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The Bad Company Review

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The Bad Company Review


I have been a fan of the Battlefield series since the very beginning. I tend to have more fun in games where you play as part of a massive army rather than being some kind of super-person punching bullets away with the power of your mind, and the Battlefield series often filled that hole nicely.

The thing about Battlefield though is that it began as an online-only videogame, meant to be played with other human beings. You had the option of playing alone, but all it amounted to was just playing the same online experience, except you're just fighting against computer-controlled characters that inevitably keep going over the same patterns again and again.

This is the first time I've ever played a Battlefield game primarily for the singleplayer experience. Yes I am aware that there's already a Battlefield game with a full-featured singleplayer mode, but this is the first one that actually had memorable characters and a cohesive storyline. This is also the first Battlefield game I've ever played where dying isn't really much of an issue.

During the first few minutes of Battlefield: Bad Company, I found myself surprised by how relatively difficult it is for the average gamer to die: You get a magic syringe that instantly bumps up your health from 1 to 100, and you get an infinite number of uses as long as you let it recharge. However, even if you DO die, you are simply reborn at the checkpoint, with all the damage you've done intact. In other words, every foe you've killed stays dead while you get to reincarnate over and over at the previous checkpoint.

If there was such a thing as a 'feel-good' first person shooter, this is probably it. There are very few parts in the game where you are actually punished for failing, and the humor is everywhere. Although it's all hit-or-miss, I have to commend the developers for all the effort they put into making the characters distinct from one another and putting in as many jokes as they could.

Simply put, the focus here is fun, and not realism, and the destructible environment really reflects that. Although not EVERYTHING can be blown open with a grenade, there are a lot of times when you can simply make a door by yourself and never have to care about whether the enemy is in cover or not because every obstacle between you and them is temporary. Even sandbags simply flutter like feathers with a well-placed grenade.

I only have three real gripes with this game. The first is the fact that you cannot go prone. You cannot lie on your stomach, you can crouch and stand and jump. It may not seem like much but this really factors in multiplayer where going prone can keep you hidden well enough from enemy players. Apparently your balls are just so damn big you can't lie belly-down without crushing the family jewels.

The other two gripes: One is the damn tank escort mission where rockets will fly out of seemingly nowhere to suddenly take out your target and force you to do the whole ordeal all over again, and the other is the thing that's been plaguing a LOT of shooters: Enemies who have Superman's eyeballs. If it wasn't for the convenient life-syringe and the respawn system, I would be bald by now because I've been shot at by enemies who are billions of miles away ACCURATELY and it made me want to tear my hair out because most of the time even when the blip shows up in the radar I have hard time trying to return fire because I can't find my target who is comfortably sitting in another continent.

If you are a 'serious shooter' fan, give it a rent for a relaxing stroll. If you're the type of gamer who prefers to simply enjoy the ride, then treat yourself to this game. It's funny and while frustrating at times, it's overall a good experience.

I haven't played enough multiplayer for more than five hours, but so far I've been enjoying it despite its faults (you can't go prone. Seriously). The unlock system is fine, and the gold rush mode, where the attackers try to destroy the defenders' crates of gold, is solid. Notably, all voice communication is limited to your squad, which to me is a good thing because I do not want to hear the voices of every player on the team and end up getting confused because I can't tell whether my teammates want me to hop in the helicopter or run towards the crates.
Battlefield: Bad Company = Mindless fun.

Reviewed on the PlayStation 3.
© 2008 - 2024 mayuzane
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Rip1191's avatar
Thanks, I was thinking of getting this game. Now my decision has been made.. >:3