Battlefield: Bad Company 2

I generally don’t play games online. There got that out of the way. It’s not because I can’t, I possess plenty of online games and an adequate amount of skill to get me through. No I choose not to play online because in all of my experiences, there are nothing but douche bags playing online. If I wanted to hear about all that ego, I would go back to elementary school. So with that being said, when I review games like Bad Company 2, keep in mind I am grading it on strictly a single player campaign. Now that that has been said it’s time to get down to brass tax.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 is the follow up to that moderately successful shooter surrounding the four bots of B company. The first game was engaging enough to earn a decent score when I ran through it and I did have a little amount of interest in the follow up. The only real difference between this series and every other shooter out there is the great destructible environment and the even more impressive dialogue between the well developed misfit characters of Bad Company. It would be hard to match the top notch performance from the first installment and I am sorry to say that the second falls a bit short from the first.

Though it is true that the same characters all return for this follow up, unfortunately their chemistry isn’t the same. Preston, the character that you control, has become a far less interesting character. I suppose that is to be expected when you take into consideration that he was the new guy in the last game and he couldn’t be the new guy again in this one. He is just not interesting nor does he add anything meaningful to the group. His moments climax when he gives a very bad pep talk before what is apparently a suicide mission. The Serge is usually the one giving the pep talks because he is in charge of the company. Now I see why the devs thought this would a good point for Preston to intervene, but at the same time, his talk was awful and very uninspiring and he just comes off as a jerk. In fact throughout the game he has a lot of jerk moments. Aside from Preston, the banter between Sweetwater and Haggart is nowhere near the same level it was before. After saying all that it wasn’t entirely bad either. It was just acceptable and that is a real shame.

The story in general is another area that falls short of the bar set by the predecessor. This is no tale of renegade soldiers looking to make some big money. In fact there is just about no mention of the previous game at all, a puzzling move that could only be justified by the writers not being able to come up with some interesting follow up plot line. Instead we get a tale of some weird Japanese weapon and some government cover ups and double crosses. There are a few well developed levels throughout the campaign however, one in which Preston is separated from the rest of the team in some snowy countryside and he has to make his way down the mountain all the while popping in houses to warm up before he freezes. There are also as you can imagine enemies all along his way. Another level involves jumping onto a moving plane and subsequently jumping out of it before it crashes. That sequence was interesting even if it wasn’t very unique and awfully short. A point in their favor is the fact that there is more to this story then other shooters I have played. I would put it on Resistance level as opposed to Call of Duty level and that is nice to see speaking as someone who doesn’t play online.

Apart from those points it is a comparable shooter and not a bad way to spend the few dollars it costs now a days. Even though there are few ties to the original adventure, it is nice to see the band back together again. Though it is a letdown that they fall so short of greatness, I could see a third attempt bringing them closer to it. There are still well developed characters here and Preston, with a little more rethinking could be a great guy and exciting for players to control. There is scenario in play that could dictate this turning into a trilogy. And I am still enjoying the extensively destructible environments though apparently dumpsters are bulletproof. Interesting factoid for you. So with the right frame of mind you won’t be disappointed with what Bad Company 2 has to offer and I hear the multiplayer is good too if you’re into that sort of thing.