First, let’s start off with the story. The boys of Bravo Company are back and bad to the bone, although at the start of the game you’re not sure since the game goes back to WWII to setup the plot. As the boys of B you’re off to stop the Scalar Weapon, which threatens national security. Along the way you fight through jungles, deserts and snowy mountains before you can get home and enjoy a little R&R (at least that’s what you think). The story is much better than the first game though it seems to have some pacing issues due to cutscenes constantly pulling you out of the action every few minutes. The story also lacks that epic feel even though the dust and the Indiana Jones type music tries hard to give you that experience; but in the end, it just winds up coming short. The story however is not without merit. It is greatly enhanced by the game designers decision to channel your progression in a more linear fashion while still maintaining that open world scale of allowing freedom of movement.

As far as the single player game itself, there is an abundance to appreciate though the campaign itself is over within 6 to 8 hours depending on your style of play. Bad Company 2 certainly demonstrates how destructible objects can not only change your tactical approach to a mission, but also increase your level of fun as well. Vehicles are also a huge part of the game and are extremely entertaining in every aspect of the single player campaign. The other improvement to this sequel is that missions don’t feel as repetitive. Nevertheless, mission-types did not give me enough incentive to change my two weapons of choice.

The characters in the single player game are well acted and feature humor that doesn’t get on your nerves like the last game did at times.  Your characters will also make cracks that are clearly aimed at Modern Warfare 2 – things like snowmobiles are for sissies and heartbeat sensors on weapons. However, while your in-game squad mates are full of personality, your in-game enemies severely lack it (even the main antagonist). They also lack variation in that they all pretty much look the same throughout the game. Your squad mates aren’t without fault though. In fact, they seem to have some A.I. issues in that, unless they are moving to the next staging area, they will wait on you and you alone to engage the enemy and to trip trigger points, which at times seem too artificial. My squad also appeared like they were occasionally firing rubber bullets at the enemy since their barrage of shots didn’t seem to match my one or two shots that finally brought an enemy down. Speaking of the enemies, as the game progressed, it was like the enemy soldiers were only firing at me. My squad could literally be in front of me and out in the open and I could be behind cover; and yet the enemy’s rounds were only directed at me. It’s like the enemy’s A.I. couldn’t see my team. This doesn’t happen throughout the game just enough to make you feel like you’re being picked on. Another issue I had with enemy A.I. is the fact that they could see you through all the dust and debris but you couldn’t see them. And no, they we’re not using thermal scopes or goggles.

David Copperfield Eat Your Heart Out!

Technically, Bad Company 2 is overall pretty impressive though not perfect. For example, while outdoor environments look amazingly detailed with realistic lighting, indoor environments are bland and boring for the most part. Weapons handle well and appear more responsive than the demo; and also include better hit-detection and feedback. Having said that, I experienced moments where my rounds did not hit my intended targets, but instead bounced off some apparent invisible barrier. The game also suffers from a few other technical issues like bodies floating in midair and parts of characters going through objects in the game like walls. Also, from a technical standpoint, I am not sure why certain objects in the game can’t be destroyed like wooden crates. One last technical thing – frame rate and network connectivity all seem good.

Why Won't You Die?

The best part of Bad Company 2 (BC2) however, has to be the online multiplayer game. Unlike Modern Warfare 2, BC2 not only offers a wide range of driving and flying vehicles, but it’s also a much more tactically shooter requiring strategy and teamwork. The game also offers enough multiplayer modes to fit whatever fancies you have. In addition, maps are well layout as they are large – maybe a little too large at times, especially for deathmatch. But if you love playing sniper, then you’ll love the multiplayer maps of Bad Company 2. Sniper is just one class a player can choose from, ranging from your typical soldier, to combat engineer, to field medic and to scout (sniper). Other than points and rewards, players can also customize their multiplayer character’s load out (field kit) offering over 15,000 possible kit combinations between the various weapons and gadgets.

All in all, Bad Company 2 is a huge success over its predecessor. Though its single player campaign is much better than before, it is still not as epic as Modern Warfare 2. Having said that, BC2’s multiplayer can stand on its own, giving players an incredibly experience only a Battlefield game can offer.  I for one am glad for the changes and additions DICE has made to the game. I am also thankful to have a new multiplayer game to play online, especially since I am getting a little tired of the same old maps in you know what. Now if I can only learn to fly that darn helicopter.

Battlefield 1943

In many ways, I think that was EA’s point in releasing the downloadable Battlefield 1943 prior to Modern Warfare 2’s release in November of 2009. Because it showed the world that Battlefield’s multiplayer experience is not only good and accessible, but it is also extremely fun to play. In fact, I am still hoping DICE will put out some new maps for Battlefield 1943. I’ll be the first in line to pay for that downloadable content on Xbox Live. So, I believe Battlefield 1943 was EA’s sign that better things are yet to come with Bad Company 2.

However, that has not been my experience so far. Having played both the multiplayer beta on the PS3 and now the multiplayer demo on the Xbox 360, I am seriously worried that Bad Company 2 will not even get close to the amazing multiplayer experience of Modern Warfare 2. Why, because the multiplayer demo totally sucked? No, not really. It’s just that the demo highlighted so many technical and gameplay issues that must be fixed before its March 2nd release. Personally, knowing EA’s track record, I don’t think they will address all of these issues and just rushed the game out like they did with Mercenaries 2. EA is famous for hyping a game with cutscenes and screenshots of polished graphics and then failing to deliver the goods when the game is finally released. Okay, I need to move on. It’s obvious I have a huge beef with EA and it’s starting to show – more on EA in a latter post (maybe).

So what are my concerns with Bad Company 2? Well, let me start with my first gripe – lag. Though I never experience lag playing the beta on Sony’s PSN, I constantly experienced it with the Xbox Live demo. I can’t tell how frustrating it is to be running only to be moved back and forth in the game like some Devo song – “You got me jerking back and forth…”

Along with the lagging is the apparent frame rate issue in the game. Unlike Infinity Ward’s standard of 60 frames per second (FPS) in Modern Warfare 2, DICE’s standard with Bad Company 2 seems more like an inconsistent 30 FPS. This has all sorts of affects on Bad Company 2’s gameplay, as you would imagine, especially in targeting your opponents.

Speaking of targeting, Bad Company 2 also lacks any real feedback to let you know you’re hitting your opponents. I know, I know, you get that little “X” thing that appears over your targeting reticule, but this is not enough in my opinion. I much prefer how Modern Warfare 2 utilizes the controller’s force feedback system in producing small vibrations in combination with a sound effect to let you know when you’re hitting your enemies. Add this lack of feedback to the already frame rate and lagging issues, and you never really feel like you’re accurately shooting your targets.

On top of this feedback issue, the controls feel sluggish and not as responsive as Modern Warfare 2 or Battlefield 1943 for that matter. Turning left and right and looking up and down just doesn’t feel right. And game developers by now should know they must strive to make a game’s control feel as a natural part of a person’s hand to where players forget they’re holding a controller. Bad Company 2’s demo failed at doing this.

In terms of gameplay, the tanks in the demo (like Battlefield 1943) seem underpowered in terms of driving. Players trying to drive over simple obstacles or move uphill are met with the sudden realization that their tank doesn’t have enough get-up and go as their real life counterparts. Assault rifles also feel extremely underpowered. In addition, some weapon sights seem too small or too thin.

Bottom-line: Though I am really looking forward to the final version of Bad Company 2, I am extremely worried that the game will not live up to its potential. While there were some fun moments to be had like driving ATVs, I didn’t have half as fun as I did when playing Battlefield 1943. In addition, the game sessions are not only frustrating at times (with the above mentioned issues), but they also seem too long and drawn-out. Maybe this has to do with the fact that the maps are huge! One thing is for sure – teamwork is essential in Bad Company 2. In my experience with the multiplayer demo, the teams that worked together not only won – they dominated. In the end though, I am okay with getting beat by other players in the game, I just hope I don’t get beat by the game itself with its many issues come March 2010.

PS. Why does every Battlefield game featuring flying vehicles have to be so freaking hard to control?