Seriously, my final Bad Company commentary.
After my scathing review of the demo, and various other reviews I did afterwards, I guess I don’t have any hate left to spare for this game. I enjoy it tons, for some reason. And in case I have not enough reviewed this title…
Some things I have not yet covered (shocking, I know). I dig how you can replenish lost grenades and ammo by running over a dead foes supplies (ammo through specific class only); the limited splash damage (which emphasizes precision); distinct classes; and persistent and constant accomplishment (wildcards, patches, and trophies).
I think Bad Company handles challenges and rewards the best out of itself, Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2. I never get tired of the sound effect and dangling reward. Just for the uninitiated, the game rewards you trophies for accomplishing tasks (i.e., 3 kills with an anti-tank mine, 5 kills with transport vehicle, healing team mates, etc.). Patches unlock by fulfilling multiple trophies (Bronze Support Patch is dangled after fulfilling 2 kills as Support, 1 LMG efficiency trophy, 1 medic trophy, and 1 combat engineer trophy). If those weren’t enough, BFBC also features Wildcards that unlock and dangle by fulfilling rare and exotic tasks (i.e., 100 headshots with any sniper rifle, destroy 3 vehicles of same kind and 2 of another, 50 Avenger trophies, etc.). By allowing these accomplishments to be acquired multiple times infinitely, it rewards play and extends gameplay. I think the Call of Duty series should adopt it.
I also appreciate how knife kills must be earned and earn a reviewable database of dog tags. The points system is also preferable featuring special points for avenging team mates, destroying vehicles, healing team mates, and other various tasks. I read reviews that state this distracts from objectives and encourages the lack of teamwork. I disagree. This is where the weakened firepower benefits gameplay as kills must be earned. Since kills are not guaranteed, working to accomplish an objective, say arming a charge, is a good way to score points (30 guaranteed points for successfully destroying a crate).
An improvement would be adding more default guns per class. Each team has a different gun design but those guns share the same values. Only unlockable guns (promotional and progressive) offer more variety amongst gun values. More progressive unlockable guns would also be appreciated; more multiplayer modes would be also be nice.
While an initial grievance, the weakened firepower works with this title. If the guns were more powerful, it would unbalance gameplay. What does need to be tweaked is the range of a few guns. The shotguns need less range, for instance.
Bad Company is a nice way to spend time waiting for World at War, SOCOM, and Gears 2. Now, if only they’d soon release the damn update said to improve the party mode, offer clan support, and other fixes and updates.
