Here it is guys, every one's been nagging me to review this game and I'm glad they did because I finally got it and it's awesome! Enjoy
Imagine for a moment you're stuck in a traffic jam on a hot day. Petrol fumes and stale sweat attack your nostrils. Choking smoke and dead air clog your lungs. Your ears are deafened by a cacophonous din of car horns and people yelling abuse. Your head pounds and aches and you wonder why you subject yourself to this stress on your way home every day.
Now imagine finding a side road. You follow it and find that leads out into a huge, lush expanse of invigorating, fresh countryside.The cool breeze hits your face and suddenly you wonder what you were doing stuck in that crowded, painful cluster-fuck for so long when this epic, life-affirming landscape was there all along.
In case you haven't guessed the analogy yet, I'm getting the big question out of the way first. Yes, BFBC2 is better than that other shooter. It's a huge breath of fresh air. To be honest, the comparisons between the two are lazy and smack of Blur v Oasis style publicity whoring. But enough about that, this review is about one game, not two. So what makes Dice's game so special? Read on...
'What do you mean I'm meant to be spotting for the team? I'm a 1337 Sniper with a 6.1 K! (gets kicked from game)
Campaign/Story
Bad Company centers around 4 eccentric weirdos who were apparently too naughty for the real army. As punishment (or reward, in their case) they are sent to BC, the military equivalent of being told to stand in the corner with a dunce's cap (except this dunce's cap fires big ass rockets and blows the corner into smithereens... but I'll get back to that). The first game was a jolly 3 Kings type story about a hunt for gold, while this is a slightly more serious affair, centering around a WW2 super-weapon that sounds like the tripods from War of the Worlds.
Basically... it's a load of nonsense. But it's good, clean, fun with no pretensions to being anything other than some light hearted context for all the violence and mayhem. Your squad-mates have each got their own unique, likable personalities and listening in to their chats is a hoot as they reference everything from Indiana Jones to Bush to a certain other shooter.
The campaign is a fair length, and nicely challenging on first playthrough as enemies are usually well camouflaged (or invisible behind all that damn war-dust) and are pretty damn good at killing you. Your squad-mates couldn't hit a T-Rex at 5 yards, but it's fine because they don't hinder you by dying or blocking your shots. It just makes you feel like a bigger bad-ass than them.
The opening chapter is very clever, and ranks up there with Bioshock and ME2 for great, immersive opening sequences. Things get a little slow in the middle, there are some horrid vehicle sections but all in all it's an enjoyable and fun campaign that really picks up again for the last 2 hours.
Sergeant RedCap never quite got over being molested by palm trees as a child.
Visual Presentation
The graphics engine is very impressive, with some huge expansive levels and vistas. The draw distance is massive, both in the campaign and multiplayer. There are a lot of epic set-pieces in the single player mode, made all the more exciting by the amazing physics engine. Explosions send dust and debris flying everywhere. You'll find yourself in some stunning locations like lush jungles, huge burning cities and satellite towers on mountain peaks.The only real problem with the visuals is that sometimes the environmental and dust effects can obscure your view. But hey... that's war for you.
Character models are detailed and well animated. Building interiors suffer from some low-resolution textures and an eerie lack of furnishings but you'll be too busy gleefully blowing them apart to take any notice.
Sound
This is by far the best sounding shooter out there. The sound team deserve every award in gaming for their work. The entire mix has been perfectly crafted and compressed to a level that makes everything sound massive. Explosions are deafening, reverberating through the speakers to the point where they can be felt on the Richter scale. Your main Assault Rifle kicks like a death metal double bass drum, sending the perfect mix of low frequency waves and high end rattle into your eardrums in an orgasmic, musical ear-assault. Switch the sound setting to 'War Tapes', put on a pair of good headphones and prepare to be amazed.
The score is pretty dull, though you can barely hear it most of the time under all the glorious chaos.
'Dude... you gotta hear this man... my gun sounds like Slipknot!'
Gameplay
Playing Bad Company 2 is fun, intuitive and rewarding. To me the campaign felt (and at times, looked) like a cross between F.E.A.R. 2 and Red Faction: Guerrilla, but better than both.
Like in the first game, 80% of the cover is destructible, which makes the game tactical and keeps you constantly changing your battle plan. It's fantastic. The shooting mechanics are a huge improvement on the first game, feeling more fluid and precise. It's not as fluid as COD, but it works well because it feels ten times more realistic. You feel like a rough, tough soldier as opposed to a floating gun.
Multiplayer is a dream. It's all about helping your team to win, so good teamwork is essential. You won't get very far in BC2 running around thinking your god's gift to K ratios. This means that the community is friendly and work well together, Your squad-mate isn't going to question your sexuality or your mother's bedroom technique when you've just saved his ass again with a med-pack, or resupplied his empty SMG. In almost every match I've played I've made a new buddy or two and had a great time engaging in teamwork to win. It is almost never frustrating, and when it is, it's because you knew you messed up yourself.
'Hey camper... stick this up your legitimate strategy.'
Classes are well balanced for the most part, (though the medic does seem to be a tiny bit overpowered when equipped with an M60 LMG). Assault is your basic grunt, restocking squad ammo. Engineer has rockets and blows up that tank that's been pestering you for the last five minutes. Medic heals (duh) and revives team-mates with the awesomely fun defibrillators, which can also be used to get hilariously shocking kills on your enemies. Recon is a misunderstood class, however. Lots of players don't seem to grasp the concept that no... you are not a bloody sniper. Your job is to spot for your team, point out enemies and take the odd headshot if the opportunity arises.
You get points for using your class specific skills, so I was able to place first overall in a game despite getting only 3 kills. I got my points from healing and reviving my squad. Very rewarding. Unlike in the campaign, vehicles are fun and useful to use and even more fun to explode into a thousand burning pieces of scrap metal.
The spawn system is inspired. You can either spawn back at your base or pick a squad member to arrive next to. It doesn't utterly eliminate spawn killing but it is the best system out there.
Lag seems to be a non issue from what I've seen. My bullets never magically passed through enemies, and I never went teleporting around the map like a broken Tardis.
Oh, and get this... players actually go for the objectives in the objective based games! Crazy, huh?
In fact, the only time this game caused me rage was when I accidentally hit the back button while typing the Escapist's code into my picture captions and lost the last half hour of work...
My one complaint is that it takes forever to level up and unlock any perks, or 'Specs'. New players are at a severe disadvantage to level 15 teams firing mortars on them and using red dot sights. But persevere and the game gets easier.
EDIT:
Having played for another few days, I have noticed the multiplayer game does have some hit detection issues. I thought I was imagining it but having seen a bunch of video evidence on Youtube I know now it is the case. This seems to be worse after the recent patch but will hopefully be resolved soon enough.
Overall Opinion:
I can honestly say, as a Battlefield virgin and with no bias, that this is the best multiplayer shooter I have played. It's like every frustration I've had with other shooters has been cut out and thrown away to leave an exciting, tactical, wonderfully immersive and compelling experience. The campaign is flawed but a fun ride, and at times it is sublime.
Verdict:
Buy (Rent if you just want it for single player)
Other Miracle's Whip reviews:
Bioshock 2
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.175856-Miracles-Whip-Bioshock-2#5002435
Batman: Arkham Asylum
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.180125-Miracles-Whip-Batman-Arkham-Asylum#5273691
Gamer
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182897-Miracles-Whip-Gamer
Miracle's Whip - Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Imagine for a moment you're stuck in a traffic jam on a hot day. Petrol fumes and stale sweat attack your nostrils. Choking smoke and dead air clog your lungs. Your ears are deafened by a cacophonous din of car horns and people yelling abuse. Your head pounds and aches and you wonder why you subject yourself to this stress on your way home every day.
Now imagine finding a side road. You follow it and find that leads out into a huge, lush expanse of invigorating, fresh countryside.The cool breeze hits your face and suddenly you wonder what you were doing stuck in that crowded, painful cluster-fuck for so long when this epic, life-affirming landscape was there all along.
In case you haven't guessed the analogy yet, I'm getting the big question out of the way first. Yes, BFBC2 is better than that other shooter. It's a huge breath of fresh air. To be honest, the comparisons between the two are lazy and smack of Blur v Oasis style publicity whoring. But enough about that, this review is about one game, not two. So what makes Dice's game so special? Read on...
'What do you mean I'm meant to be spotting for the team? I'm a 1337 Sniper with a 6.1 K! (gets kicked from game)
Campaign/Story
Bad Company centers around 4 eccentric weirdos who were apparently too naughty for the real army. As punishment (or reward, in their case) they are sent to BC, the military equivalent of being told to stand in the corner with a dunce's cap (except this dunce's cap fires big ass rockets and blows the corner into smithereens... but I'll get back to that). The first game was a jolly 3 Kings type story about a hunt for gold, while this is a slightly more serious affair, centering around a WW2 super-weapon that sounds like the tripods from War of the Worlds.
Basically... it's a load of nonsense. But it's good, clean, fun with no pretensions to being anything other than some light hearted context for all the violence and mayhem. Your squad-mates have each got their own unique, likable personalities and listening in to their chats is a hoot as they reference everything from Indiana Jones to Bush to a certain other shooter.
The campaign is a fair length, and nicely challenging on first playthrough as enemies are usually well camouflaged (or invisible behind all that damn war-dust) and are pretty damn good at killing you. Your squad-mates couldn't hit a T-Rex at 5 yards, but it's fine because they don't hinder you by dying or blocking your shots. It just makes you feel like a bigger bad-ass than them.
The opening chapter is very clever, and ranks up there with Bioshock and ME2 for great, immersive opening sequences. Things get a little slow in the middle, there are some horrid vehicle sections but all in all it's an enjoyable and fun campaign that really picks up again for the last 2 hours.
Sergeant RedCap never quite got over being molested by palm trees as a child.
Visual Presentation
The graphics engine is very impressive, with some huge expansive levels and vistas. The draw distance is massive, both in the campaign and multiplayer. There are a lot of epic set-pieces in the single player mode, made all the more exciting by the amazing physics engine. Explosions send dust and debris flying everywhere. You'll find yourself in some stunning locations like lush jungles, huge burning cities and satellite towers on mountain peaks.The only real problem with the visuals is that sometimes the environmental and dust effects can obscure your view. But hey... that's war for you.
Character models are detailed and well animated. Building interiors suffer from some low-resolution textures and an eerie lack of furnishings but you'll be too busy gleefully blowing them apart to take any notice.
Sound
This is by far the best sounding shooter out there. The sound team deserve every award in gaming for their work. The entire mix has been perfectly crafted and compressed to a level that makes everything sound massive. Explosions are deafening, reverberating through the speakers to the point where they can be felt on the Richter scale. Your main Assault Rifle kicks like a death metal double bass drum, sending the perfect mix of low frequency waves and high end rattle into your eardrums in an orgasmic, musical ear-assault. Switch the sound setting to 'War Tapes', put on a pair of good headphones and prepare to be amazed.
The score is pretty dull, though you can barely hear it most of the time under all the glorious chaos.
'Dude... you gotta hear this man... my gun sounds like Slipknot!'
Gameplay
Playing Bad Company 2 is fun, intuitive and rewarding. To me the campaign felt (and at times, looked) like a cross between F.E.A.R. 2 and Red Faction: Guerrilla, but better than both.
Like in the first game, 80% of the cover is destructible, which makes the game tactical and keeps you constantly changing your battle plan. It's fantastic. The shooting mechanics are a huge improvement on the first game, feeling more fluid and precise. It's not as fluid as COD, but it works well because it feels ten times more realistic. You feel like a rough, tough soldier as opposed to a floating gun.
Multiplayer is a dream. It's all about helping your team to win, so good teamwork is essential. You won't get very far in BC2 running around thinking your god's gift to K ratios. This means that the community is friendly and work well together, Your squad-mate isn't going to question your sexuality or your mother's bedroom technique when you've just saved his ass again with a med-pack, or resupplied his empty SMG. In almost every match I've played I've made a new buddy or two and had a great time engaging in teamwork to win. It is almost never frustrating, and when it is, it's because you knew you messed up yourself.
'Hey camper... stick this up your legitimate strategy.'
Classes are well balanced for the most part, (though the medic does seem to be a tiny bit overpowered when equipped with an M60 LMG). Assault is your basic grunt, restocking squad ammo. Engineer has rockets and blows up that tank that's been pestering you for the last five minutes. Medic heals (duh) and revives team-mates with the awesomely fun defibrillators, which can also be used to get hilariously shocking kills on your enemies. Recon is a misunderstood class, however. Lots of players don't seem to grasp the concept that no... you are not a bloody sniper. Your job is to spot for your team, point out enemies and take the odd headshot if the opportunity arises.
You get points for using your class specific skills, so I was able to place first overall in a game despite getting only 3 kills. I got my points from healing and reviving my squad. Very rewarding. Unlike in the campaign, vehicles are fun and useful to use and even more fun to explode into a thousand burning pieces of scrap metal.
The spawn system is inspired. You can either spawn back at your base or pick a squad member to arrive next to. It doesn't utterly eliminate spawn killing but it is the best system out there.
Lag seems to be a non issue from what I've seen. My bullets never magically passed through enemies, and I never went teleporting around the map like a broken Tardis.
Oh, and get this... players actually go for the objectives in the objective based games! Crazy, huh?
In fact, the only time this game caused me rage was when I accidentally hit the back button while typing the Escapist's code into my picture captions and lost the last half hour of work...
My one complaint is that it takes forever to level up and unlock any perks, or 'Specs'. New players are at a severe disadvantage to level 15 teams firing mortars on them and using red dot sights. But persevere and the game gets easier.
EDIT:
Having played for another few days, I have noticed the multiplayer game does have some hit detection issues. I thought I was imagining it but having seen a bunch of video evidence on Youtube I know now it is the case. This seems to be worse after the recent patch but will hopefully be resolved soon enough.
Overall Opinion:
I can honestly say, as a Battlefield virgin and with no bias, that this is the best multiplayer shooter I have played. It's like every frustration I've had with other shooters has been cut out and thrown away to leave an exciting, tactical, wonderfully immersive and compelling experience. The campaign is flawed but a fun ride, and at times it is sublime.
Verdict:
Buy (Rent if you just want it for single player)
Other Miracle's Whip reviews:
Bioshock 2
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.175856-Miracles-Whip-Bioshock-2#5002435
Batman: Arkham Asylum
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.180125-Miracles-Whip-Batman-Arkham-Asylum#5273691
Gamer
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182897-Miracles-Whip-Gamer