Friday, February 5, 2010

Demo Review - Battle Field Bad Company 2


Finally, I can tell you why Battle Field Bad Company 2 is a must have game.

Is this because EA finally realized that the little gaming blogs matter? In a word, No. Is this because DICE feels that a Full Frontal Gaming review is needed to boost sales? Wrong again. Is this because the demo came out and I can base the entire post on that demo? Bingo.

Controls

I don't know about you but for me this is my first stop whenever playing a new game. Too many games have bitten me with things like inverted x/y look and stupid default control placement. Note to game developers: Would you please, for the love of god and country, allow players to place commands on buttons rather than forcing a particular layout or set of layouts? I know you think you know what we want, but really, I may want to use a different button than L3 to crouch, or circle to enter/exit a vehicle.

From the demo there's basically 4 layouts for ground combat, 4 layouts for air combat and 4 layouts for vehicles. If you don't like the layouts, tough. That said, the layouts seem to work and getting used to them isn't a problem.

Game Play

The multiplayer experience is very good. You get points for protecting/attacking objectives and more for helping your squad. And as mentioned on here before, most elements can be destroyed in the game. I say most not all which at first seems to detract from the game (it certainly detracts from the realism); however, there are elements which you cannot destroy for good reason. Take for example the objectives. If you can get a tank close enough, forget planting a bomb you can just blow the objective up. That said, if the attackers could just drive over the objectives it would make for a very boring and predictable game. As a result some pillars and other game elements cannot be destroyed.

Speaking of predictability, there's one thing that's bothered me. I have no insight into which game I'm joining. Once you start playing, you could be on the losing team. The game doesn't seem to balance the teams out so sometimes you just have to leave.

Speaking of leaving, I found it really hard to actually quit a game. Let's say you join and you're the attacker. When the game is over, you play the same map again as the defender. And the intermissions are short, with lots of stats to look at. You can easily spend a couple of hours without ever realizing it.

Audio

Nice and crisp. You'll hear things differently if you're indoors compared to out doors, and proper language for the team you're on. I hope you speak Russian. (I think. I don't speak the language.) It would be nice though, to talk to your whole team from time to time.

Visuals

Good. While there may be a glitch or two from time to time (like a tree that's floating in air) it works. Oh did I mention, shooting at the trunk of a tree with a sniper rifle can take it down? Good to know if you need to clear out the cover the other team is hiding behind.

Other

This game is a must buy before you add in the single player mode. It'll be a contender this year for sure. I recommend your local Mom and Pop game shop first, but if that's not around, Amazon is a good choice.

Scores:

  • Explosions - Yes
  • Controls - 8/10 (More layouts/custom layouts would be good)
  • Game Play - 10/10
  • Audio - 10/10
  • Visuals - 8/10
  • Rating - 9/10
  • Get the Demo - Yes.
  • Get the Game - Yes.

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