure the servers will be able to handle thousands and thousands more people when the game comes out retail. (Please note, that was sarcasm.)

Some classes feel over-powered and some are completely useless. The aim just feels "off" without anything really being wrong. The voice chat... BAH-GAWD the voice chat is horrible. Not that it's unclear, it's just you can only speak to your squad, 4 random people on your team (Or you can make a squad pre-game) and even then only some of the time. I've resorted to using private chat for team work purposes.

That brings me to my last point. The team work driven game play is fun but it's a bit like Army of Two, where if you have to rely on random nitwits or AI, the game sucks. If, however, you and your friend understand how to communicate, the game becomes a whole different beast. A good one, that is.

Single player sum-up: Easy Tutorial.

[Gorvi]

Played the demo a bit more. This is not a good game.

[Wolfgang]

Agree with the not impressed crowd. I wanted to like this -- I am getting tired of CoD 4, but I am going to cancel my preorder and wait for something else.

[Siraris]

http://www.playitreviewit.com/reviews/xbox360/action/battlefield--bad-company/YQnXLtmd/1

For those interested, you should read at least for the demo nugget at the end ;)

[Wolfgang]

After giving it another shot last night, it played much better. They had some text scrolling across saying they "added more servers and were adding even more". So I guess once again Xbox 360 users overwhelmed a game.

[CES]

To all experiencing hideous lag on the demo: Try playing it outside of peak hours in the US. I was able to play numerous lag free games for a few hours until the flood of american XBL players pretty much tore the EA servers a new one.

BFBC is a "Wait for a price drop" game. Decent, but not a day 1 purchase.

[Sl1pstream]

My bandwidth limit is almost gone so I'll be skipping this demo, considering the impressions I've seen in this thread.

Wake me up when they port Wake and Philippines to their next title.

[Wackman3000]

I thought it was ok. Anyone else notice that the sprint feature barely makes you move any faster?

[Evil Avatar]

How hard is it for EA to get this right? Just give us BF1942 or BF2 on the 360 and everyone would be happy.

Tossing in features that people don't really need while cutting out the complexity of the BF games is not going to win you friends or get you sales.

[Wackman3000]

You can't even go prone. Fail.

A couple of my friends seemed genuinely impressed by the PS3 demo and one said he was buying it day one for his X360.

Both of these friends have never experienced the joys of BF2 on a PC.

[Shifter]

Seriously BF1942 on the 360 would be awesome. I was in series of '42 clans and competed in ladders -- loved that game! So many great maps -- I don't know why these haven't been ported anywhere:

El Alamein: awesome!!
Tobruk: awesome!!
Wake: don't even need to say how awesome...

I was just looking at the old map list and remembering all the good times.

Aberdeen
Battle of Britain
Battle of the Bulge
Battleaxe
Berlin
Bocage
Coral Sea
El Alamein
Gazala
Guadal Canal
Invasion of the Philippines
Iwo Jima
Kharkov
Kursk
Liberation of Caen
Market Garden
Midway
Omaha Beach
Stalingrad
Tobruk
Wake Island

[Drayven]

I jumped in last night because I saw some EvAv'rs playing. The lag was certainly much better then when I tried it a couple days ago but it still feels like it's missing something. As others have said, the aiming felt off. Trying to lead someone with a sniper rifle? HA! yeah I couldn't work that out and I'm usually pretty good about that sort of thing. One thing I did have a blast with though was getting on the artillery gun in our base and just hanging out there, I was scoring kills left and right. Most of the time I'd just wait for the enemy helicopter to spawn, watch all the little guys start running for it then rain down destruction. They just never learned. I really do want a larger scale FPS with vehicles and such but this just feels like it needs to go back in the oven for a bit. I'm all for destructable environments but I think they've taken it too far. A tank round taking out a wall I can get behind but using my grenade launcher to take out stone buildings? That just seems off.

[LionEyez]

Aberdeen
Battle of Britain
Battle of the Bulge
Battleaxe
Berlin
Bocage
Coral Sea
El Alamein
Gazala
Guadal Canal
Invasion of the Philippines
Iwo Jima
Kharkov
Kursk
Liberation of Caen
Market Garden
Midway
Omaha Beach
Stalingrad
Tobruk
Wake Island

Wait...Battleaxe? What the ...?