…is the kind you can’t count on. Such is my sentiment for Battlefield: Bad Company. I recently had an opportunity to play and finish this game (one of the last titles of “earlier in 2008″ that I’ve needed to catch up on), and I thought it best to share my two cents (net value) on my experience.
As always, it’s best to start with the high points (when they are to be found in a title, of course):
- The graphics are quite lovely. Textures are very sharp, models are detailed, and animations are generally varied. In fact, the highlight is the character models, which generally seem to suffer the most as they are the most difficult to represent. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they are Killzone 2-worthy (at this point, what is?), but they are certainly incredible.
- The destructible engine is mostly wonderful. The Frostbite engine that powers the destructibility is really impressive in that it rarely if ever causes a framerate drop. It’s actually the kind of gameplay gimmick that very quickly becomes part of your gameplay consciousness: you will not only start planning your routes THROUGH buildings and structures instead of around them, you’ll also use a quick launched grenade into a wall as a means of escape when you are being surrounded. It also makes hiding from the enemy (or they from you) a very different concept, as most walls/structures can be annihilated. The thrill of hiding from a tank only to have the wall blown out in front of you (with the corresponding damage and ringing of your ears assaulting your senses) is a great moment in gaming.
- It should be mentioned that the pacing of the game is fairly well-handled. Things are changed up on a somewhat regular basis, there are several vehicle sections evenly spaced throughout the game, and the missions (and associated environments) are changed up enough to keep things interesting.
And now…for the “not like I imagined it”…
- The controls are, in a word, strange. Playing many, many different first-person shooters in my day (on both consoles and PC), I have a pretty good idea (as do most developers) on what the proper feel should be for such a title. There are definitely variances in speed and handling as different engines have been used and upgraded over the years, but most of them have a pretty consistent feel. Somehow, this game feels “off”. I can’t really put too fine a point on it, but the speed and momentum always felt off. I fiddled with the sensitivity sliders in the options a few times, but it never really changed things too significantly, and never to the point that I felt like things were completely spot on. I also had a similar frustration with Army of Two, although it felt even worse here. I guess when one develops a brand new engine, these sorts of things will take awhile to hammer out?
- The difficulty is somewhat uneven. I chose the normal difficulty level, and some parts are an absolute breeze, while others are overly frustrating. I think difficulty is one of the most…um…difficult…things to balance in a game, as many games have trouble balancing accessibility with challenge (even with multiple difficulty levels), but I think that it should be a generally consistent experience once you’ve chosen that difficulty level, and that isn’t the case here.
- The AI is pretty rough. Your well-rendered squadmates must have been told how beautiful they are, because they just sit there and look pretty most times. They’ll definitely blow out the occasional wall, and even slay a foe or two, but generally speaking, you are on your own to do all of the heavy-lifting. It’s pretty telling when you (minor spoiler) have to rescue your teammates at one point in the game, and you’re frustrated with the detour due to their relative uselessness.
- The sound is almost great. The music and general resolution of the audio is superb, with a steady mix of orchestral swelling and munitions fire making you feel like you are in an “buddy soldier” action movie. The strangeness of the audio engine rears its ugly head whenever you are indoors, however. For some reason, when entering a building, all sounds reverberate as though you were conducting this war in your guest bathroom. The change is jarring and not-at-all in line with how seamless the rest of the aural experience presents itself.
I took some time and sliced through a few rounds of multiplayer to see how that played out, and it actually felt pretty balanced. The main Gold Rush multiplayer mode is quite fun, and the performance seems to keep up with many different players on-screen at one time (I believe the game supports 16). As is all the rage since Call of Duty 4, there is a ranking system in place, with unlockable class perks and weapons available to you as you fight the good fight.
In the end, I am glad I had a chance to play through the game. The story has a neat film-noir narration delivery, and I never felt like it was taking too long to get through it. Definitely worth at least a rental.
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