Boom. Explosions create the "wow" moments in video games and movies. Think about it, you sit back in your chair and raise your eyebrows when a huge explosion goes off, or at least when it’s created the right way. The Battefield series has always been known for its vehicles, team-oriented tactics, and incredibly solid gameplay. Bad Company has taken this to another level giving each gamer the ability to do what they’ve always wanted to do, blow the hell out of things.
Too often in first person shooters, you’re encountered with the problem of your enemy hiding behind an object and you’re left playing a game of cat and mouse. Those days are gone with Bad Company as you can whip out a grenade, rocket launcher, grenade launcher, or even C4 to blow a hole into the wall or house your opponent may be hiding behind to take the initiative. Is there a tank that you can’t seem to get past? Go into a nearby house, climb to the top level, blow a hole in the side, and fire upon that tank until your heart’s content.
The concept of Bad Company is that you’re the new guy, Preston Marlowe, who after an "incident" with a helicopter, has been punished by being sent off to join the B-Company squad. B-Company, or Bad Company, is essentially the squad the military has sent soldiers who could have easily been given a dishonorable discharge to well, die.
Bad Company consists of three other members besides yourself, including Redford, Haggert, and Sweetwater. The humor displayed by Haggert can be quite hilarious at times, and he seems to pick the most intense moments to bring up something random. Both Sweetwater and Haggert share an affection for "Miss July", who is the form of radio communication between Bad Company and the Army. Redford is the veteran leader of the group who seems to get tired of Sweetwater’s pessimistic ways the further you progress in the story.
The singleplayer is action packed, humorous, and you’ll find your heart racing if you’re playing on one of the higher difficulties. Upon fighting for a cause of which which they’re not sure what it may actually be, Bad Company stumbles upon a group of mercenaries who they believe to be paid in gold. The group of soldiers isn’t the most admirable, and you aren’t going to get a heart felt story with them, but what you will get is a group of soldiers that you can immediately connect with.
The battlefields are wide spread and there are a plethora of vehicles that are offered in each section of the game. The area that the game shines the most in would have to be the sheer innovation that arises in both the single and multiplayer. The amount of weapons at your disposal helps to create incredibly balanced gameplay, as long as every single player doesn’t wander around the larger maps as a sniper. Tanks have proven to be quite the pain to destroy, but they should be that way as they’re one of the strongest vehicles on the battlefield.
The sound in Bad Company is one of the things that has went under the radar. Playing on surround sound, the explosions are easily depicted, and the ringing of the player’s ears makes a wonderful touch when explosions go off nearby. Even when you reload a gun within a building, you can hear the appropriate echos. Bad Company has put the needed attention and detail into the sound, and it showcases some of the best sound effects in the business.
One thing that can plague the game at times would have to be the vehicle camera view, especially the tank camera. From time to time, the camera can get incredibly too close to the tank, making it extremely hard to maneuver around objects or even to judge where some of your opponents may be. The problem doesn’t seem to be as apparent as originally thought, but it can still be rather frustrating at times.
Another problem that gamers will encounter in the campaign will be the fact that at times, your squad will let some of the most exposed enemy A.I. shoot at you freely, and do nothing about it. There are times when there will be your entire squad standing beside you, and an enemy solder within 10 feet of you with no cover around him, just crouching, and your teammates will literally stand there and get pumped full of lead rather than help to take out the enemy. At the lower difficulty levels, the problem can be annoying, but doesn’t hurt you too much. When you step the game up to the "Hard" difficulty level, you might find yourself cursing at Sweetwater, Haggert, and Redford quite a bit.
The multiplayer consists of one game mode, a Gold Rush or attack/defend. While most gamers could be turned off by the issue of there only being one game mode, this has to be one of the most well done single game modes I’ve encountered in some time. The principle of the game mode is simple, you’re either protecting or pursuing the crates of gold hidden throughout a few different bases on the map. The attackers have a certain amount of soldiers they’re allotted, and if they can not capture all of the bases with that number of soldiers, than the defenders win. Attackers also receive a bonus when crates are destroyed or captured, earning them reinforcements to prolong their life within the match. Upon capturing a base, the attackers receive that base as their new spawn point, shortening their distance to the next section of crates.
The defenders are charged with doing the opposite, protecting the crates at all costs. Each time the defenders are unsuccessful at protecting their crates, they are given the choice of either respawning with their current squad (if they have died), or respawning at the base with the new crates. Defending can prove to be quite the task, but if the defending team utilizes the flak guns and tanks correctly, they can stop the opposing team within the first or second base.
The stat tracking in Bad Company easily allows players to compare themselves to the top players in the world, and even to their comrades via a "friend leaderboard" feature similar to what you may find in Rock Band or Gears of War. The game also boasts a brilliant "dog tag system" that gives you the dog tags of the individual users you knife in multiplayer. It allows you to keep a record of each player, along with the number of unique tags that you capture. Previous players of the Battlefield series may also claim "veteran status" as a small glory feature.
A glaring issue that has been somewhat troublesome with Bad Company has been the lack of private matches. The battlefield series has been one of the larger clan supported games out there for quite some time, and not having private matches makes it incredibly difficult for clans to organize matches.
Even with the few small things I’ve enountered in Battlefield: Bad Company that I feel could be easily tweaked, this is still an incredibly addicting game with detailed stat tracking and a truly genius dog tag system. If you have sixty bucks on you, you should be grabbing your keys as you read this and heading to a local video game story to pick this game up. If you don’t have the sixty bucks, beg someone to give it to you, because the innovation and addictive gameplay will keep you entertained for quite some time.
