Have DICE reclaimed their FPS throne? It's hard to say for sure, but this is definitely their best game for some years.
In Bad Company 2, you are thrust into a US military unit with a wonderfully colourful collection of brothers-in-arms and tasked with taking down a Russian task force who have discovered an electronic weapon of mass destruction, once used by the Japanese in World War II. In fact, the game begins with a brilliant flashback sequence, set in Japan in the 1940s. Despite the briefness of this sequence, the heritage of DICE's previous WWII games really shows through. The rest of the game takes place in the modern day and really is a globetrotting adventure for the men of Bad Company.
Once the fight begins the controls initially feel a little loose, but once you're acclimatised to the aiming speed you'll be taking down your enemies with the greatest of precision. Of course, being a Battlefield game, it's not all about neatly aiming down your iron-sights. You'll spend a lot of time in vehicles, such as boats, quad-bikes, jeeps, APCs, tanks and helicopters. There are also a few on-rails sections to nicely break-up the intense pace of the single player campaign. All of the ground-based vehicles control well and use traditional modern driving controls, on the other hand, the helicopter, like the planes in Battlefield 1943 requires a lot of practice. However, unlike 1943 there is no tutorial mode to train your skills in, so you're forced to learn the air controls in-game which can lead to some extremely frustrating moments.
Unfortunately, the campaign is very short at around 7-8 hours and each level seems to end just as the action really gets going. It's also a significantly easier campaign that the first Bad Company, though this is actually a good thing, considering how infuriating the previous game was towards the end. Occasionally, there are issues with checkpoints being set too far apart as well, but the overall difficultly level in Bad Company 2 certainly isn't intrusive. There are some spectacular set-pieces too and the sound design is utterly fantastic. There is more of a blockbuster atmosphere than the first game and the wonderful humour has happily remained intact as well. In particular, you'll definitely want to keep a look out for some not-so-subtle dialogue, which has clearly been designed to poke fun at Modern Warfare 2.
The visuals in Bad Company 2 are a bizarre mix of flat textures, but with spectacular destruction. Many of the environments have very poor textures compared to other games in the genre, but the explosions and devastation more than make up for it. Walls can be blown apart, guard towers can be felled and entire buildings can be destroyed if the main structures take enough damage. Cover never lasts for long in this game. Instead of waiting for enemies to pop out and take their shot, you can blow apart their cover with a well-placed grenade and they resulting debris could take them out for you. You could even bring a building down on top of them by setting explosives on structural outer walls. It works very well and really makes you feel like you're in an actual warzone. After a huge fire-fight, take a moment to survey your surroundings. Chances are that there will be very little of the area still standing! The only hitch with the destruction is that when you come across structures that aren't programmed to take damage it can break the sense of immersion. Destroyed vehicles often disappear as well, rather than leaving charred wreckage behind.
Though the campaign is short, the online multiplayer is where the meat of any Battlefield game lies and Bad Company 2 certainly doesn't disappoint. Modes include the classic point-capturing battles of "conquest," the objective based "rush" mode and "squad deathmatch," which is team deathmatch with multiple teams of up to 4 players. Anyone who has ever played a Battlefield game before will feel instantly at home on the multitude of massive, well-designed maps. There's the usual mix of character classes as well, such as assault, medic, recon and engineer. Weapons are unlocked through a levelling and XP system, as is customary in most FPS games. The difference in Bad Company is that playing as a certain class only unlocks weapons for that class to use (with the exception of a few which can be used by any). The benefit of this system is that you will gradually get better with your chosen class the more you play, so most online teams should have a balance of each class as people pick the specialities that they've been working on the most. You also unlock special items and abilities, the most interesting of which is the defibrillator for the medic, which is used to revive team-mates who are waiting to respawn, or, in a hilarious twist, electrocute enemies to death!
If you're new to Battlefield, you may find playing online to be a shock initially as you have very little health and just a few accurate bullets will be enough to take you down. You definitely need to be methodical in your approach to the huge battles, rather than run in all guns blazing. Expect to be sniped a lot to begin with, before you get used to finding your way around the maps and making the best use of your class' abilities.
Though many people will argue that Modern Warfare 2 is the definitive online shooter, you should definitely give Bad Company 2 a chance. If you do, you'll discover a very different game that commands significantly more teamwork and planning from its players. Factor in the awesome destructible environments too and you have a game which can easily stand up alongside the biggest and best in the genre and comfortably hold its own.
Overall, though the single-player is short it has certainly been improved on since the first Bad Company and the online multiplayer is truly second to none. Have DICE reclaimed their FPS throne? It's hard to say for sure, but this is definitely their best game for some years. If you're looking for a new and different first person shooter to fulfil your war-mongering needs then Battlefield: Bad Company 2 should definitely be on your radar.