Environments collapse and change right before your eyes and at times there's a sense of comradery that doesn't always come across in Modern Warfare 2. Graphically speaking, Modern Warfare 2 edges out Battlefield, but mostly because the former is able to run at a smooth 60 frames per second.īad Company 2 does have its fair share of engaging action, arguably trumping what's found in the Modern Warfare 2 single-player campaign. Controls are basically the same, but we think Modern Warfare 2 feels tighter. It would be impossible not to mention Modern Warfare 2 when talking about Bad Company 2, because there are loads of similarities here. Destructible environments have to be Bad Company 2's selling point, and the title is able to handle this detail better than most games today do. Instead, the action is the star of the game, and everything we really enjoyed the first time around carries over. The characters remain mostly the same, but Bad Company 2 doesn't focus as much on trying to be a comedy like we saw in the first Bad Company game. Is there room for two major multiplayer military franchises? Though it certainly doesn't top Modern Warfare 2, Bad Company 2 at least makes a serious case for being the "other" big online console shooter.īattlefield: Bad Company 2 is definitely a departure from the last game's theme. It's these excellent standout moments that stock our personal highlight reel and make it easier to forgive the somewhat focus-grouped feel of the rest of the game. That said, we've had some truly transcendent moments in multiplayer matches-one in particular when we climbed up to the second floor of a half-bombed building with a rocket launcher, and just as an enemy helicopter buzzed through at nearly eye level, we managed to fire off a shot and hit it right in the tail rotor, bringing the bird down. We also found that almost no one in the game was using voice communication, via the Xbox headset, which was quite the opposite of what we've experienced in other chatter-filled military shooters. If the game has different types of matches based on the players' relative ability levels (as Modern Warfare 2 does), it's also not transparent about that as well. New games don't start from a central lobby, where you can see who else is playing (or how many people are playing each game type) and tapping the "back" button on your Xbox controller doesn't bring up the in-game scoreboard, you have to hold it down, or navigate to a separate submenu. The ability to bring a building tumbling down on someone's head makes for battles that feel different almost every time, and the mission types stay far away from the typical team death match shootouts, making this a a must-try for fans of military first-person shooters.Īt the same time, there's a lack of what we'd call transparency. It's main claim to fame is wildly destructible environments, which is a press-release-like way of saying many of the actual buildings and structures in the game can be brought down by rockets, bombs, and other high-powered attacks.Ĭertainly that destruction mechanic was engaging enough to keep us roped into a single-player campaign that started off strong with a gripping WWII raid, but soon fell into shopworn cliche (and unlike the similarly cliched Modern Warfare 2, it lacked the frenetic energy to keep us from asking too many questions)-at least for a few hours.īut the main attraction is the online multiplayer, and on this count, the game both hits and misses. It has a collection of multiplayer games, a semi-throwaway single-player campaign, and the long-standing provenance that comes from being an offshoot of a well-liked classic game series.Īnd, in fact, this buzz-heavy shooter is very well-made and has much that catches our attention. Does it have a leg to stand on, or does it rely on too many elements that Modern Warfare 2 has seemingly perfected?Īs a potential rival to the juggernaut that is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the equally awkwardly named Battlefield: Bad Company 2 certainly looks the part. We've been playing Bad Company 2 for a while now and enjoy some things, but dislike others.
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We've seen attempts to capture the same experience before, but Battlefield: Bad Company seems to do the best job at tackling the genre with its own take on things.
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Military-based action games have become the first-person-shooter staple thanks to franchises like Call of Duty.