By Phill Cameron on February 3rd, 2010 at 10:55 am.
The true casualty of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 isn’t the hundreds of soldiers who die each round, or even the dozens of vehicles that lie strewn across the battlefield, slowly reduced to scrap and rubble by continued ordnance as they’re used as cover by desperate marines. The true casualty is the scenery. You’re presented with a pristine (or mostly pristine) landscape that is about to become a battlefield. The soldiers are like a horde of locusts, sweeping through for their conflict, leaving the entire place ravaged and skeletal, each building a carcass stripped of all its outer walls, and most its inner, until it’s little more than a few support columns and what remains of a roof. Bad Company 2 is devastation: arbitrary and completely unhindered.
There’s an inherent lack of fairness in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 that reeks of realism. There are dozens of ways someone else has an advantage over you, and almost all of them can and will happen, to the extent where just picking where to spawn is a delicate risk assessment venture. The adage ‘Life’s not fair’ may seem cheesy, but when applied to a battlefield, it becomes a little more pertinent.
But that’s ok. Yes, there is an almost laughable amount of different ways someone else can kill you with little to no chance on your part to counter them, but the flipside of that is that you’re also a person, and so you can do just as many dickish things to them. And we all know that being a dick is superfun.
Let me tell you about my favourite way to be a dick. It’s completely passive, and means I get the rest of my team to be dicks on my behalf, but that’s just fine with me, because they’re the ones getting shot at. It involves me finding the safest high place I can, and then slowly sweeping my sights over the battlefield, picking out enemy players and pressing ‘Q’. This puts a little marker over their heads for about twenty seconds. Well, that’s twenty seconds if they survive that long.
Playing as a spotter makes you suddenly feel invaluable to your team. Mark a tank and all the engineers whip out their anti-tank launchers and take it out. Mark a sniper and all your snipers start taking pot shots. And marking the other soldiers just gets everyone to dick on them.
The other benefit of it is that it provides order in the chaos of the battlefield. As anyone who has played a Battlefield game before will know, things get, to put it mildly, frenetic. Grenades are exploding, tanks are rolling past, and thousands of rounds of ammunition are sailing through the sky, just waiting to plunge into a soft, fleshy target. And, with DICE’s Frostbite engine, that chaos is elevated to a whole new level of crazy. Buildings explode, craters litter the ground, and the cover you’re cowering behind is only a second away from becoming an impromptu shrapnel grenade. And, y’know, not cover any more.
For a beta, Bad Company 2 seems to be on the near side of polished, and while there are a few latent lag issues and the odd bug relating to key inputs, it seems to be more there to provide information on balancing, to make the whole thing more streamlined and.. well, balanced, when it comes out in March. Thing is, there’s a certain level of imbalance that seems a requisite for a game like this. It’s trying to provide the feeling of being part of an army, holding a front against the enemy and defending or attacking a position. And really, I don’t think there’s ever been a single instance of two armies being evenly matched. One might have numbers, but the other skill, and with the level that’s been provided for the Beta, such asymmetrical concepts have been introduced with the vehicles that are provided.
Featuring a game mode called ‘Rush’, which involves one team attacking while the other defends a pair of points that have to be bombed before the attackers can advance to the next pair of points, the snowy strip that provides the battlefield quickly devolves into a mess of ramshackle buildings, yawing with gaping artillery cavities and rubble-strewn wounds, what once were walls now just a bigger doorway. It’s out of this that the real joy of Bad Company 2 emanates.
It can only really happen in the multiplayer space. There’s an emergent narrative that slowly builds in each match that is almost the sole reason for continued play. Sure, there’s a ranking system and unlocks, but this is where the real meat of the game lies. It’s the time you and your squad huddled behind the burning wreckage of a tank, gunning down enemies as they run in to take you out. It’s the time you managed to get past the enemy defences unnoticed, and stabbed and shot your way through a group of snipers nesting in the upper levels of a half-built house. Or it’s the time you found an enemy sniper in a building across the street, and then when you went over to deal with him, found him gone, and in the building you just vacated. You head over, a frantic pistol duel ensues, and while he reloads you stab him in the throat. Man, that was satisfying.
These aren’t new stories. Well, they are, but the platform providing them isn’t. Really, the huge, glaring, attention-seeking part of Bad Company 2 is that this is the first time Frostbite has made it to our PCs. And it’s been worth the wait, really. It provides an extra layer of verisimilitude that makes it all the easier to slip into the role of the soldier and start swearing over the gunfire as an RPG just whistles past your head. Blind siding a gun emplacement by blowing out the flanking wall just feels right, in a way that wasn’t possible before. The way the ground deforms under artillery and heavy weapons looks damn-near perfect, and having a mounted gun suddenly notice you in a forest and open fire, only to cut down half the trees around you is one of the most exhilarating, and terrifying, experiences I’ve had in a while.
03/02/2010 at 11:11 kyrieee says:
Wish I could get a key
Is it true the FoV is locked to 60? And is there an option to turn off the ‘tunnel vision’ black shading in the screen corners?
03/02/2010 at 11:40 D says:
I don’t think its as low as 60. Maybe 75-85, which is around where you don’t really notice it, but occationally you’ll feel like you should’ve seen that guy who just sneaked past and knifed you. Its not bad and has caused no headaches for me, even after many.. many.. hours.
03/02/2010 at 12:01 Aftershock says:
Yes, FOV is indeed locked by resolution at the moment, however DICE have stated that in the full game it WILL be customisable.
This is a ridiculously fun game. Play it.
03/02/2010 at 11:12 Scalene says:
Man, your impressions piece is making me seriously consider purchasing Bad Company 2, despite the price. Seems a different game to Modern Warfare 2…
Plus, I love explosions.
Is there any reason I shouldn’t get it?
03/02/2010 at 11:16 Miles of the Machination says:
Well, the beta has been pretty damn impressive. But I doubt that the campaign is going to be a literary masterpiece, if that’s what you’re looking for.
03/02/2010 at 11:54 Scalene says:
I don’t give a damn about the campaign, since it this case, I’m more interested in the multiplayer…
But it’s fun? High-quality? You know, not bad? RPS don’t seem to mind it, so I guess I’m purchasing it.
03/02/2010 at 11:14 Miles of the Machination says:
I’d definitely agree with the mentality you adopt in these games, Bad Company 2 in particular. The problem is that so often the game will disintegrate into an every man for himself scenario, irrespective of the imposing squad system. However, when you do get into good group of people, these scenarios are unforgettable.
03/02/2010 at 11:22 Larington says:
Hmm, I feel the need to say how much I hate it when people try jumping and firing at the same time in an FPS. It looks stupid and by all rights it should be suicidal due to loss of accuracy/aim mid jump.
03/02/2010 at 11:24 jon_hill987 says:
60? If that is true I won’t be playing it, I need 110 as I have a 16:9 monitor. UT3 is bad enough and that goes up to 100, but 60? What are they thinking?
03/02/2010 at 11:25 jon_hill987 says:
Reply fail. That was aimed at kyrieee.
03/02/2010 at 11:28 MisterX says:
Aye a good squad makes the difference,
AS much as I love MW2 i think the only thing it lacks is an incentive to play as a squad.
Not a deal breaker, just makes it a different experience i guess.
03/02/2010 at 11:30 DiGi says:
You can’t lie down, you can’t rebind Enter key, you can’t change direction of mouse wheel…
03/02/2010 at 11:58 D says:
Enemies take almost a whole clip to go down (sidearm usage is win). Its too easy to destroy the objective stations with C4. Sniper ghilly suits don’t differ between the teams. There are several cliffs you can run up to circumvent chokepoints of the map. Noone in vehicles ever shoot at the goddamn chopper. The voiceovers for the russian team are in russian, so calling out for ammo does little. Noone ever gives you ammo when you need it. Hit detection is occationally iffy, especially with a little lag. I have a suspicion that the server browser halves the actual ping and calls it “latency” instead. And there is too little time to exchange “gg”s between matches (the beta screen comes up). None of these points deter from the enjoyment of the action.
03/02/2010 at 14:16 Toby says:
Complete agreement with everything D said. The hit detection and amount it takes to put people down are definitely my most major grumbles (check youtube for some amusing videos where a gent takes 4 shots to the head before finally succumbing) but there’s to be a hardcore mode a la COD4/6 so I think that’s where I’ll be spending my time. When the game is good, it’s knee-rubbingly, creepy-paedo-gurnin’ good. And I thought the SP trailer was actually rather nice… good editing, anyhoo.
03/02/2010 at 16:15 Howl says:
The sniper outfits are different. One’s been working on old Christmas trees and one’s gone down the paper shredder.
03/02/2010 at 17:14 Jad says:
The voiceovers for the russian team are in russian, so calling out for ammo does little.
I don’t know, that sound kinda cool. I imagine you’ll get used to it. Day of Defeat used to have the selectable dialog shout in German for the Axis side, which means that my personal German vocabulary is: “Hello”, “Thank you”, “Sniper!” and “Medic!”.
03/02/2010 at 22:34 Inanimotioon says:
There is an option labled “Invent Mouse Wheel” dumbass.
04/02/2010 at 06:40 MD says:
@ Inanimotioon:
Sheesh, they didn’t have to go that far. Customizable controls are commonplace, there’s no need to re-invent the wheel here.
04/02/2010 at 06:40 MD says:
And yes, I *will* be here all week, thanks for asking.
04/02/2010 at 07:17 D says:
@Jad I should clarify. The final game will have voiceover localization, as theres an option for it, but not in the beta. The problem with the Russian voiceovers is that they are as complex and differing as the English ones. In other games, calling out for a medic will of course play the “Medic!” sound clip, which makes it easy to learn the single words, but in BFBC2 it can be many sentences, and as such will never really teach you anything. It’s actually one of the biggest strengths of the game IMO, the way the battlefield sounds with people saying all sorts of non repetitive lines, about things that concern the situation. I hope they eventually include subtitles, so that we can enjoy both the russian speech and knowing what the hell is going on.
03/02/2010 at 11:31 Sp4rkR4t says:
The beta has impressed me massively, and the game does a good job of stopping the game decending into a every man for himself frag fest through it’s intelligent use of the fog of war, etc. I was hoping this would make me love Battlefield all over again since I can’t stand MW2 and it has. It’s the first online FPS I can see myself putting major time into since UT2004 and the original Desert Combat mod for BF1942.
03/02/2010 at 17:51 Heliosicle says:
damn that mod was brillaint…
03/02/2010 at 11:31 Turin Turambar says:
I am liking it… there are great inmersirve and war-lie moments, but it could be better.
Levels are too narrow (even if i like the defense / attack focus, instead of the chaotic flags nonsense of previous BF), weapons feels random and arbitrary with a too big cone of fire, fov could be a bit wider, and the game needs another cycle of optimizations (way too cpu-bound), the netcode/prediction system is sometimes mediocre, and the server browser is only half done (slow, few filters, no sort feature).
03/02/2010 at 11:58 Psychopomp says:
The cone of fire is actually fairly realistic, the big problem seems to be hit detection. Trying to snipe a still target only seems to hit about 50% of the time, and if they’re behind a lot of cover it’s pretty much hopeless.
03/02/2010 at 12:31 The Poisoned Sponge says:
Just a word on the sniper rifle: As the loading screens constantly assure you, gravity has an effect on bullets, meaning sniping often means aiming above your targets, and also leading those who are running. And, depending on your specific sniper rifle, you might have higher velocity rounds than others. Took me quite a bit of trial and error, but I managed to figure out where to aim, most of the time, after a while.
03/02/2010 at 12:32 HidesHisEyes says:
“chaotic flag nonsense”?
You’re complaining that the team actually has to co-ordinate itself?
03/02/2010 at 13:24 Jesus says:
“Chaotic flag nonsense” will return in the full game, and is the reason I’ll be getting this game.
03/02/2010 at 13:43 Turin Turambar says:
Psychopomp, the cone of fire is in now way realistic. Sometimes your weapon is moving slightly (firing in ironsights mode, crouched) while you are firing, and you barely damage the enemy. Why? Because the cone of fire is bigger than the weapon animation/visible recoil indicates.
And the mere idea of cone of fire is irrealistic, of course. IRLbullets are very predictable objects, they always follow the barrel direction. The little problem is how much the barrel moves when you fire.
03/02/2010 at 11:36 Sharpblue says:
Ive been playing in the beta and i absolutely love it. It feels like the proper battlefield game we’ve been waiting for all these years. Dont care for the single player campaign, i am purely buying it for the MP but if the SP turns out to be half decent it would be an added bonus.
Loving the new rush mode as well, fits really well with the battlefield mechanics. Also the sound is outstanding! especially if you have a decent system to play it through =)
03/02/2010 at 11:37 Clink says:
Steam allows you to cancel any pre orders before their release date. Buy BC2, check out the beta. If you dont dig it then cancel.
Link to their policy: http://supportwiki.steampowered.com/wiki/Steam_Refund_Policy
03/02/2010 at 11:38 Mike says:
The scoring system is extremely elegant – Phil’s role as a spotter doesn’t just give him a kick, it gives him a way to earn points as much as a sniper or medic might. Spot someone and get them killed, and that’s worth two-fifths of killing them yourself. Heal a friendly, and gain some points, but heal your squad and gain double – an instant incentive to stay in tightly-knit teams.
This is the first game I’ve played with anything approaching destructible buildings; I never, for instance, played Red Faction: Guerilla when it came out. but it’s startling what it does to a game like battlefield – cover that provided safety three minutes ago suddenly isn’t there when you’re running away from heavy fire.
It has many flaws, and is oversimplified in some places. But like all the Battlefields before it, it knows exactly what it wants to do, and this time it really achieves it spectacularly. Very excited for its release.
03/02/2010 at 11:41 Mike says:
Incidentally, things we know will be fixed post-beta:
FOV issues – it’ll probably be variable.
Sniper scope fuzziness/shakiness will be toned down (it’s there for effect, mind).
Server browser is running a six-week old version in the beta.
03/02/2010 at 11:43 Quercus says:
It is a fantasic experience.
You can’t currently change the FoV but DICE have said this is likely to be possible in the retail version.
Yes, there is no prone but that just requires a certain mental adjustment and really does not spoil the enjoyment of the game for anyone but the most campy snipers.
03/02/2010 at 11:53 SirWhat says:
since im a rabid fanboy of bf all i can say is… MY GOD ITS FULL OF STARS.
allrigth allright, on a bit more serious note, yes server browser is amazingly badly done (i cant stop search? why? i could do that in bf2). yes, with bad teams it can deteriorate in sniperfest. and i still have that bug when tank explosion kicks you out to desktop. but action is spectacular, sound is amazing and gameplay beats any military fps that is out there.
its like few dents in otherwise perfectly good sports car.
03/02/2010 at 15:35 Arathain says:
A tank can blast you all the way out of the program? That sounds deeply annoying, yet somehow hilarious.
03/02/2010 at 11:55 Schmung says:
I really did not enjoy the demo I played. It just seemed very mushy and imprecise when compared with MW2′s multiplayer. The vids made it look very weighty and satisfying as far as infantry combat went, but I just didn’t find that to be the case when I played. Maybe I need to give it another chance.
03/02/2010 at 12:32 Mashakosha says:
You really should. I wanted t enjoy it, I really did, but something wasn’t right. Just played again this morning and it was one of the most enjoyable multiplayer experiences I’ve had in a while. You can’t really compare it to MW2 because it’s an entirely different game. While MW2 focuses on a fairly small scale skirmish, BFBC2 wants to give you a whole huge battlefield.
The other things is the physics in it. You may have seen the tip about it or you may not, but the bullets, shells and such, each and every one of them, is affected by gravity, which is impressive if you think about it. You have to think your shots through if you’re further away from the enemy. Part of why I didn’t bother with sniping.
03/02/2010 at 11:56 Brumisator says:
Meh, I’m thinking about getting a refund for my preorder, BC2 is terribly boring to me.
03/02/2010 at 12:02 Lord Bigglesworth says:
Looks nice but they could add more realism into B-BC2, like Red Orchestra has.
03/02/2010 at 12:16 D says:
As a RO vet, I first had to get used to pumping enemies full of bullets. Even with a sniper rifle, it’s two body hits to get someone down. Its only when you’re on the receiving end of those bullets you begin to understand the sense of it. The game is often very punishing if you let someone get the drop on you, but you have a small chance to get away. I’ll be happy to wait for RO2 for my upgraded one shot kill needs. Besides, to imagine RO with the amount of explosions that happen in BC2? Spawn die repeat.
03/02/2010 at 12:32 Flaringo says:
I definitely agree with what D says. Killing someone with one perfect shot can be cool, but in a game like that chances are you’re going to get hit and die from random bullets meant for someone else, without having a chance to get away.
03/02/2010 at 13:08 Clink says:
Theres a hardcore mode. Ups bullet damage, no minimap, no kill cam, etc.
Because the server browser sucks balls you hafta just skim thru the servers. They’ll have a **HARDCO
and the browser cuts off the rest. Pretty to easy to notice since its on the far right of the server name tho.
03/02/2010 at 14:44 Nickiepoo says:
I love RO and can’t wait for the next one, but I have to say that I don’t think that many of it’s elements would translate well to what BC2 is trying to do.
03/02/2010 at 12:14 Ashley says:
It is a big improvement over BC 1. A very big improvement.
The full destruction is awesome. Guns feel good.
People that complain about hit detection or guns feeling mushy are probably used to MW2. The guns in this game have to be used right. You have to fire in bursts, the recoil is quite severe. You cant just get the cross hair on them and hold down fire.
Once you master the assault rifles you can down people from distance with a couple of bursts.
03/02/2010 at 12:29 Psychopomp says:
I hate MW2, especially its ballistics model, if you can call it that. Guns with zero recoil, almost no cone, AND drop you in two hits? Yeah, no thanks.
Shooting a stationary target at short range in BC2 can be a matter of luck at (admittedly rare) times.
03/02/2010 at 12:22 Web Cole says:
Hmm, I think I’ll stick with PR… for now.
03/02/2010 at 12:24 Metalfish says:
Ha, I remember playing BC1 on my 360, distinctly thinking “the PC guys are missing out here, the tactical possibilities of the destruction alone would get them into a lather.”
Also played the 360 demo of this. No one gives a damn that you can go prone. Literally no one at all is complaining about the FoV. People think the sniper rifle is pin point accurate.
I’m amazed at the difference in mind-set between two different groups of people playing more or less the same game.
03/02/2010 at 17:16 DJ Phantoon says:
@ Metalfish
Keep in mind these are the same people that think Halo was any good.
03/02/2010 at 18:38 Shalrath says:
These are also the same people sniping with a JOYSTICK.
03/02/2010 at 23:05 Metalfish says:
/looks at replies
Pfft, PC gamers aren’t just elitist pricks then? Haha!
03/02/2010 at 12:29 Flaringo says:
I love this game. I love it so much I’ve stopped playing it so I can enjoy it fully when it comes out.
It’s brilliant! So many awesome moments! :D
Within the first 15 minutes of playing it, something happend that made me say “holy shit” out loud. Usually in games — when I’m playing by myself — I just think it. This time I said it. That is like a motherfucking seal of approval.
03/02/2010 at 12:31 Megamaj says:
How does it compare to BF2 in terms of classes and vehicles? What I liked most about BF2 was the rock-paper-scissors approach – as infantry, get eaten by any vehicle, as earth-bound vehicle get eaten by anything flying, as chopper get eaten by a fighter airplane. All the moments of greatness were when you were able to beat the odds and take out a tank single-handledly (as one AT soldier), or gun down a jet or chopper … :)
Doesn’t look like BC2 has that much vehicles?
03/02/2010 at 12:41 PhiIl Cameron says:
There are vehicles (in the beta alone there is two different light tanks, one heavy, an attack chopper, a black hawk, and a UAV), but they’re very much a rare occurance, and usually there’s little more than one per side at a time. I suppose one way to look at them would be to look at them as a sort of mini-boss. Most of the action is taking place between infantrymen, and it’s there where the rock, paper, scissors takes place, but in a wholly contextual form; snipers win at long range, medics have the raw firepower (they’ve got a support class wrapped up in them) of close range, and engineer/assault occupy the middle space.
03/02/2010 at 12:41 Flaringo says:
Megamaj: I’d say the same rock-paper-scissors “balance” is there. Me and my friend used to roll around in a tank alot. We’d sit back and annihilate infantry, pull back and repair from the odd rocket that hit us; but once we got into the later stages of the game where the opposition gets a helicopter, we were in big trouble. It does not go down easily from the mounted machine gun on the tank, and hitting it with the turret is a nightmare. There are of course AA vehicles in the game, but they usually don’t stand a chance againts tanks.
With that said, it’s far from impossible to take out a tank as a soldier. A C4 in the right spot, or some rockets from an RPG or the equivalent will take it out quickly. Or a crazed engineer with a drill in his hand.
Me and my friend had a pretty awesome moment. This tank was taking out our dudes, so we decided to get in an ATV (quad bike thing). When there’s 2 people on the ATV, you sit back to back, so the person that isn’t driving can shoot shit behind the ATV; he can also throw grenades and lay down C4 packs. So we bravely zig zagged towards the tank, turned and got in behind it, then my friend dropped the C4, hit the detonate button and boom! Dead tank! :D
03/02/2010 at 12:34 Ashley says:
Players can take a lot of damage for a reason, like 2 sniper body shots.
With the amount of action going on, and the distance from which you can be shot, it would be a total nightmare if you got killed with a couple of bullets like in MW2. No one would move out of cover for fear of dying.
Its worth noting that it was even more extreme in BC1, it took so many bullets to kill people.
Now its a happy middle ground between COD style damage and BC1 damage.
03/02/2010 at 12:35 Dominic White says:
Complaining that it takes more than a couple of hits is daft. I’ve never undestood the appeal of ‘realistic’ twitch shooters where fights are simply decided by who gets the other guy in their crosshairs quicker and clicks the mouse once. And I say this as someone who loves ArmA2, because it’s not reactions and head-clicking that win the day, but planning and positioning.
Give me a chance to react to enemy fire and suddenly the combat becomes deeper and more satisfying for everyone, except for possibly the sniper who wants to play as the Omnipotent Mouse Cursor of Death.
03/02/2010 at 12:40 Hmm-Hmm. says:
I’d probably like to try it out, but if I can’t I won’t buy it. I’m not going to preorder just to play a beta.. even though you can cancel it. Maybe some eplanation is in order: this is not as much my type of game as, say, Dragon Age is. Which means I may like the game but I’m not going through lengths to find out what the game is like. It also means I won’t feel I’m missing out if I don’t get the game.
03/02/2010 at 12:42 Ashley says:
@Megamaj
The classes are less distinct now. They can be customised, so a scout could carry a shotgun and C4 !
There are more options than in BF2 (though I haven’t played BF2 in many years so I could be forgetting stuff)
I think BC has less vehicles, maybe. There are more ways of taking them out now, like the UAV things, C4, Mortar Strikes, RPG’s etc
It is a lot more hectic and focused than BF2, probably due to the nature of the rush game mode. Keeps the action focused.
03/02/2010 at 12:43 Spandex says:
Not too bothered by the univertable mouse wheel, but the more annoying thing is that the weapon list isnt on a loop, i.e. you cant scroll past item 1 to get to item 4. Means you get stuck on pistols/health kit (as medic) too easily. I’ve switched to hitting the number keys.
Also they need to make it more obvious that you are fully healed, I like the lack of a health bar, but not knowing you are 100% ok to go you dont know how long to sit on a health pack. A more obvious resupply noise would be nice, although I like the flashing ammo counter when you are being resupplied.
/2 cents
//Have a few more
//Love the stab animation, though dont play it if I’m not going to kill them, grr
03/02/2010 at 13:28 D says:
I thought there was an option in the settings specifically to invert the mouse wheel? I laughed a bit at that. Ofcourse only until I found out the mouse wheel is unbindable.
03/02/2010 at 14:41 Spandex says:
Yea there is, but it seems to me to be broken.
03/02/2010 at 12:55 XM says:
I’m finding the Beta a lot of fun. Things are not 100% but for a beta it’s almost good for retail. Team work is needed so that’s why there’s no leader board at the end. Just a simple video of you won or lost and that’s all you need to know
Roll on March.
PS I’m not typing it all again thanks to the CAPTCHA so this is the short version.
03/02/2010 at 13:02 Gwyd says:
Be warned if you’re not running a quad core set up with a relatively modern gfx card you’ll be playing this game at 18-20 fps or less, considering that this is a almost a direct console port from the xbox it’s currently horribly un-optimised.
The current field of view is restrictive but they say that they will open it up a little on release, with the destructible sentry the lack of prone is noticeable and slightly annoying. As other have said the hit detection is all over the place, if you want to hit anything at close range use a pistol or shot gun.
Also they’re removed the combat rosette, instead you press Q when sighting an enemy to spot them, Q when looking at a medic call for health, Q at an assault for ammo….why the hell!!
03/02/2010 at 13:39 Turin Turambar says:
I am playing at 30 fps with a Dual Core. 18-20 fps is an exaggeration.
03/02/2010 at 13:10 Senethro says:
I know the bullets are affected by bullet drop, but are the bullets hitscans or projectiles?
03/02/2010 at 13:53 Psychopomp says:
Projectiles
03/02/2010 at 13:35 Attrition says:
The beta has a locked FOV, but they’ve stated it will be customizable before/at retail.
03/02/2010 at 14:23 DrGonzo says:
Pre-ordered this off Amazon.co.uk. I’m guessing no beta for me then! Anyone know if I cancel it, will I get a refund on a gift certificate?
03/02/2010 at 14:30 ikigod says:
I love love love this! Have enjoyed all of the Battlefield series to date (even 2142) but the frantic energy of this is addictive. I bought this through Steam, and despite it originally bombing to desktop as it loaded (fixed by using the beta steam client), and the issues with the server screen, it is wonderful.
I have had so many moments of awesome but 2 spring to mind. The first was actually managing to get a headshot on the pilot of one of the blackhawks through the windscreen with a sniper rifle (something you were always supposed to be able to do, but it never worked for me), the second was last night blowing up a tank in the middle of a firefight to ‘EPIC FAIL’ flashing up on screen with a bunch of little medals :) Fun!
I’m excited for March!
03/02/2010 at 14:32 Mad Doc MacRae says:
Any ideas on where I can go get a key?
03/02/2010 at 14:36 DrGonzo says:
List of places to get the Beta -
http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2010/01/22/update-bfbc2-pc-beta-update-fr-229-n-dice.aspx
03/02/2010 at 14:37 ikigod says:
You get beta access when you purchase it from Steam, but I think on the actual Bad Company site they list a couple of retailers which also provide you with the key needed.
03/02/2010 at 14:37 Dave says:
I’ve owned every single BF game since the first, and after i got bored in BF2 i started on BF2: Project Reality, Americas Army, ArmA, OpFlash2 etc. Nothing quite got me excited like BF2 did though. MW2 was damned fun, but somehow vapid and disposable.
Having played the BFBC2 beta, I couldn’t be more glad that i stumped up the cash for it. Its fast, its more arcadey than BF2 and its nothing like the 1-bullet-death pedantry that I became adicted to in AA, but its so much fun it should be illegal.
Yes the beta is buggy, yes there are balance issues, but theres so much latent potential that beyond its flaws i think the final game will be pure, undiluted awesome, in thick stodgy clumps in my pants.
03/02/2010 at 14:54 FreakinSyco says:
Probably my favorite part of the game is the destruction. Its one of those features that needs to be in every game from now on.
I go from sniping in a building, moving foward, then dieing. Respawn, go back to the building… and its… gone. Simply blow down to itty bitty bits. Fantastic.
One game we defended the front pair of bases the whole game. By the end of the game there was nothing to hide behind. Between the tanks, rpgs, morter rounds and nades, every piece of cover was pretty much just gone.
I’m really loving this game, but it has a few bugs. Nothing that can’t be sorted out IMO. This is the Beta however and I’ll be keeping my preorder.
03/02/2010 at 14:57 FreakinSyco says:
And nothing, I mean nothing, is more satisfying than getting on a big mounted machine gun, firing into the forest and watching the trees fall down.
Hell, its intense being in that forest, when that tree that fell down WAS your only cover.
03/02/2010 at 14:58 PixelCody says:
Excitement levels peaked, I’ve gone and preordered.
03/02/2010 at 14:58 Davee says:
Very fun! And I say that as a BF-veteran and a fan of tactical shooters. Sure, it’s fights are very much arcade-style, some might even call is “console-ish” – realism has gone down a (another rather?) notch from BF2 for example. Some close-quarters situations where you hit the enemy first, but he still had time to turn around and kill you even after the second or third hit can be somewhat annoying – at least to me, but BF2 had that annoyance too, and BF1942 too to some extent. And I don’t find the FOV to be terrible, although it could be a tiny bit wider, yes (tho really dislike 90-degree FOV, I usually go for something like 80).
But hell – the firefights can become so intense (much thanks to Frostbites state-of-the art sound engine, providing a truly eargasmic (the vehicle-mounted machine guns FTW) experience) that you just don’t care! And the landscape destruction is not 100% total, but more than enough to leave a huge mark on the battlefield and gameplay/tactics (that’s positive!).
I’ve been playing the Beta to bits and I love it :)
Whoa, this looks wrong. I’m posting just after Dave here and we basically say the same thing. And no, we don’t know each other even if our comments/name suggests otherwise :P
But no time, I need to get back into my other beta, Mortal Online! Do we have an RPS guild yet?
03/02/2010 at 14:58 Lycurgus says:
I love the beta, only wish is for prone. I know i will probably be flamed for it, but its such a basic concept and it also helps you feel more immersed in the game. helps snipers too. feels a little more realistic. I am just surprised they left it out and have specifically stated they wont add it in. Just surprised especially in the past they stated they would listen to the community and make the changes we would like to see….anyways someone asked if its like BF2. think of it as a mix between bf2 and modern warfare 2. of course this is the beta so i cant say this for the whole game, but it seems more infantry focused. vehicles are fun though! I also LOVE the sound in this game, adds soooo much to it!
03/02/2010 at 15:03 Davee says:
Ah yes, I forgot to mention that. Shame on DICE/EA for cutting prone from the PC version. Sniping just isn’t the same anymore :(
And your BF2/MW2 description fits well.
03/02/2010 at 15:04 JonFitt says:
Maybe they didn’t add it because Dice have never been able to make a prone mechanic which doesn’t result in dolphin diving!
03/02/2010 at 15:07 Davee says:
Haha, true – but there’s always something you can improve on. For DICE that would be prone-mechanics.
03/02/2010 at 15:12 Lycurgus says:
Reply to JonFitt
-They did fix it in BF2. took them a while but it was fixed. they did a good job with it. that is why I was kinda shocked to see them remove it from this game….didnt make sense, and they wont explain why….oh i will say this too. Make the tank splash damage higher! lol, I will shoot someone point blank right next to them and they wont die! only to have them run at my lob some c4 on the tank and boom im dead….kinda silly…
03/02/2010 at 15:19 JonFitt says:
Meh. They made it less ridiculous, but it was never ‘fixed’.
It’s the only game I can think of where it paid to have a movement command bound to a mouse button.
Still, it should be in B:BC2, they should just out-source the code :)
03/02/2010 at 16:13 Schaulustiger says:
I don’t miss prone. With all the vegetation it’s easy enough to hide as a sniper. Allowing prone would be result in even more “where the heck did that come from?” deaths.
03/02/2010 at 16:41 Lycurgus says:
Well as far as the “where did that come from?” they have kill cam for that. but I do like the vegetation in this game, there has been plenty of times where i have walked past someone or they have walked past me! very very cool! way better than mw2 on that one.
03/02/2010 at 15:03 JonFitt says:
Spotting enemy targets was essential in BF2. Whenever I saw someone or something that I couldn’t kill (too far, too armoured) I’d spot it so that someone else can deal with it. In fact, sometimes when it was something I was going to try and kill, if I had the time I’d spot it anyway just in case things went wrong…
03/02/2010 at 15:06 Dave Benson Phillips says:
A 4ghz clocked Core 2 Duo will struggle to maintain 30fps (while hovering around 60% usage), while the comparatively underpowered 360 CPU can happily maintain those levels.
This is a bad port of what seems like a really fun game. Quad cores are more of a workaround (probably something to do with the 360′s 3 core Powerpc setup) than a legitimately required spec.
So, just be warned anyone thinking of picking this up with a dual core, you’ll be suffering a bad case of Consolitis.
03/02/2010 at 17:49 the wiseass says:
I can confirm this, the game runs like shit on my reasonably powerful PC. Apart from that, I wish they could have added one or two more maps to the demo.
03/02/2010 at 18:04 Psychopomp says:
On the flipside, this game is running admirably on my very shit PC.
03/02/2010 at 18:40 dan :/ says:
Really? I have a 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM and a 9800GT and it seems to run fine on Medium. :/
03/02/2010 at 15:08 MJS says:
The beta has started a new fun little game for me, dog tag collecting! Got over 100 and still going strong with an average stab to play time ratio of 1 per 305 seconds. This game has really brought out the psychotic stamp collector in me.
For anyone vista/win7 with a DX10 card it defaults to DX10 so to get a fair bit of extra performance go to ‘documents/BFBC2beta/settings.ini’ open in notepad and change ‘DxVersion=auto’ to ‘DxVersion=9′ you can also disable the ultra bloom (Ahh my eyes!) by changing ‘Bloom=true’ to ‘Bloom=false’.
03/02/2010 at 15:33 Paco says:
The moment I played the beta I was hooked to the game and bought it straight away.
Is so brilliant you get a special feeling playing it. My first playthrough I was like, wow, OMFG, this is freaking cool, this is was supposed to be a war game, not that gimmick called MW2 where you run, kill, run, kill, die, kill, repeat loop.
Being only a BETA, only one mode, only one map and few weapons and vehicles, ca’t imagine how freaking sweet will be with all unlocked, 16 maps, every vehicle, every one unlocked, etc. Add to that the Single Player campaign, man, you can’t go wrong buying it! Trust me!
03/02/2010 at 15:42 MooseDrool says:
I’m digging it. I agree with the changes that have to be made, i.e. lag, hit detection, FOV, sticky keys, binding keys. Supposedly from the ea.battlefield.co.uk forums this is a build that was 6 weeks old. As you can tell by the unlocks not having proper names. Unless they are going with PC_AM_X or whatever it is as the upgrade name for extra ammo. Anyway I dig the game. Definitely going to take time away from TF2.
03/02/2010 at 16:32 VHATI says:
a truly fantastic game. I’m suprised Phill didnt mention the sound. This has the best sound design of any FPS ever. It is a true innovation.
People upset about accuracy or damage need to realize they can unlock more accurate or more damaging guns, not to mention you can take specializations that do more damage, or make you more accurate. It changes how the class is played. 1 assault might be an explosives expert, while the next assault could be a marksmen with an acog.
The game takes alot of teamwork to do things effectively. Without a doubt, blows Mw2 out of the water in every catagory other than comparing the 2 as arcade shooters.
The best part i love it that it is not a port. DX9 is legacy support with future frostbite games being dx10 and dx11 only. It is designed with current and future hardware in mind.
03/02/2010 at 17:38 PhiIl Cameron says:
Surprisingly, I hadn’t noticed the sound. I can only put this down to the fact that it’s so good that it just feels right, which is the highest praise that you can give it, really. It’s only when something is wrong that it really gets noticed.
03/02/2010 at 16:36 Batolemaeus says:
So..do i get to fly a chopper, preferrably a littlebird again?
In other words: Is this Battlefield-ish enough to satisfy a bitter Desert Combat vet?
03/02/2010 at 16:46 Lycurgus says:
Yes you can fly a chopper…and blackhawk, just not sure as to how often. demo right now is only if you get to a certain point in the map…so not sure about the whole game…
03/02/2010 at 16:49 Surgeon says:
On Port Valdez there are the same types of heli that you got in BF2, but if you want a littlebird, then it looks like the new UAV is for you :)
http://www.digitalbattle.com/2009/11/21/bad-company-2-uav-gameplay/
03/02/2010 at 16:57 Surgeon says:
Just thought I’d add that the UAV is now a titchy helicopter, as you can’t tell from that video.
03/02/2010 at 17:31 Batolemaeus says:
The thing is, in desert combat, i was an excellent chopper pilot, especially with the littlebird. I’d hide behind hills, hover behind buildings, dodge enemy aa fire and do all sorts of whacky stunts like barrell rolls (to descent faster and screw up enemy aim) after mowing down unsuspecting infantry.
You can imagine how disappointed i was when choppers in bf2 played like iron coffins on strings. I want to be able to fly like in Dc again..
03/02/2010 at 16:44 Surgeon says:
This is basically the game that is helping to reunite and reinvigorate our ailing Battlefield 2 clan.
No one liked BF 2142, so half played EVE and the other half waited around for another decent FPS.
After a few false starts, such as Quake Wars and Frontlines FoW, we are now back together and mustering our funds for a new server.
It does lack a few features, but the overpowering visceral experience of it totally overshadows BF2, and I don’t even miss them.
It is just a joy to play.
The destructibility also adds that element of uncertainty where something will happen that you haven’t seen before, and it makes it quite unique.
Maybe it will wear off after a while, but for now I’m enjoying running through a field of stumps where it was previously a forest, taking cover in deformations in the road where a tank shell has landed and standing next to a building and hearing the metal beams creak and sheer apart as it falls down.
The other night I spawned in my mates tank, ran out towards the objective, watched the tank round whizz overhead and demolish a whole in the wall, which I then jumped though to get straight to the M-COM crate.
A simple moment, but it’s moments like this that makes it all feel like a perfect evolution from where Battlefield 2 left off, and I’m loving it.
03/02/2010 at 17:23 iQue says:
Since fov, performance, hit detection will be improved in the final version, I’ve ran out of things to complain about D:
Ridiculously fun, Battlefield is looking better than ever. Can’t wait until march!
03/02/2010 at 17:41 RyePunk says:
Any game that has my squad hiding behind a destroyed vehicle trying to hold off the attackers as long as possible, me tossing medkits around, engineers lobbing rockets at the approaching tanks, assaults keeping the ammo up and me reviving them all in case they die. Well it is just an awesome experience. Medics and engineers are essential. The others, well they help. Soldiers are good for blowing walls open, since engineers rockets have shit reloads and should really save their ammo for vehicles.
is Q the key to call out enemies? I was wondering what it was. Many thanks.
03/02/2010 at 23:08 Surgeon says:
Aye, the Comm Rose has now been replaced with the context sensitive Socialise button (Q).
So pressing Q :
On an enemy ‘spots’ it. An enemy killed after you’ve spotted it nets you +20 XP points.
On a soldier equipped as Assault requests ammo.
On a soldier equipped as Medic requests a medpack.
On a soldier equipped as an Engineer requests repair.
On a friendly vehicles requests a pick up.
On on a target issues an order to attack/defend it.
03/02/2010 at 17:51 iamrawr says:
Feels and plays like a console game..
03/02/2010 at 23:28 Surgeon says:
Your mum plays like a console game.
She’s low resolution, and cheaper than my graphics card.
03/02/2010 at 17:52 LionsPhil says:
Heh, that’s the C&C: Generals soundtrack.
This looks a bit bunnyhoppy compared to BF2, and if deformable terrain is their new shiny, they really don’t show if off in that trailer. Which is odd.
03/02/2010 at 17:59 LionsPhil says:
“You can’t lie down”
What, no prone? This isn’t Battlefield if I can’t dash my medic out into the road towards the injured teammate and dive to the ground, paddles zapping, mere milliseconds before being decapitated by a hail of enemy fire.
03/02/2010 at 19:23 Jakkar says:
Somehow I’ve yet to feel impressed by this one. The very lazy destruction system for structures is so far behind Red Faction: Guerilla I was never able to put much faith in the game – besides that, the original just seemed like another Call of Duty console game, fast, slippery, crude. Who does that remind me of..
03/02/2010 at 20:11 Escalus says:
The best part of the game (well, beta) is the sound effects to be sure.
The second best part is definitely the deforming terrain. Once you get past the mental block of “how things are done” in other games, you really can put in use inventive strategies.
For example, jumping into freezing water and getting out just barely before you die of the cold, sneak around behind the defender’s, lace up all of the walls around the objective with c4, THEN arm the m-com. When they all hustle to disarm it, you detonate the c4, the walls vaporize, and the roof collapses onto the would-be defusers and the objective.
On the opposite end, one of the most frantic and pure fun I’ve had in the game was defending the m-com’s against wave after wave of ATV’s loaded up with c4, trying to either kill the drivers or get lucky and detonate the c4 before they get close enough to suicide the m-coms.
03/02/2010 at 20:20 Whadahell says:
Yah I love the destruction. I tried playing BF 2 afterwards, just for comparison, and kept getting frustrated at invincible obstacles I couldn’t just drive over (I’m in a tank, that’s a white picket fence…what da dealio?) or walls I couldn’t make holes out of. BC2 is going to spoil the hell out of me.
03/02/2010 at 22:11 VHATI says:
This and bf1943 will be the last battlefield games to support direct x 9 guys. Anyone on XP better buy this one unless they plan on upgrading soon.
They are dropping it in favor of providing next gen graphics without having to gut its power to hold onto direct x9.
03/02/2010 at 22:31 Inanimotioon says:
Best experience I’ve had in this game so far…
I managed to sprint into a house side by side with my objective (I’m an attacker) and make it to the attic.
The house next to me is filled with enemies, and a comm station I’m supposed to blow up.
In any other game, my idea would be to try and take them out through the windows, then rush in through the bottom floor. In bad company, I blow a hole through the attic wall, blow a hole through their attic wall, make the jump between houses, drop down onto the 2nd floor and knife them all to hell. Then I plant the explosives, jump back to the house I started into through the newly formed pathway my grenade launcher had created and let the points flow in.
This
game
rules.
04/02/2010 at 00:56 RC-1290'Dreadnought' says:
Talk about the HDR sound please! It sounds so nice.
04/02/2010 at 01:24 lePooch says:
My favorite moment so far has been………
…….Waitaminute. This does not sound like the usual RPS writing. Ah HA! “By Phill Cameron”. Did I miss something recently? Did something ACTUALLY eat Kieron? Did they name the creature that ate Kieron? Is this an article “promoted” from the forums?
Reading RPS is like a blind wine taste test: The flavours are good, but distinctly different. Throwing me a Fill Cameroon just makes no sense. Its good, I can’t complain, but I miss my usual Chateau de RPS.
Who are you, Mr. Pill Camera?
04/02/2010 at 01:43 Thants says:
Inanimotioon: I love it when someone insults someone else’s intelligence and misspells multiple words.
04/02/2010 at 02:10 Max says:
That video sure didn’t do a good job selling the game.
Oo, sniping enemies and shooting rockets! Aiming poorly! Hilariously sudden death animations!
It didn’t show any deformable terrain which is what is most unique and interesting. And I really don’t like the COD features they’ve implemented.
“KILLED AND ENEMY! +10″
“SOLVED YOUR PROBLEMS WITH VIOLENCE! +20″
It also looked like there’s regenerating health. is that the case?
04/02/2010 at 04:28 Escalus says:
not clear actually. there are health bars which medic boxes refill. but when you get shot you get the whole blood-shot-around-the-screen while you hide, which eventually goes away. i don’t think you regen health by hiding, just become able to see properly again.
04/02/2010 at 04:29 D says:
Yes, health slowly regenerates, and faster if a medic has thrown a medpack somewhere near you. The slow regeneration does impact the game, in that running out with any amount of damage makes you a very kill for a sniper. But it also removes the complete reliance of being healed by medics, which is a good thing.
04/02/2010 at 06:31 Warghlegarble says:
Hate to be the bad guy, but am I the only person that noticed how bad the player in that video is therefore making the game look a hundred times worse than it is?
04/02/2010 at 06:38 MD says:
It does kind of look like they’re playing with a gamepad. Also, standing in one place getting shot a lot.
04/02/2010 at 09:19 KillahMate says:
Exactly! Right? I could swear he’s playing with a gamepad. It has that telltale movement-mostly-restricted-to-the-axes look. Plus he aims badly and dies a lot.
04/02/2010 at 08:13 ed hardy says:
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05/02/2010 at 00:51 Count Elmdor says:
What a nice guy. I was wondering where I could get some clothes to make me look like a big penis.
04/02/2010 at 10:50 Shadowcat says:
Is it just me, or does the recoil/reload animation from the sniper rifle make it all but impossible to determine whether you actually hit/disabled your target?
That’s the impression I got from the trailer, at any rate.
04/02/2010 at 11:28 PhiIl Cameron says:
When you hit someone, you get a little indicator on your crosshairs.
04/02/2010 at 17:12 Jacob says:
Actually, you manually work the slide on the sniper rifle. As in, if you can stay in scope mode after your shot as long as you want and you only reload once you release the scope button
04/02/2010 at 13:18 TimA says:
Shadowcat, hold down the fire button and the scope stays up so you can see path of the bullet.
04/02/2010 at 13:57 kharnevil says:
so, apart from the fact there is destructible scenery and less classes what’s different from BF2? I don’t see the advantage of paying for something which already plays the same (or at least according to forumites/reviewers)
can someone confirm if indeed you cannot go prone?
04/02/2010 at 16:10 VHATI says:
Yes. you get class specializations.
You can pick a vehicle spec, that increases armor, or damage, alt fires.
You can take weapon mod kits, add an red dot, acog, shotgun attachment instead of 40mm grenades, or a smoke grenade launcher to cover your approach or make it hard to see if someone is planting the objective.
You can opt to use body armor, or magnum rounds, or increased accuracy.
It creates major variance between players of the same class. 1 assault might be an explosive expert that deals more damage with his grenade launcher and frag grenades, while another might be a marksmen with his acog and accuracy enhancements.
I could go on, but you get the drift. So yes, it is worth getting.
04/02/2010 at 15:24 Ashley says:
Not being able to go prone in Bad Company is old news and has been about since the release of BC1.
No you cannot go prone and no it doesn’t spoil the game. It makes no difference. In fact it helps because otherwise snipers would be near impossible to take out from distance.
Its a lot better than BF2 though. The destructive scenery alone is enough reason to play this over BF2.
04/02/2010 at 16:41 Luckylad64 says:
Beware the mouse cursor of deathhhhh!!!
06/02/2010 at 15:49 SquareWheel says:
I played for about an hour, and the only terrain I noticed that got destroyed was the trees. Certainly nothing in comparison to Red Faction.
07/02/2010 at 18:59 AllenJB says:
Is the gamplay as slow as BF2142? I generally liked BF2142 but didn’t like spending half the match getting to the battle on some of the larger maps.
Also the new “socialise key” sounds silly. Why do you need to call a medic if you’re already standing next to one?
22/02/2010 at 09:08 Jeffery Keffery says:
Well, that’s just about the most ridiculous thing I’ve read. The buildings definitely get destroyed and collapse onto you. The ones that don’t have metal support beams, but ANY wall of ANY building can be decimated with an explosive weapon.
You must have played in a server by your self trying to medic paddle the walls in.
01/03/2010 at 07:32 dany says:
if you have problems with mouse and keyboard using Reloaded crack: Just copy into the install dir also the 2 TXT files attached in Crack dir and will work OK.
06/03/2010 at 00:17 El_MUERkO says:
Well it’s EU launch day and the first weekend night after the US launch and it appears the strain of BFBC2 on the EA server backbone has melted all the hamsters.
Across the three (three?!) official forums the nerd-rage is truly epic as the servers have been down for more than two hours, it’s fucking hilariously badly timed and causing some truly epic, reality bending rage posts, between the forums and SupCom2 I’m actually quite enjoying the evening :)