Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Destructible Cover)

Playing through Battlefield: Bad Company 2 reminds me of a simpler time when playing a first person shooter didn't automatically mean you were going to play through a macho, testosterone laden affair. Don't get me wrong, for the most part, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a macho, testosterone laden affair, but it also adds into the mix a sense of humor.

Bad Company 2's story is about 75% military action combined with 25% humor. You take the role of a soldier in Company "B", a squad with an eclectic mix of misfits in the US Army. You're thrust into a conflict centering around a mysterious super-weapon that has origins in World War II. (No, it's not a nuke.) Along the way, you'll fight through a plethora of different environments, from snowy mountains to thick jungles and vast deserts.

By your side are your three fellow squad members, each with their own distinct personalities. However, their presence in the game feels very scripted. For the most part, the game is always directing you to push forward to whatever your next objective might be. However, I found out by accident that your squadmates will actually rattle off some pretty enjoyable lines of dialogue if you stand still and let them. While I think it's probably unrealistic for most of the dialogue to be said in the middle of a firefight, I wish some of that personality would have been more integrated into the campaign instead of compartmentalized into cutscenes and lulls in action (that really don't happen unless you actively choose not to move forward).

And speaking of unrealistic, why is it that I have to make every single kill? More often than not, your squadmates feel like they're there to put another body on the screen. They feel artificial and don't actually do anything to help you. I'm all for allowing the player to feel like they're in control, but when your squad will stand out in the open and continually take fire without taking out any enemies on their own, it takes me out of the game.

It's nearly impossible to review Bad Company 2 without mentioning Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. They're both military first person shooters that take place in a modern era. But where Bad Company 2 really differentiates itself from it's peers is the destructible environments and large number of vehicles. Taking cover in a house only to have the house collapse around you really forces you to change your strategy when playing the game, both in the single player campaign and multiplayer. It's amazing to see the level of destruction you can inflict on the world around you. The vehicles run the gamut from land-based tanks and ATVs to death-from-above helicopters and even the occasional boat or two.

Where most first person shooters focus their efforts is the multiplayer and Bad Company 2 is no exception. You can choose one of four different character classes (medic, assault, recon and engineer) and gain experience to unlock different weapons in each class. The focus here is on working together as a team. Each of the classes has their own specific role and without each role working together as a unit, the multiplayer becomes much more difficult. You can also ride shotgun (both figuratively and literally) in one of the vehicles spread throughout the maps. There are four multiplayer modes, Rush (where you attempt to destroy or defend certain objective points), Conquest (essentially capture the flag), Squad Deathmatch (a squad-based deathmatch pitting you against other squads) and Squad Rush (a squad-based, four-on-four version of Rush).

There are a lot of first person shooters out there and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 may, on the surface, seem similar to others in the genre. But the game adequately differentiates itself in a number of different areas. While it's not perfect, it's definitely something to play if you're looking for a little humor while you're trying to get your headshots.

Rating

That's not to say it's drastically different from the other first person shooters I've played. The core of the game is still like every other first person shooter I've played. But maybe it was the humor or maybe the vehicles that made me feel like this one was slightly different from the rest of the pack. It's still a "rent" in my eyes, mostly because I don't really see myself needing to own this game. But I think the fact that it does try to separate itself gives me hope for the genre.