Within the ESRB rating description for EA’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a hidden spoiler about the game’s narrative. The ESRB detail that in the single player mode, “players conduct missions on an unnamed Japanese island during World War II” before going on to modern day and playing the main part of the game. Interesting to note that “missions” is included so we can expect multiple World War II missions at the beginning. Also, it’s in Japan. I’m envisioning something along the lines of Call of Duty: World At War’s opening mission.

The game itself does also include several weapons from Battlefield 1943 so the element of WWII isn’t entirely within the story. Obviously the whole game isn’t set during that time so don’t go expecting yet another WWII shooter. Bad Company 2 is a continuation of the original so the main setting is the present day and the levels set in the past will most likely serve as flashbacks or story clarification.

Also note from the ESRB rating that melee attacks include a power drill. Food for thought.

Source: ESRB via Kotaku

Okay, lets address the elephant in the room right away.  The Bad Company series has always struggled to escape the shadow of Modern Warfare.  The original Bad Company was released 8 months after Call of Duty 4 and still struggled to draw in the dedicated (arguably obsessive) followers of COD4.  Having played Bad Company 2 this weekend however, I can report that DICE have significantly closed the gap on Infinity Ward.

Bad Company has a very pro explosion agenda.

The setup at the expo was 24 player conquest mode.  It was a large vehicle based map with some urban choke points for infantry combat.  The ebb and flow between vehicle and infantry gameplay felt great but the map, designed for 40, felt a bit empty with 24 players (a limitation forced by limited expo floor space).  Overall however, the map design is genius, it funnels play in the right direction, can be drastically changed by destruction (you can bring down entire buildings this time around) and accommodates all classes and vehicles equally.  The HUD has a few smart changes and a really neat Ghost Recon esq neon aesthetic, it also helps tactical play which is further incentivize by EXP rewards.

Note the improved lighting and particle effects.

The option to customise your load-out within a set class is still present but with far more options and unlocks.  It still doesn’t rival COD’s system but only because it enforces class boundaries to give players roles within the team.  Teamwork is a reoccurring theme in BC2, with squad spawning and chat returning.  Contextual dialogue, although not sounding like a massive improvement really helps both teamwork and immersion.  Your friends will call thing like “drop that mother-fucker” and “man down” when they spot things on the battlefield and more than once this alerted me to the presense of an enemy.  Overall the addition of character dialogue to online play really pulls you into the experience similarly to the dialogue in Left4Dead.  Also, the graphics have leapt in quality this time.  The difference is day and night, it looks like a colourful version of Killzone 2 more than a sequel to Bad Company.  It’s even better in motion. Trust me.

Aesthetics, improved player count and map design are all great, but gameplay, especially on the infantry side, is where DICE’s efforts have really reaped reward.  The first Bad Company and 1943 both had some fundamental issues with infantry combat: slow and unpredictable aiming, strange hit detection and general lag.  All of this has been fixed in BC2 and when picking off players at the end of your surprisingly responsive iron sights you would be hard pressed to pick out areas where DICE aren’t equaling IW.  Regenerative health has also been added, replacing the syringes that made the Assault class such an overpowered choice in the first game.  The game’s vehicles have also become more approachable, the most notable change being the helicopters, which I actually managed to perform missile sweeps with and even took out a few tanks (compared to my miserable, collision filled piloting career in BC1).  A nippy new quad bike has been added to the vehicle selection, encouraging infantry combat by cutting out the long hikes to the battlefield.

I didn’t expect much beyond a straight sequel when playing BC2 but the improvments are so obvious and numerous that this could present a serious contender to MW2.  And yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds.

Another area in which 1943 pioneers is DICE’s understanding of the console gamer.  They has taken a stab at fitting Battlefield onto consoles before with Bad Company. It was by no means a bad game but it found itself in an awkward middle ground, too expansive to compete with the small but focused Call of Duty but too small to stand with it’s battleship sinking PC brothers.  With 1943 DICE have struck a far better balance, focusing more on vehicular combat and objective based gameplay.

There are admittedly fewer options in 1943, with only three classes, four maps and a smaller selection of vehicles than the original.  This may sound disheartening at first but it makes the  experience feel distilled rather than limited.  It is what console Battlefield has needed all along without knowing it.  There is a feeling of rock paper scissor balancing that often sets up dramatic conflicts.   If a tank rolls up on a sniper it can kill it from long range, but vice versa if a sniper manages to sneak up on a tank, a few c4 charges can deal with it in no time.  In another example, one well placed bomb can kill any infantry or jeep, but an AA gun is never too far away to pick off careless pilots on their second sweep.

The same balancing goes for the classes: infantry deals with close range, riflemen are a good all rounder and a sniper can pick off enemies on the other side of the map.  Be in the right position with the right class and you will rack up the points.  The maps do a great job of stressing the strengths and weaknesses of each tactic, with Iwo-Jima being my personal favourite.

Of course, with this balanced gameplay comes a very familiar Battlefield problem, “spawn,run,die syndrome”.  If you aren’t playing to the strengths of your class, you can find yourself dying repeatedly and feeling ill equipped against the enemy.  This can be easily countered by being a bit more cautious and thinking about where it would be best to engage the enemy or taking a different tactic altogether.  It is still an annoyance when it happens, and although it isn’t a flaw as such, it is worth mentioning that 1943 isn’t at it’s best when played as a run and gun.  Another criticism, a real flaw this time is the technical side of the game.  Overall it runs fine (after a shaky first weekend) but there is still the odd crash and the more common flickery graphical error.  It doesn’t impact upon your enjoyment of the game too much, but is certainly in need of a patch.

Battlefield 1943 is a fantastic multiplayer game. It has some rough edges but at it’s lucrative price-point, it’s very hard to say no.

Rating: ★★★★☆