Now, I know that this is just a demo, so it doesn’t really deserve a review, but it’s a pretty hyped-up game, so I figured I’d give it one anyway.
The demo hit the Playstation Network today, and I grabbed it as soon as I could. After the long download, and the short-but-seemingly-endless installation, I jumped right on in.
I’m actually playing as I type this up… Taking breaks in-between sentences. I can’t put this controller down.
Alright, match over. Time to take a break.
As you may know, a beta for this game hit PSN a while back. I participated in the beta, but only played one round and put it down because of how terrible the map was. I really didn’t like the map, and it ruined the beta for me.
Luckily, the demo has a much better map to play on, so I was able to give it a better shot.
One great thing I noticed right away was the simple system for the online play. I think one of the main reasons the Modern Warfare series is so successful is because of how straightforward and simple the online system is. There’s not much to figure out, and it’s easy to jump in and play.
Bad Company 2 matches the simplistic system, and it works out amazingly well. I was parachuting into the battlefield in a matter of seconds.
The graphics in this game are outstanding. I personally feel that they’re better than the graphics in Modern Warfare 2, especially the lighting. (Please excuse all the comparisons to MW2, but… Well, that will happen.)
One thing that I know is better is the sound design. The sounds in Bad Company 2 didn’t disappoint me… They were amazing in the first game, and they’ve gotten even better. All of the sounds are incredibly crisp and unique, and really help with the overall immersion of the gameplay.
Speaking of gameplay, you’ll be happy to know that it’s… Well, it’s great! Everything feels responsive, the controls are sometimes a bit irritating when you spend so much time play MW2, but not too difficult to get used to.
There’s a very nice feeling of satisfaction with just about any kill in this game. It takes more than it does to take someone down in MW2, and I feel very accomplished every time.
Now, I’m a sniper. I love sniping… It’s what I tend to stick with most of the time in first-person shooters. I’ve become so used to the sniping in MW2 that Bad Company 2’s sniping is just… Incredibly easy.
I haven’t decided yet whether that’s good or bad, but it’s definitely fun. This game takes out the realism of breath patterns and holding in your breath to get a good shot. It’s always just like your rifle’s being suspended perfectly in the air in front of you. It’s an incredibly steady shot. And while it is easier than in MW2, it’s still very satisfying to get a good headshot.
And if you don’t get a headshot? Say you shoot a guy in the chest, and he manages to get away. Some other guy comes up behind him and blows his brains out. Now, he had barely any health at that point… You did most of the work. In Modern Warfare 2, it doesn’t matter; you get a standard assist no matter what.
Now, this is something that I am loving about BC2… So far, I’ve come across two assist severities. That’s probably all there are, but I’m not sure. There’s a standard “Assist,” for which you get 10 points (a kill is 50), and a “Critical Assist,” which is when you do more damage to your enemy, resulting in you banking 30 points. While you still don’t get credit for the whole kill, you’re definitely treated better as an assist killer here, and it feels nice.
Speaking of things feeling nice, nothing feels better than blowing the cover from in front of an enemy. This game brings with it the brilliant destructible environments from the first iteration, and they feel even nicer.
I’ve seen several buildings actually collapse in on themselves entirely, swiss-cheese walls buckling under the pressure of the roof they’re supporting, and just giving way to the force of destruction. This was not possible in the first game, and it adds a whole new sense of realism and “Oh my god, that was awesome” moments to the game.
This game feels very polished. I’m enjoying the demo so much that at this point, after spending less than a day with it, I know for sure that this is a must-have game of 2010 for any first-person shooter fans. How it stands up to MW2? It’s too early to tell right now, but it’s looking good. And this is coming from a huge Modern Warfare fan.
To sum this review up, I’ve gotten several messages from friends of mine on the Playstation Network, asking “Is it good?”, as they see that I’m playing the demo. I’ve replied to every one with “Dude, amazing.”
Download. This. Demo.
I’m not going to give this game a score out of ten yet, because… Well, this is just a demo, and I don’t want to be mistaken as judging the entirety of the game. But I will tell you again and again that this game is a freaking blast. This is worth your time.
Battlefield Bad Company 2 is due to be released on March 2nd. Pre-order your copy today, I know I did.
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30 Responses
My two cents: I’m not a fan of it. There are some elements that I love in it, but too many that I don’t like. First, the character movements are bizarre. The left analog stick doesn’t move your character (much) left to right like most FPS games. To move left, you have to turn to the left and run forward. Because of this, there is almost no lateral movement. I’m fine with game developers trying to put the axe on strafing movements, but there are better ways to go about it. With this set-up, they might as well just use one joystick and nix the other. Furthermore, I feel like this is going to encourage camping. I stopped playing MW2 because the camping drove me up the wall. There are some framerate/tearing issues. If you go sideways through some doorways, the walls pop in and out and it’s difficult to tell if you’re in the building or outside the building. Often times when you die, there is no floor – it turns invisible. I don’t know if they did that on purpose for style effect or not. On the particular map they’ve let us play in the demo, there is not enough cover. Since you can blow most of it up, the map will just turn into an empty field with a crater in the center. I’m all for blowing things up, but it was a lot more fun and a lot more creative/useful in Red Faction: Guerrilla. That said, the shooting mechanics are nice. The aim-assist isn’t so friendly that it does 90% of the aiming for you (MW2 anyone?) so it requires some skill. What the reviewer said, there is satisfaction in a kill. The variance of assist kills are also very nice. In the end, I don’t think I’ll buy this game. I don’t agree with the reviewer that it’s polished. There are far too many oddities that are driving me away from it.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 1:04 am
As a sniper build player, I must agree with the article: sniping is far too easy – even with a very low rate of fire like the m24 that is initially available. Without some adjustment i can see all the infantry fights becoming some sort of sniper slugfest. BobDylanRH is right about character movements. While "right" and allowing incredible player movement animation, I feel too shackled playing.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 6:50 am
I’m pretty sure in the 360 version of the demo, voice chat was not yet enabled. I would assume it’s the same here, but i haven’t played it yet, just downloaded it last night for the ps3.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 7:52 am
Played the demo and the map blows away MW2. Rich detailed graphics, vehicles to interact with and space to move. Weapons systems are tight and no automatic kills, you need to demonstrate some skill, which makes it feel more accomplished for the shooter. BFBC2 is solid and looks like a hit. I say this after playing 8 days of MW2.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 7:55 am
its nice that we can finnaly drive some tanks, helicopters, UAVs, and four wheels, thats the one thing i really liked that MW2 dosent have also, teams dont seem to work when you invite, invites dont work at all for me
im not a sniper, i really enjoy the engineer class
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Two things I noticed: 1) sniper while zoomed view movement is unbelievably slow 2) death cam clips and the view drops below the terrain. Otherwise I really did enjoy the experience.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 9:39 am
Engy was what I played too, tank killing ftw
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Did you play the beta? I ask because in one day it’s hard to get to grips with everything in this game, so if you’ve only played since yesterday I have to take some of what you say with a grain of salt. For one the cover: there’s so many places to hide it’s obscene. Every single tree or bush serves as camouflage. I only played a couple of rounds on this demo map but even then I had no trouble hiding and watching enemies run right past me because the camo works so well. Your gripes about the controls also sound like they’re more due to a lack of familiarity than an outright problem with the controls. I agree they’re not perfect, but I see the flaws in vehicle controls, not player (because I’m so used to it). The lack of prominent strafe isn’t something I ever noticed, because the game isn’t made to use it. All that said, anyone who’s played the BF series knows it’s a bug infested game every single time. The gameplay is good enough for most to deal with it, though.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Ya, voice chat works in the PS3 demo, but you can only communicate with the others in your squad.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 10:16 am
good to know
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 10:27 am
After reading a couple negative reviews about this game I should expand my initial review. If your looking for another MW2 this is not it. This game is going to be more tactical, require more team work and patience. Yes, I want my FPS to be fun too. More importantly I want to enjoy the idea that I have the option of rushing an inexperienced team of players or slowing down across the battle field as I approach a more experienced team. This game will either bring out the best or worst in any FPS player depending on how you look at it. With different load outs just make sure you pick the one that best suits your game style. Yes, I will miss the prone position like most military styled games have but you just have to make a positive from a negative. There will be alot less camping than MW2 , you will be forced to shoot , move and communicate. Not let your team get to close or to spread out. You will have to use cover and concealment or most certainly die quick. It will be a slower pace than MW2 but still plenty fast enough for most gamers. These maps are large and mission / objective oriented. You camp on these maps and you will either die or get left behind. You choose. I can find plenty of faults with MW2 but I still enjoy the game and look forward to refinements on the next release. BFBC2 will also have its detractors and supporters. I hardly think a game can be judged just on its Demo Release. And I think you are either going to accept what this style of play brings to the table or just keep playing MW2 until its next release.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Sniper view movement while zoomed in is slow in MOST first-person shooters, including MW2. I’ve never had much of a problem with it… You get used to it. As for the death cam clips dropping below the terrain… I haven’t noticed that. Weird bug, that.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
i’ll throw my 2 cents down, after reading others.. I found this to be extremely polished. after burrying my head in MAG the last week, the sounds in this game are off the chain! did anyone hop in the 4 wheel and honk the horn? it does seem like an upgraded in every since of the word, more polished BC1. however my only problem is the addiction of team work that i’ve come to love about MAG. I know they didn’t have voicechat turned on, but if it plays anything like the first (and it appears that it will) most people will end up just farming for kills/sniping. and little teamwork will be actually going on. maybe i’m just spoiled now, but there is nothing like having 8 guys all with headsets calling out where enemies are and getting shit done. if you could blend the two worlds together bc/mag i think we’d have a near perfect shooter.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
I have to say that I am glad they released the demo because I am now certain that I will be buying MAG instead. I am not saying that BFBC2 is a bad game, and maybe it is just because of the shitty snow map, but I find MAG to be way more interactive and realistic. I think the perk/skill tree is way more interesting in MAG and I feel like the environments are more battlefield like. I really appreciate the fact that you can lay down in MAG and that you can actually USE your bipod. I also found the controls in MAG to be way more user friendly. I was really looking forward to the demo, REALLY REALLY, but it kinda disappointed me because besides the minor upscale in graphics, it just feels like I’m playing BC1. Just my 2 cents.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Plus the amazing leveling / unlock system in MW2. THAT would make the perfect shooter.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
Yeah unrealistic perks would make BF better… It’s suppose to mimic real life not give super powers.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
I agree I put a lot of hours into the PS3 beta. The controls do take some time to get used to but the game is much better than any previous battle field or COD.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Touché.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
I gotta second this, wish they’d demoed a different map. The graphics don’t seem as good as BC1, and it looks like the map was done as a cut and paste from previous BC1 maps, and played backwards. What’s with still no longer being able do go prone? Thanks for making sniping a LITTLE more realistic though.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
i really really like the respec system in MAG, i just which i could do it more often, but that i guess is something to work for. Right now i just respec’d my second time now i must spend the next 6000 points as a sniper specific class till i can respec again. but oh well, it’s fun!
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
I’m gonna have to pick up MAG sometime… I know nothing about what any of that means. I played the beta for a bit, but the system was a bit too confusing for me, so I decided to hold off for the retail version and the tutorial.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
i have been playing the game like hell since this demo came out, felt very satisfied once I got to rank 2 and all the weapon unlocks. one gripe is how shitty the engineers gun is… I love …LOVE the C4 that the sniper gets… it gets me wanting to get up close and personal w/ the tanks and blow the shit outta them hahaha. good game, cant wait till it comes out.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 9:07 pm
After playing a few battles yesterday I am enjoying this more than I have MW2 to date. But I’m not a huge shooter guy either way.
Posted on February 6th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
it would really help to have a mic, and find a squad that is talking/knows what’s up. ask them to join you to there group.
Posted on February 6th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Well, I heard there’s a pretty good tutorial with the retail version, so I’ll check that out before anything
Posted on February 6th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Finally? Battlefield games have been doing vehicles for the past decade or so. The only problem was that they had a tendency to be radically overpowered and utterly destroyed the purpose of infantry combat. Luckily they’ve found a good balance in BC2.
Posted on February 6th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
>sniper while zoomed view movement is unbelievably slow In real life walking would completely de-align both your sniper cross-hairs so you would not even be able to shoot. So yeah, be glad you can shoot while moving.
Posted on February 11th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Im not talking about walking while scope, im talking about looking around
Posted on February 12th, 2010 at 9:06 am
Oh, I didn’t notice it being slow at all, infact when I snipe I pressed the button on my mouse to make it move even slower.
Posted on February 12th, 2010 at 11:21 am
Good demo review, thanks for posting. If you get time, could you post a bit more info about weapons and vehicles, ie, types, feel etc. Thanks again
Posted on February 19th, 2010 at 4:17 am
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