Reposting this from the other blog.:)
—
I used to be really good at first-person shooters – and by that, I mean the first-generation first person shooters of the early 90s with titles like Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Doom. But that was a younger me when I was quicker and more agile on the fingers. These days, my 18-19 year olds would easily give me a sound trashing if they ever got me into a counter-strike match – which also explains why I always politely decline any invites coming from them to join in a match.:)
That’s about the degree I got into Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on the PS3, the second title of the Battlefield: Bad Company series – that I was really surfing through the game as a “content tourist”, which is the game title’s equivalent of the easiest difficulty mode. This write-up is also then more a commentary than a critical review.
First-person shooters set in current times aren’t really very special anymore, and there’re even a couple of titles that have done games of this genre and type well, e.g. the two titles in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series. Nor are spectacular graphics and open world environments sufficient to make an FPS title stand out too much anymore.
But BC2 has two things in its corner: world destructibility, and the colorful cast of characters (your squadies) that debuted in the first title all return for this second outing. Most of what you see around you in BC2 can be brought down if you have sufficient firepower, and that adds a huge tactical dimension to the proceedings and how you get through each combat encounter. The fellow that’s parked himself on the top of that tower taking pot shots at you? You could snipe him back, or shoot an RPG into the support structure of that tower and bring the whole building down. The latter will require a bit more work, but the payout’s a lot more satisfying and visual too. This gameplay element works both ways too: protective obstacles that you seek cover behind are similarly no longer invulnerable and can be destroyed, which keeps you from getting too comfortable with any one single position.
But what really takes it in for me is the cast of characters. You’ve got a 44 year old Sergeant who’s leader of the squad and who’s one mission away from retirement, a demolitions expert who loves to watch stuff blow up but also has a thing for the Dallas cheerleaders, a bespectacled techno-geek who gets dumped into the special ops squad as he thought it’d be fun to upload viruses into military servers, and finally yourself – who used to be “the new guy” in the first title but now an accepted member of your squad. Many of the single campaign’s most memorable moments come not through its by-the-numbers story of a stolen super-weapon and the squad’s attempts to get it back, but through the banter between your squad mates.
Technically, while great visuals in FPSes are no longer as special they might had been before, BC2 is still a visual and audio powerhouse. The single-player campaign will see you traipsing through dessert, jungle, urban, rainforest open world environments. There’s even a mission onboard a huge cargo plane that’s reminiscent of the last special bonus mission from Call of Duty 4, and which ends with a stunning combat sequence that feels exactly like what you’ll see in a James Bond film (won’t spoil it for readers here though). The soundscape too also elevates the immersive experience up a notch. Bullets and gunfire sound factor in the environments you are operating in. For example, firefights in an enclosed room sounds very different from out in the open.
One of the most annoying bits of the first game have been exorcised in the second game too. I’m referring specifically to that segment in which you had to commandeer a Mil Mi-24 Hind helicopter gunship and fight in it at the same time. There’re still a couple of segments in BC2 where you’ll be operating out of choppers, but your role will be as gunners this time where you’ll be letting rip with those awesome gatling guns, and in another segment blowing vehicles and enemy troopers with cannon fire off a Hind chopper.
Minor gripe: repeated death animations. There’s this little sequence where the enemy fellow grips his throat as he collapses in agony. It’s fun the first time you see it, but it’s used a lot of times. And also that enemy character models are repeatedly used a lot in single-player campaign i.e. “Didn’t I just kill this guy 2 seconds ago…?!” Thankfully a lot of engagements and firefights occur occur at mid to long range especially when you’re equipped with sniper rifles as your secondary weapon. It’s not as bad as it might had been as you don’t see the enemy troopers and soldiers up close too often unless they’re just around the corner or charging at you.
Still, I had a blast playing the single-player campaign, and am going to redo the entire thing again on higher difficulty level modes in the next few days to come.:)
(Pictures from Gamespot)
Recent comments