Call of Schmudy! Probably not one of the most anticipated games of the summer but the guys at EA really made it work for Battlefield: Bad Company. From game play to graphics, this game has it all. What Call of Duty lacked in the campaign, this game made up for in just the first few missions. The story line is also pretty basic and overshadowed by everything else in the game. You start off as a Private Preston Marlow, a fresh recruit, being transferred to B company (guess what the B stands for…) after some rather “bad luck.” Bad Company is essentially where they send the misfits of the army hoping maybe a mortar will drop on top of them and take them all at the same time or something. As you progress in the levels the storyline becomes clear. Gold! Its your objective in nearly every level and the only thing standing in your way is an army of Russians. Utilizing some of the gnarliest weapons ever placed in a video game, the Kremlin never stood a chance.           

The campaign, as previously stated, puts you right into the action as a noob to the whole combat experience. Even on the easy difficulty setting (which I put it on merely to test it out… wink! Wink!) the game was fairly difficult. Every time you just peeped over a hill or sandbag a bullet would whiz by reminding you to never do that again. Inch by inch you must reach your objective without getting bullet holes in your new uniform. One of the most impressive things I noticed is that most games…cough! Call of Duty, when you get hit, you merely take cover and wait to recover. This is not always possible on Battlefield BC because the enemy actually presses back. By that I mean they move forward inch by inch as you try to take the ground they’re walking on. When it comes to enemy AI, I have never seen better. As for the rest of your squad, its seems 50-50 on what they might do. Some spots in the game you might take cover to reload and realize you’re still getting shot, only to turn around and notice an explosion where the Russian once stood. Other times you might want your guys to follow you around the enemy turret and they might run straight up the middle. Jeez! Why can’t EA be perfect like all the other game manufacturers?          

Another issue that needed to be addressed and I personally believed that it deserved its own segment in this, is the explosions/ gunfire. One word… Frikinamazing! Nothing has ever been as on target as the realism of the explosions when a mortar hits a rooftop. Battlefield BC really incorporates the heavy heavier weapons in the game merely because it’s faster. Why shoot at a machinegun turret for an hour trying to kill it when you can send it back to the palaeozoic era with a rocket propelled grenade? The detail in every explosion is unmatched in any game I have ever seen. The explosion starts from the inside of the target and blows outward which has been tried in several other games but has never looked this good. As the burst moves outward, the particles of debris get spread further from the epicenter in almost realistic fashion.

It’s the little things that really do it for this game. When you shoot a weapon and miss (which I never do!) it hits the ground and sends up dust as it actually would in real life. Games used to be cool when it just made a bullet hole in the wall. Now games are expected to produce some effect of even a missed shot. Bullet trails also give the feel of firing the weapon that extra kick that just gives me goosebumps. When nearly everything in the game is destroyable, the possibilities are endless. Some games have attempted an all encompassing destroyable map, but Battlefield BC takes it to a new level. Are you tired of trees getting in the way of your tank? Run it over or shoot it and I guarantee you it’ll hit the ground faster than a Vietnam vet at a firework display! When a guy takes cover in a building… no problem! Blow away the wall and let the shooting continue. Hey Adam! What about multiplayer?          

I’m glad you asked. I think I can speak for most when I say that we have been waiting for a game that really makes modern combat fun and challenging. When Call of Duty 4 came out we thought we had found it. Don’t get me wrong because I know COD4 is still one of the best multiplayer games out there, but to the few who hate run and gun, Battlefield is where it is at. With huge teams and a large selection of vehicles and weapons to choose from, where could you go wrong? With artillery guns shooting and choppers flying overhead, teamwork is desperately needed to capture or defend the gold crates. The maps are also very large similar to some of the older Battlefield games. This means that the games are usually pretty lengthy and very tactical because particular characters, that you get to choose before you spawn, hold different attributes such as the unlimited health for the support class. I do have to say, however, that it did have a few problems.

I guess I should go over them quickly because they aren’t as important and should affect your outlook on the game only so far. The ranking system is too easy. The highest rank is 25 and you level up very fast. As most should know, post getting the achievements, the only way to show your skill is to rank up. When most people getting Battlefield are already level 25 there is little point. Additionally, the amount of levels is lacking severely. The levels are huge but every game needs a good variety of maps to keep the gamers happy. I would not be surprised, depending on how well battlefield does this last quarter, to see a few new maps come out to download over XBOX Live. The games do get very intense online that sometimes it’s hard just to stay alive right after spawning. Once again, these should not play that much of a part when making a decision of buying Battlefield: Bad Company or not. With a lot of room to grow, battlefield should be right up there as one of the best games of the summer!