First Impressions: Battlefield: Bad Company

Filed under: , by: Grundy the Man


Think back to the film The Bad News Bears. Now, pump those rotten little bastards full of steroids, steal their baseball bats, and hand out an assortment of machine guns and heavy artillery. Welcome to the world of Battlefield: Bad Company.

Bad Company is essentially the "Land of Misfit Soldiers." This special group, is a dumping ground for some of the biggest discipline problems the military has ever seen. When you combine these psychopaths with a couple of the biggest morons this side of Kuwait, and you can guarantee that it is going to be an interesting ride. You play the part of a soldier that has just been transferred into the company, after making some serious mistakes in judgment.

The biggest innovation in Bad Company is DICE's new Frostbite game engine, which emphasizes environment destructibility. Can't find the door to a house? Easy, just step back and blow a giant hole in the wall. Think you are safely behind cover? Think again. With a single rocket explosion, you are suddenly hiding behind a pile of rubble. Over the period of a firefight, entire cities can be reduced to a smoldering mass of brick and shingles. Just remember this rule of thumb: If you can see it, you can blow it up!

Setting another precedent, DICE decided to make their first attempt at a dedicated, single player storyline. So far I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Each of the characters in your squad has a unique personality and demeanor. Even though you can sense a definite conflict in opinions amongst the group, there seems to be a core respect, even camaraderie, that unifies them in times of struggle.

So far, the company has decided to ignore the orders of the United States Army, in favor of chasing down mercenaries that are carrying bars of gold. That sounds like some serious motivation to me!

Our full review of Battlefield: Bad Company will be coming soon. In the meantime, why don't you go play with a grenade or something?

Below is a hilarious trailer for Battlefield: Bad Company:

2 comments:

On September 16, 2008 at 2:58 PM , Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to playing this one. I'm a little disappointed it dropped off the Top 10 list for Xbox Live, which indicates the online multiplayer might not be that great. Are you going to talk about that aspect in your full review?

 
On September 16, 2008 at 3:35 PM , Grundy the Man said...

The Battlefield series has had a legacy of successful online titles. You can absolutely expect that it will be covered in great detail. I think I read that the new conquest mode was just added last week via free DLC. That may add a surge to the usage. I am excited to get back to it, the trick is finding the time!