Your Account
    Log into your account here:
       Forgot Password

    Not registered? Sign Up for free
    Registration allows you to keep track of all your content and comments, save bookmarks, and post in all our forums.
Thank you for printing this page from www.SuperCheats.com. Remember to come back to check for updates to this wiki and much more content for Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Full Review for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 by Season

All reviews for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Add your review Print
 
 

Introduction

The Battlefield series is legendary on the PC, but it's massive team battles have yet to translate perfectly to the consoles. EA made a solid step with the first Bad Company, and second game has certainly made some large leaps.

Bad Company 2 follows the exploits of Bravo Squad 2, as they attempt to beat the Russians to a super weapon. There's the near retirement Sarge, a tech geek, and a grizzled vet who likes to make things go "boom". You're Preston Marlowe, a can-do guy who delivers more sap than a Canadian maple. It's military story 101, you can see the plot twists from a mile away, and the script feels like it was written by somebody who's seen too many straight-to-DVD movies. This flimsy framework is enough to get you through to the next skirmish, but it doesn't do much to make you get attached to the characters involved.

 

Graphics

Utilizing the Frostbite engine, Bad Company 2 features sprawling, densely populated environments with an excellent level of detail. Considering just about any object can be blown to bits, this is quite an achievement. It comes at a price, though. Textures, objects, and other minutia magically pop into view. Character models and their facial animations are little rough around the edges, but there are plenty of moments of awe when the unexpected happens.

The cinemas are primarily pre-recorded, in-engine videos, with a smattering of real time events where you can control the camera on a pivot. Reload animations and gun models are definitely a highlight, and it all runs smoothly with twenty-four players, essentially decimating a map the size of downtown Cleveland.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions look and run almost identically, while the PC version lags well behind the visual capabilities of the platform.

 

Sound

The audio quality is great, with thudding bass from every RPG explosion or tank blast and snappy weapon repertoire. The voice acting holds the line despite the campy script.

The channel separation for surround sound could be a little more pronounced, and there's not much music during gameplay, but otherwise, it's a solid audio package.

 

Gameplay

Like most shooters these days, the campaign is simple. You follow the waypoint and your squad from one moment to the next. Each level has multiple checkpoints and resupply crates to help you prepare for the battle to come. There are guns to collect, M-COM hubs to blow up, but exploration is not it's forte. Mission objectives are quite diverse, ranging from defending a downed satellite, try to avoid freezing to death, wipe out enemy encampments from a helicopter, and much more. No doubt that it keeps the pulse surging.

Online is where you expect Bad Company 2 to deliver, and it's twelve on twelve clashes most definitely do. While just four gametypes may seem anemic, it's the variety of roles that you can play in each that makes it work. The Assault class is standard infantry, but can provide ammo to anyone. The Engineer is great at taking out and repairing vehicles. Recon class players make excellent snipers, can use C4 strategically, and can mark targets at long range. This duality, combined with the flexibility of a leveling system to add buffs, allows for a wider range of possibilities. Most importantly, you're rewarded handsomely for support. This is key in a game where teamwork is necessary to succeed.

Vehicles play a huge role in the outcome of each game. There's a fleet of tank varieties, armored transports, ATVs, jet skis, boats, helicopters...basically everything aside from jets and planes. It's an odd omission considering Battlefield 1942 had them back in 2002, but there are still plenty of vehicles to help turn the tide.

The game ships with eight maps, and with seven map packs (free with a VIP code that comes with the limited edition version of the game; if you buy the game used, you'll have to pay), there isn't a real shortage of playing fields. Each battlefield provides an enormous variety of terrain and buildings, with few choke points. The vehicles allow any campsites to be quickly eliminated.

You can join a squad of up to four people, allowing you to spawn on any of their positions. A Battlefield classic, Conquest mode, returns alongside Rush, where on team attacks and the other defends bomb sites. Then, there are two modes that rely more heavily on squad play: Squad Deathmatch is everyone playing on teams of four, and Squad Rush is a four on four attack and defend, where strategy and communication are the only way to win. There are definitely some big boys missing as far as modes are concerned, but what you're provided with is extremely fun and addicting.


The odd thing about the gameplay is that there are really only two modes: online and off. While playing the campaign you are offered one of the most generous aim assists in the genre, yet jump online, and the aim assist is completely removed. This diminishes the ability of the campaign to prepare you for online warfare. If you find yourself struggling in other online shooters, infantry combat is going to be a challenge here.

The good news is that there are plenty of other roles to play that emphasize strategy over hand dexterity. Purists will appreciate that you have to earn every kill. Enemies are bullet sponges, which can make it difficult to engage multiple targets unless you have a gun with a massive magazine. I'd recommend the hardcore option if you're used to dropping enemies with a well-placed burst.

Vehicle control is user-friendly without sacrificing precision, and their general control layout carries over from one to the next.

The ballistics engine is incredibly rewarding, with each gun having unique recoil and bullets reacting to the weight of gravity. There's a regenerating health system this time, bringing the series in line with the industry standard.

No matter whether you're online or off, the destructible environments play a huge role. You're never safe in Bad Company 2. Any wall or building you're using for cover can be reduced to rubble in an instant. Staying on your toes at all times is not optional.


 

Lastability

The campaign lacks creativity and is just seven hours long, but you'll get your money's worth, and then some, from Bad Company 2's online multiplayer. The multitude of guns, classes, vehicles, and unlocks, coupled with it's flexibility, makes the scarcity of modes forgivable.

The addition of the "Onslaught" mode DLC, with four maps and multiple difficulty settings further increases the replay value. In Onslaught, players team up with up to three other players against AI-controlled enemies in a Conquest mode that sees you take objectives in sequence before advancing to the next map. If all players are dead at the same time, however, the players lose and must try again from the beginning.

The expansion pack, Battlefield: Vietnam, introduces five new maps and an assortment of Vietnam era weapons, gadgets, vehicles, and music, does quite a bit to increase the game's lifespan.

 

Overall

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is still trying to catch up to it's much older PC brethren, but if you're looking for this kind of experience on the consoles, it has few equals. The campaign could use some creative spark, but it's the staying power of the multiplayer that wins the day. If you look to get your money's worth with video game purchases, you can't go wrong with Bad Company 2.


Final Score: 90%

Review by: Season

 

Comments for this Full Review.

 

No comments yet. Tell us what you think to be the first.


Game Talk
Best Fighters in EA Sports UFC 5
Best Moves in EA Sports UFC 5
How to Upgrade Weapons in The Last Faith
How to Use SID in Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora
How to Fast Travel in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Best Missions to Farm XP in Persona 5 Tactica
How to Get and Use the TZP-Inhalant in Lethal Company
How to Find and Use the Secret Submarine Battery Generator in Lethal Company