Battlefield: Bad Company 2

The Battlefield series has never really been about single-player. Most of the previous games had almost no plot whatsoever, instead simply putting players in a bot match to hone their skills before hitting multiplayer. Since the first Bad Company, DICE have decided to change this.

Unfortunately I didn't play the first Bad Company, so I'm not exactly sure how much the plot follows on, other than the fact that the titular squad of troublesome soldiers remains the same. In Bad Company 2, they are back working for the US Army in search of a secret weapon codenamed "Aurora", which seems to be in the hands of the Russians. Following a prequel mission set in WWII Japan, the squad's search takes them, and the player, on missions in Russia, South America and North America.

The settings aren't quite as varied as those in Modern Warfare 2, nor is the plot as intense. For much of the game, I wasn't exactly sure what I was fighting for. I also didn't find the characters as engaging as their Task Force 141 counterparts. Although the gameplay doesn't change much through the course of the game, mainly consisting of rushing through areas killing everyone and blowing up buildings, there are some stand-out moments. These include vehicle chases, helicopter strafing runs and one level I particularly enjoyed where the player has more than the Russians to worry about. Up in the Andes, Pvt Marlowe is alone during a blizzard and must rush from building to building or make the most of Bad Company 2's many explosions to avoid an icy death. So while the plot may not be up to the same blockbuster standard as Infinity Ward's masterpiece, the campaign is still enjoyable and worth playing.

Battlefield's strength has always been in its chaotic multiplayer, and Bad Company 2 is no exception. The main two modes of play are the Battlefield classic Conquest, and the return of the first Bad Company's Gold Rush, now known simple as Rush. In Conquest, the two teams fight to capture and hold points until the enemy runs out of reinforcement tickets. Every time a player dies, their team loses a ticket, and if one team holds more than half of the points, the other loses tickets constantly.

In Rush, one team defends pairs of M-COM stations while the other attacks them. When one pair is destroyed, the defenders fall back to defend another pair until there's nowhere else to go and the attackers win. To beat them, the defenders must hold off the attackers until their tickets run out. The attackers' tickets are replenished every time they destroy a pair of M-COM stations, while the defenders have infinite reinforcements.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 improves the multiplayer experience by encouraging players to work together in squads, which can be formed between up to 4 players. There are extra experience rewards for helping fellow squad members, and there are even two modes specifically for squads. Squad Deathmatch pits up to 4 squads against each other until one reaches 50 kills, while Squad Rush offers 2 squads a frantic compacted version of Rush.

With the improved destructible environment system, originally named Destruction 2.0, buildings can be completely destroyed, and the arsenal of weapons and vehicles gives players plenty of options for creating rubble, although with everything else that’s going on this sometimes goes unnoticed. There's everything from quad bikes and jet skis through jeeps and APCs to tanks and helicopters to add to the chaos. These vehicles are one of the biggest features to separate Bad Company 2 from the infantry focused Modern Warfare 2. Players choose a class before each spawn: Assault, Engineer, Medic or Recon. All classes get a standard sidearm and grenades in addition to specialised primary weapons and gadgets.

Like Modern Warfare 2, this game has a complex experience based unlock system. Players work their way through 50 ranks, gaining experience points by killing enemies, healing or assisting teammates, capturing or defending points and so on. Weapon and equipment unlocks, however, work a little differently due to the class-based nature of Battlefield. Class specific weapons and gadgets can only be unlocked by earning points playing as that class, while more generic items can be unlocked for any class. This is, in my opinion, a better system as it allows players to unlock items for their favourite class and ignore the others if they wish, rather than being forced to unlock things they may never use. One thing I wasn’t so keen on was the amount of time it took to rank up and gain enough experience for unlocks, compared with the constant satisfaction and rewards given in Modern Warfare 2.

The graphics are impressive, with some stunning environments and sounds to match the madness and destruction. Overall, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 offers a solid if not too memorable single-player campaign but really excels due to its fast paced and chaotic multiplayer, offering non-stop explosive action which, with DLC promised, is sure to continue for many months.

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