Having played the Bad Company 2 Beta, I think I can make an assessment on how the game, according to the beta, is played out and changed compared to the first game. I've put in around eight hours into the beta and reached level/rank 15. Correct me on any of the points I make as I may be mistaken.
 
Let's start with the graphics, from what I see, the graphics are more crisp and brighter compared to the first game and they seemed to remove the "film grain" that was present in the first game. There are more vibrant colours than seen in the first game. I think they may have fixed the screen tearing. I haven't paid enough attention to notice, so unless you are really looking for it, it isn't noticeable if present. There is also particle effects, dust will fly up when walls are destroyed or when a tank shell hits the ground. The sound design is once again top notch, and to truly appreciate it I refuse to play this game with anything less than full surround sound. The sound affects are simply amazing, the gun sounds are different for every gun and the sound effects change pitch depending on where you are. You can listen to the tank shell being loaded from inside the tank for example. I can't adequately describe it, you must listen for yourselves, but I'm sure those who have played will agree with me in this regard.
 
Gameplay-wise the game seems more balanced compared to its predecessor. DICE have made it so that it takes less bullets to kill someone than from the first game as some of may (painfully) remember. The recoil seems right as there is more to it than the first game. They also added noticeable bullet drop and rocket drop, you may notice than in the first game rockets fired seemed to go in a perfectly straight line as well as bullets from sniper rifles. The beta map is sized perfectly in my opinion, you'll never find yourself sprinting long distances. It also seems that the map is never advantageous to any side. I have never been continually beat playing as attacker or defender. The game mode in the beta is what I presume to be "Rush" which is essentially the "Gold Rush" mode from the first game. In this mode, an attacking team has a limited number of men to destroy two objectives before the map expands and new objectives are set. The defending team have an unlimited number of men to stop this. They changed the spotting system, so that you have to press the select button to mark enemies for a limited time. When team mates kill those marked enemies, you are rewarded with assist points. The specializations are helpful and they don't seem to negatively impact the balance of the game. The unlock system is also changed. Now, in order to unlock items, you must play and earn points as a specific class to unlock items from that class. They also added more torque to vehicles and made driving them much easier. The Humvee moves faster and handles changes in terrain pretty well. A small crater in the ground won't immediately halt the vehicle or send it out of control.
 
Let's get to some new and returning additions. The UAV drone is a nifty little machine, you control it from the safety of your base in order to scout the enemy locations. It also has the ability to paint targets, allowing for a missile to fall from the sky and hit their target. It seems that this missile is pretty strong, being able to destroy a tank in one shot depending on where it hits, but this alone won't change the tide of the battle. The defibrillator makes its triumphant return, and reviving fallen teammates can be helpful to the team. It is also capable of killing an enemy, the motion is slightly more quicker than the combat knife. The ATV/quad bikes are fast and nimble vehicles that can be used to quickly get to where you need to go. Snipers would find good use, when they use it to quickly get to a sniping position without notice. If you are bolder, you can use it to get into the enemy base before the enemy can react and try to reach the objective. The destruction seems more detailed, you shoot out a hole in a concrete barrier and make a vantage point with it. You can also completely collapse a building if you damage it enough. Stationary ammo crates of the previous game is done away with in favour of a return to teammates dispensing ammo boxes. Now players don't need to run long distances to find an ammo crate. Although, some players seem to ignore my requests for more ammo.
 
Bad Company 2 is shaping up to be a competent strategic shooter. Players must work together in order to succeed and those who run and gun will find themselves dying (and being revived) numerous times. With three and a half months to release, I am confident that DICE can take this game and make it even better. Now I just hope that they improved the single-player aspects of the game. Feel free to add more to my comments or tell me if I missed out on something. I want an open discussion on what you think of Bad Company 2 so far. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to try and answer them.

Before reading this blog, read Part 1.
 
Talent is worthless unless you have money to back it up.
This has become apparent in the past years in the IndyCar Series. Team owners used to pay drivers for their talent and to have them drive for them on the team. But it has gotten to a point that the incompetent management of the Indy Racing League (I would say that the creation of the league) has lead to extreme financial uncertainty for the league and the teams. Teams are struggling to find sponsorship, so they are forced to hire drivers that basically pay for an opportunity to race. What is the problem you may ask? These drivers can't drive for their lives. Take Milka Duno for example. The only reason she is with her race team and in the series despite her unsafe driving and extremely slow pace is because the IRL and her team is receiving money from Hugo Chavez. I do not kid when I say that the entire field lapped her on a road course twice. She retired from that race because of "handling".
 
Meanwhile drivers with a lot more talent, and without a doubt make the series a more exciting spectacle are left on the sidelines because they don't have sponsors or teams can't afford their services. Paul Tracy is one of them. He is undoubtedly more talented than three quarters of the field. But his main sponsor Monster Energy drink won't pony up for a full time ride. Paul Tracy is a divisive figure. Every race he has been to people feel compelled to look. His driving style is extremely aggressive. It was once said that Paul Tracy will always either win or crash out. He also has gotten into a few fist fights with other drivers. He is a very marketable driver and will draw viewers to the series. This is happening to young drivers as well, they have all the talent in the world but can't get a ride. We are stuck with the same old bland race drivers with no personality and for some, no talent. If the IndyCar Series has any hope of drawing more viewers they must not forsake the drivers with talent and ability.
 
 
Now I show you more of what the best racing in the world was. RIP CART 1979-2002
 

Before viewing this blog read up on my first one to get an idea of where I'm coming from.
 
So the 2009 IndyCar Series season has concluded, the second one since reunification and let me tell you, it was yet again a disappointment. But, first let me congratulate Scotsman Dario Franchitti for winning, well deserved. The 2009 IndyCar season was very dull. Save for two or three races, out of the seventeen. The same three guys were winning all the races, Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon. These drivers were part of the two powerhouse IndyCar teams, Penske Racing and Target Chip Ganassi Racing. There were very little passing even on the ovals, two races at ovals were the exemption. The rest of the field were at the mercy at the two powerhouses. Sure, the Championship lead changed 14 times over the course of the season, but it was the same three guys. The last race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway had the three title contenders lapping the entire field multiple times.
 
Have no idea what I'm talking about? Why should you? The Indy Racing League has done a piss poor job at marketing. This ranged from signing a major TV contract with VERSUS (0.3 Nielson Ratings average) to putting up billboards that said "IndyCar, Sexier than NASCAR" because we have a female driver in the series. They have also failed to sign on the bigger name drivers onto race teams. Paul Tracy only made 6 starts because he was on a transitional team that raced in the Champ Car World Series. They need guys like Paul Tracy in the series to generate enough buzz to increase their stagnant revenue. For the 2010 season, they have broken their promise of a 50/50 oval/road course schedule. The new chassis and engine package has been delayed to 2012, meaning that we are stuck with the ugly, under-performing crapwagons that have been used since 2001. It seems inevitable that the top open-wheel racing series in America is doomed. But I still have hope, if they still keep their word that they will return to 199o's era CART World Series format, they can still save themselves.
 
I will now show you the golden era of racing in America, back when cars were beautiful, fast and competitive.
 

 
  As an aviation enthusiast, this docudrama caught my attention. Mayday or as its known outside of Canada, Air Crash Investigation, reenacts history's numerous aviation mishaps. This show is 60 mins of length and takes one real life accident and examines it in detail. A reenactment based on actual cockpit voice recordings and eye witness accounts is played out. The show then shows and explains the investigation of the crash in detail and eventually comes to a conclusion of why it happened, how it has been fixed and what should be done in the future to prevent it from happening again. The acting is generally convincing, and the CG effects are usually well done. I encourage you all to watch this show and learn a little something about how your flights are being micromanaged. It airs on the Discovery Channel in Canada and on National Geographic everywhere outside of Canada.

So, today was my birthday and to celebrate, I went out to buy a PSN prepaid $50 card. I drove to my local EB Games and they were sold out. No problem , I'll just go to the next closest one. Turns out they were out as well. Fortunately, there was a Best Buy in the same shopping centre and they had a whole stack of them. So after wasting some amount of gas on an errand that was supposed to take 15 minutes but instead took an hour and a half, I finally got the card. But that's not the worse of the day yet.
 
I got home, got the $50 into my PSN "wallet" and started buying and downloading the games. I bought the obvious two games for me; Battlefield 1943 and Fat Princess. This left me with $16 or so left. I wanted to go buy Outrun Online Arcade (Sega), but I couldn't find it in the Playstation Store. I was confused because I read that it had come out on PSN and XBLA. A little internet search revealed that it had been released on both PSN and XBLA, but the PSN version was available in Europe only, while the XBLA version was available everywhere. This means that Outrun Online Arcade is exclusive to XBLA in North America. What the hell? Regional exclusivity? Who is responsible for this? But most importantly, WHY?
 
I was really looking forward to getting this game too, for sentimental reasons. When I was growing up, the only game game I played in the arcades was the original Outrun. Sure, the game came out in 1986, but it was really ahead of its time. It brought alive fantasies of owning a Ferrari and having a beautiful woman sitting next to you as you just drive by breathtaking vistas. I sunk in many quarters into that machine, and for that reason I will always have the song Splash Wave and Passing Breeze etched into my memory. I really wanted to see how Sega approached the 20 year-old gameplay mechanic in this one.  Ah well, at least there are other quality PSN games to spend my $16 on. Problem is, I can't identify them.
 
Yay Nostalgia! Best Game soundtrack of the 80's I say.