My first look completely disregards current server and connectivity issues, annoying as these are they are not what the game is about and should be corrected soon enough, I tried my best not to let them warp my view of the game too much.
Initial impressions
This is not a review, I will put a review together later on when the game has had some time to settle and mature… and yes these types of shooters do need time to mature, I feel early reviews for massive content filled shooters like this are premature and lack proper insight. Players find niches or cookie cutter loadouts which are optimal for killing in large numbers and technical issues resolve themselves or are hastily patched for better or worse.
I’ll break this up to make it easier to read… starting with:
Video:
The graphics are for the most part brilliant, there have been a couple of times where I have thought “what?” though, some of the graphics seem to be completely overlooked or simply ported from original BF2, I was happy to find out later that it is not just me who feels that way and that some of other guys I play with got the same impression. But those moments are rare and in general this is a great looking addition to the BF pedigree. There is a large amount of bloom going on in some of the brighter maps which make every seem slightly hazy and obscure, bloom can be turned off via a setting outside of the game, which is described here.
Audio:
Mind blowing… bullets whizzing past you and decompression thuds from explosives nearby and rockets passing overhead will make you shiver, this game is absolute audio candy. This really helps make it feel more realistic and put you “in the zone”. As a side note the game is set to use software audio acceleration as default to aid console players, if you have a soundcard though it is a good idea to set it to use hardware, as described here.
Game Play:
The maps are sufficiently big to warrant vehicles but small enough to traverse on foot as a lonely recon spotter. I think the balance has been struck very well with some maps being vast open tank havens with a few smaller spots for people to tuck away from the action and small intimate maps where a single well placed grenade could open the field up for your team. This lends itself to both fast paced heart throbbing action but also at times travelling with time to plan your offensive or gather your squad, I personally really enjoy these bits of “downtime”, they add a social aspect to the game which recent titles like Modern Warfare 2 have lost… does “THEY ARE AT A” ring any bells? The squad play in all BF games opens up large scale tactics and planning which seem to be lacking in most shooters.
Rank system:
The ranking system is broken up into two main categories, one for overall rank earned via “points”, these are gained from completing tasks, killing and using utility classes to heal and repair and so on. And the second is more specialised via class kills and points. What this means is that if you play on one class exclusively you will still gain access to “common” upgrades and not be pigeon holed into one playstyle.
It takes some time to gain ranks, its been a while since I last played a BF title but I would hazard to guess that the ranks I have gained on Bad Company 2 have taken slightly longer, I however see this as a bonus, I am all for people having to work hard for unlocks and the gameplay staying fresh with unexpected ranks and unlocks.
Vehicles:
Vehicles in general in Bad Company 2 seem to be easier to use, gravity affected trajectory seems to be easier to guess using the tanks as improvised artillery and the helicopters seem much easier to control, this is both good and bad as it means more people are able to access these features instead of being limited to point and click foot soldiering. It also however means that more people are fighting for access to limited vehicles and I can see this turning into a sore point further down the line on public servers… nothing new here though lets be honest.
On the other hand there are some great vehicles in game, including the usual tanks and choppers as well as the UAV (which funnily enough looks like a small helicopter which Im not sure is correct in real world terms, but I’m no military expert) and fantastic fast little quads for zooming to objectives.
Servers:
They are dedicated for PC, that is all.
Overall this is a great title, once the initial teething issues have been corrected I believe this will be a real contender in the increasingly complicated shooter market of 2010.
Once again in case you missed it, there is a fantastic article here on tweaks and tips for port opening and connection issues, as well as graphical and sound tips.
And for a healthy mix of amusement check out Pixel Enemies – How not to be a noob at BC2
Had a day off yesterday and sank about 6 hours into this, was fantastic fun. I managed to get a stable connection to a 32 man rush server and it was frantic fun all the way through. Not for the weak hearted!
There seems to be a semi steep learning curve this time round, I found myself settling into previous bf’s easier but you eventually find your groove if you are patient.
Really enjoying this now.
Wow… I’m a few days play into this beauty now… anyone who loves battlefield needs this game. Here endeth the first lesson.
Bob doesn’t know what his own rifle looks like, he’s not in the real army he just drives trucks haha.
Every Dice-via-EA release has been the same, dodgy bugs and login and retrieval server overloads, yet every one has proven itself in the long run, have some patience young ones.
The forums are full of “AMAGADS LETZ START A CLASS ACTIONS LAW SUITEE” posts at the moment, scroll yourself back to the release of 1942, bf2 and 2142 and you will see exactly the same thing, give it two weeks and we will all be spewing lead and brooming around in tanks with our epeens on display!
(I post as thirtyfour. when it is my personal opinion and not that of the website, hence the bullshit”
Shhhh… the mini helecopter is cool. Whatever anyone thinks!
You wanna know what a UAV or whatever its called is actually like
ASK BOB! do it
On the other hand if they don’t fix the connection isses, the alt-tab crashes, the PB kicks, the refresh failures and the filter system soon they will lose a chunk of their credibility and player base back to MW2.
Anyone else see the irony in EA making a game called Bad Company?