Battlefield: Bad Company
Added April 10th, 2008 by Justin McBride
While Battlefield: Bad Company, the next entry in the long-running Battlefield franchise, isn’t shipping until June, yours truly received an invitation to participate in the Battlefield: Bad Company closed multiplayer beta. After a few extended play sessions, it was a bit tough to force myself to drop the controller. Seriously, the game’s good fun and addictive as hell to boot.
Gold Rush, the lone multiplayer mode at the heart of this beta is quite the interesting one. Two teams, playing both offense and defense, are pitted against each other over crates of gold. The defending team is charged with protecting their numerous crates of gold from the opposing team, whose goal is simply to blow those crates sky high. The result is quite the chaotic and team oriented experience Battlefield veterans should expect. Should the attackers be successful in blowing up the two or three crates in the area, the defenders will retreat, opening up a new portion of the map and with it, a couple new objectives. If the attackers are triumphant there as well, they win the round.
Two multiplayer maps are made available in the beta to host the 24-player skirmishes. The first of these maps, Ascension, is relatively small and focused on infantry based combat, meaning there are no vehicles, but plentiful cover provided by buildings and copious amounts of shrubbery and trees, creating a very sniper-friendly environment. The second map, Oasis, is a large desert map set in the Middle East, playing host to numerous vehicles ranging from tanks to hummers and even boats and helicopters. Vehicular combat ensues as players mount up and take to the open roads, because crossing this desert on foot is one lengthy endeavor.
The basics are pretty much the same as any other game in the Battlefield franchise. Upon entering a game, you’ll have to choose one of five classes (Assault, Demolition, Recon, Support and Specialist), each with specialized weapons and equipment. Each class has its own unique feel and, to a certain extent, changes how you play the game. For example, as you’re playing, you’ll undoubtedly hear your fellow Brothers in Arms crying out for a medic from time to time. If you chose the support class, you can drop a healing med pack for them to pick up and instantly regain their lost health.
Battlefield Bad Company puts an emphasis on squad based combat. Within your twelve man team, you will be partnered up with three other players and form a small squad. Creating a mini team dynamic in which you are always watching each other’s backs, operating as a unit. Extra bonus points are doled out for assisting your squadmates in a number of ways including assisting them with a kill, killing an enemy soldier from a vehicle your partner is currently driving and so on.
There’s even an option to spawn alongside your squadmates, quickly bringing you closer to the action. On the same token, this means you can spawn anywhere a member of your squad happens to be, whether it be holed up in a small building fending off the other team from on high; in the gunner’s seat of a helicopter, raining fire down on the helpless troops below; or right in the line of fire, staring an enemy tank in the face. There’s a great deal of risk-reward potential here, and it’s up to you to decide if spawning with the squad as opposed to the relatively safer alternative in the base is worth it.
As you rack up points for kills, completing objectives and the like, your rank will increase. Alongside each of the promotions, you receive credits which can be used to unlock better weapons and equipment. These weapon upgrades are certainly worth the extra effort and the equipment bonuses for each of the five classes are great (those anti-tank mines can be a life saver).
One standout feature that EA has touted throughout this title’s development has been the destructibility of the environments. Artillery shells create huge holes in the terrain, trees can be sawed in half with machine gun fire and while buildings can’t be completely destroyed, you can blow rather large cavities in them with the right weaponry. As a small example of how the destructible environments can come into play, I found myself creeping along, sneaking toward the enemy’s base when suddenly, a tank rumbled by. As its turret turned toward me, I made a mad dash for the nearest building, thinking I’d be safe. Boy was I wrong. The tank opened up on the building with its massive cannon and suddenly, the thin wall separating me from certain death was gone. After I recovered from the initial shock, I made another (unsuccessful) mad dash for the nearest piece of cover. It’s moments like these that make the experience so much more believable and hectic, in the best way possible, of course.
Overall, Battlefield Bad Company is looking to be a very entertaining entry to the Battlefield franchise. It’s certainly addicting, one of the many qualities I look for in an online shooter. It remains to be seen how gamers will take to it considering EA’s controversial DLC methods, but the core game seems entertaining enough to win the favor with at least some of them.
