By: Nathan Andrews, Editor
Part 1 – The Single Player Experience
Let’s face it. From the beginning of the franchise, with the fantastic Battlefield: 1942, DICE’s Battlefield games have been about one thing: Multi-player combat. The entire Battlefield series set the bar for online multi-player combat, and they set it high. Prior to Bad Company 2, single-player in the Battlefield series was more of a training ground for future multi-player action. Get familiar with maps; figure out some basic strategies; get comfortable; jump into multi-player. With Bad Company 2, they changed the single-player we were used to, and created a story-mode that might not be what seasoned Battlefield players are expecting.
Since the game has two distinct parts (The single-player story, and multi-player action), I’ll be splitting this review into two parts. I could cover both of them in one article, but since the types of gameplay are so completely different, it’s just better this way. Trust me. Really.
The game starts off in 1944, shortly before the end of World War 2. Your little group of soldiers is set on a mission to rescue a scientist being held prisoner somewhere along the coast of Japan. You need to get him out quick, because a new weapon called “Aurora” is being unleashed that morning. All the player is allowed to know about the weapon is that it’s called “Aurora.” And that’s it.
After a short, follow-the-leader console-style mission, the player is transported to what appears to be the present day (or could be somewhere in the indeterminate future). You are again part of a small squad of soldiers performing various missions in different parts of the world. How the missions are linked to each other is not really explained all that much. But eventually, all things will likely lead up to a link with the mysterious “Aurora” weapon mentioned in the very first part of the game.
Personally, I never got into the Rainbow Six (and similar) games in the past, so AI squads are a relatively new thing for me. Sure, there are the various parts in the Half Life franchise that require you to work with an NPC to get certain things done, but the level of interaction was pretty limited and only geared towards getting you to your next goal (where you’d then go solo again). From what I can see, the AI squad mechanics in Bad Company 2 are quite good, though they will still occasionally (and frustratingly) get in the way when trying to get something accomplished.
Similarly, the FPS games I have played were relatively open world, where the path you must follow in BC2 is pretty restrictive. There is more leeway here than what I’ve seen in games like Call of Duty 4, but it’s still pretty narrow. I’d call it a solid middle of the road between a mostly open Half Life, and a mostly restricted CoD4. The pointers to the next destination also leave a bit to be desired, as they don’t stand out enough for my taste, sometimes causing me to have to search around to find the next stage I’m looking for. Doing so would often cause me to die. Again.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the best gamer in the world (I know, it’s a totally crazy thought, right?), and my lack of console experience is revealed quite well in the single-player campaign. At least in the first few steps of the game, while I got used to how things worked, I died. A lot. I mean, really. A lot. After a while, I managed to get a feel for the environments and developed a sense for when things would start spraying bullets and lobbing explosives at me. Once I got the hang of that, survival was much easier.
The best part of the game, for me, began when I started destroying things. Let it be said here and now: I really like blowing stuff up, and BC2 provides me with plenty of opportunities to indulge.
I don’t have an XBox360 or PS3. In fact, the only console I own is a (rarely-used) Wii. Therefore, I never got to experience the almost fully-destructible environments that came with the first installment of the Bad Company series. I’m also aware that Red Faction: Guerilla had similar environments. But that’s still a sore spot with me, as the PC version of the game was delayed 2 months(!) beyond the console release.
However, the destructible environments also carried with them a lot more opportunities for me to get killed. In the Half Life and Counter Strike days, it was easy to hide behind a wall, as few weapons were able to penetrate. And many of the walls were completely secure. Not so in these environments. Just like with a real wall of a building, if you throw enough bullets at it, it will break down eventually. And in this case, it will look pretty good doing it.
Even with my (by today’s standards) somewhat limited hardware, this is a fantastic looking game. The detail in the coastal Japanese forest is wonderful, even though at least half of that part of the game takes place at night. The eastern European winter terrain is put together beautifully, with just the right amount of over-bright when you’re looking over the snow in the sun. The South American jungle looks like you could step off the path for just a second and be completely engulfed in green, never to return.
Vehicle, building, and weapon design are very well considered, and put together nicely. In gaming I find that too often, designers will take shortcuts and reuse environmental items too much, detracting from the overall experience. The BC2 designers did a great job in creating uniquely interesting buildings and other environmental touches that allow you to stay immersed in the gameplay.
My main complaint with the single-player version is the aforementioned restrictive paths. Occasionally, I would find myself banging up against a virtual wall trying to avoid getting shot, and consequently get shot. But these particular snags are managed really well, and there are at least some logical visual barriers in place (treelines, fences, etc.) that help to make it not feel quite so obvious.
One other nit: In the opening scene, you have to stab a guard without him noticing (I know. Rude, right?). Unfortunately, rather than being just another one of the weapon choices, melee fighting is done with the middle mouse button. In my case, I have to turn off Set Point for my mouse so that it sends the signal that the game is expecting. Alternately, you could map a key, but all of the best left-hand keys are already assigned to normal game operations, so doing so would cause a bit of hunting, increasing the possibility of someone killing you.
The Bad Company 2’s single-player campaign is a pretty good addition to the Battlefield franchise. I look forward to getting farther into the story to see where it leads (and maybe even *GASP* finish it). That being said, I wouldn’t quite recommend it if the single-player was the only option. It’s a bit too restrictive and shallow to merit an entire game. I hope future installments — if DICE continues to go down the story path for single-player — will make the experience a bit richer. They could take a lot of cues from the Half Life universe on that point.
Next time, I’ll have a look at the multi-player function, which is (from what I’ve heard) where the game really shines. I’m sure I’ll probably die quite a bit more, but that’s all part of the fun. Right?
Until Then…
No Comments