Battlefield: Bad Company

Review from Phil - Tuesday, 29 July 2008 @ 10:23am

The movie Three Kings, starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube was a great film. The story centred around a group of soldiers during a war that was coming to an end. To complicate the seemingly easy "let's go home" task, the soldiers stumbled upon a massive cache of gold, and they decided to steal it. Of course, there were inevitable complications and battles ensued. New conflicts arose between groups, and everything got royally fucked up.

I have just provided a brief synopsis to the movie Three Kings. At the same time, I have provided a synopsis for the game Battlefield: Bad Company -- without the whole Ice Cube thing (although a token black guy is commonplace).



The Battlefield series has usually been all about online combat. You'll spawn as an anonymous solider in a massive area, and die seconds later -- just like real war. If you use just a little skill and a lot of spawning, your team will eventually overcome the opposing team (by capturing gold and claim the battle as won. I've never played a Battlefield game before Bad Company, and my only extensive online multiplayer experience is with the phenomenal Call of Duty 4. Bad Company is a markedly unique experience, providing huge maps, vehicles and heightened squad tactics for intense firefighting -- but I'm still going to compare it to COD4, and it comes up short.

Online multiplayer can be summed up in one word: annoying. It's an annoying game to play. The average team match. Gold Rush (working to destroy the opposing team's crates of gold), is assembled through random matchmaking, which is fine, except a bunch of losers from around the world aren't going to instantly convene and discuss tactics -- they are just going to run in, guns blazing. This. Does. Not. Work. With such huge maps and big teams, annoying enemy soldiers pop up from all over the place, and your man doesn't really survive after one or two hits. The sequence of events is pretty rudimentary: spawn (teams actually have respawn meters), charge forward into the enemy base, get killed by some wayward enemy soldier who defies all conventional logic of a strategic battle.

It is designed to be a run, die, spawn game - almost like an RTS, only you control one dude and are free to roam about. Of course, RTS players need strategy to win, and while Bad Company players don't necessarily need strategy - chances are the opposing team is equally clueless - it would make for a much more sophisticated experience if players could function as a team. Of course, I'm sure there are dedicated teams out there, but making friends on Bad Company and banding together isn't really desirable. The elitist jerks you hear over the Xbox headset won't hesitate to unleash a flurry of insults to anyone they deem unworthy in the team. I guess it's a chicken and egg scenario - players might want to become skilled, but suffer extreme demotivation at the hands of tosspots around the world.

A bunch of unlockable content is available via levelling up your character in multiplayer. It's a standard ranking system, and you gain more experience points the more you play. You can also choose a few different classes, though the level of customization just isn't there for players who want to fiddle with attachments and abilities.



I had the most fun playing the single-player campaign. Does this make me a loser, with no friends? Maybe, but I'm a loser with priorities. Screwing around with bad lag and moronic Xbox Live players isn't my cup of tea, so I jumped straight into the wisecracking antics of Sweetwater, Haggard and then token black guy whose name escapes me. Yes, these characters accompany you throughout the single player game, and they do little else. There are no squad control options, and your teammates are invincible - just sticking around for the show, really. It's actually refreshing to have companions who aren't moronic AI squad members you fight to control, they are just there, and having fun.

Each mission is rather lengthy, and covers a massive amount of ground. The same respawning concept comes into play here, as you never really "fail". If you die, the game restarts you at a certain location, but restores all progress right up to the point where you took a bullet through the brain. This doesn't make the game too easy, as enemy soldiers are smart and challenging, and the weapon system is realistically satisfying. You can only carry one weapon (with a secondary function, usually a grenade launcher or pistol), and ammo isn't especially plentiful. Therefore, you'll have to loot bodies and explore the terrain to find hidden weapons, collectables and gold ingots.

Each level is pretty much a nonlinear affair. You'll be given a point to reach or objective to destroy, and it's largely up to you how to approach it. You can jump in a nearby vehicle and drive right in blasting away, or take the troops around the side of a mountain to find a good sniping spot. In addition to the regular weapons, you'll also have "tools" (along with rechargable health injections) that help you along the way. You can repair vehicles, call in air strikes and even plant C4. How you tackle any portion of the game is completely up to you.



I would have had more fun with the single player game if I wasn't pausing every two minutes to check up on a strategy guide for gold and bonus item locations. I'm an Achievement whore, deal with it. It's pretty safe to say that the single-player game is an excellent romp filled with explosions, good dialogue, memorable characters and just plain fun run-and-gun gameplay. It's longer and more varied than the Call of Duty 4 campaign, but the smooth combat engine in COD4 gives it a mirror sheen that Bad Company doesn't have. Other than that, definitely worth a playthrough for any shooter fan.

Well, there you have it. A great single-player game coupled with a "theoretically" good multiplayer game. I know all the fixin's for a good online experience are there, but the frustrating "spawn and die" concept and irritating online companions made my shy away. Experienced Battlefield fans will probably love it, but they can go back to their PCs. Bye!

Pros

A decent graphics engine, solid single-player campaign and an enjoyable storyline with engaging characters.

Cons

You either "get" Bad Company multiplayer or you don't. Apparently I didn't - so I went back to COD4.

Summary

Despite the single-player fun, the overall package probably isn't recommended for an ultra-casual shooting fan. You need to know what you are doing to get a memorable multiplayer experience, and the campaign won't impress the meatheads like the immediate badassery of COD4.