Battlefield

07.05.2008

Traveling through the mist and fog with epic and haunting music playing, my heart begins to beat faster and faster. In the midst of all the cinematic sounds you hear someone talking and then we break through the fog. As I travel through the numerous battlegrounds my worst fears are always there right on the surface. I remember it like it was yesterday…summer 2006 with Battlefield: Modern Combat in my X-box drive. I’m driving through the virtual battlefield with three of my buddies. We listen to strategic proposals being replied to by provocations and funny insults through our headsets. We are having a blast. We are having so much fun that we only realize the existence of the sun when it shines on the LCD screen compromising our vision. I have never been so pale at the end of a summer.

The main menu greets me with groovy, refined jazz music. Stop. I can’t. Not again! But I have to. I can’t resist. One summer more or less wasted. Who cares?

I begin the game in single-player mode, not without the painful memories of all the campaigns from “Battlefield: Modern Combat”, and click through some screen shots while I wait for the game to load. I ardently hope that this time around my experiences in single-player mode last longer than thirty minutes. I am not disappointed

After 1000 years of unrealistic encounters, the “DICE” developed Frostbite variety of play takes a little getting used to. Despite the spongy nature of the controls, you still get the hang of them really quickly. The new sprint-function and the more dynamic camera are both great new additions. Furthermore, you can now use ‘iron-sight targeting’ which not only makes the game more intensive but adds a dose of realism to the game play. There is no ‘locked in spray-fire’ option; which you realize when your own gun unwillingly starts to shoot all over the place. Even when it comes to the vehicles some rethinking is necessary. Accelerate your vehicle using the A-button or the left trigger and brake with the X-button or the left bumper. Don’t be surprised if, (as your wont to do), you fire of a rocket right before getting into a helicopter because you’re still used to the old controls.

The campaigns of “Battlefield: Bad Company” are not unrealistically staged or mired in complicated background stories. This pleases me personally. I’ve already overdosed on the American war mentality. Afflicted, broken soldiers of war should lament their pity somewhere else and go to hell with a strong sense of duty and glory!The enemies are pretty clever. They retreat when they should and even flank you when they can, (however this is usually only done individually). If you stumble upon the right path you will eventually encounter a less challenging resistance. It gets a bit dicey when you encounter heavy fire from multiple enemies. Your objectives are usually the same and range from: simply eliminating enemies, sabotage, different types of driving and flying missions, and rallying your platoon around a check point. The strengths of “Battlefield: Bad Company” are places that you would least expect from the Battlefield franchise: the unbeatable characters, the apparent never ending level of destruction and the grandly staged engagements. It’s not grand because all your enemies share the same genes as John Rambo, but because here even the sparks fly for real. Gone are the days of not being able to destroy fences, MG-settings, and unmovable sandbags. You open doors with your grenade launcher and houses serve only as temporary cover until they’re blown to smithereens. Finally!

Even cabaret artists get it in this game. No other shoot-em-up game has as much great humor as “Battlefield: Bad Company”. Your platoon consists of: Sergeant Redford, Private Haggard, Private Sweetwater and you, a.k.a. Preston Marlo. One of a kind discussions, reactions and debates ensure one shouting match after another. The dialogue is so good that you would think some of it was written by Quentin Tarantino or the Coen brothers. While Haggard seriously asks himself what Miss July is doing this Sunday, Sweetwater is praying in a whiny voice Then an enemy helicopter arrives. An excellent audio-response program makes the interaction between the characters even better. For those who only understand the most basic English, you should play the game with English dubbing. Just hearing the different accents makes it worth it.

Yet what makes this game a must-have is the multi-player mode. The new system is encouraging as it permits the switching of guns and other utensils. Since the variety of guns and vehicles was not greatly expanded since Battlefield: Modern Combat, one is very excited about the new mobile artillery computer, a removable auto-injector or just a nice load of C4. However the variety of situations available to you during multi-player mode is a bit dubious: either you destroy the container full of gold or you protect it. But that is a minor issue. Playing is still extremely fun. In fact playing this game will redefine ‘fun’ for you.

The realistic sound effects of the guns and explosions intersect with granular high resolution graphics, rarely take it to the limit but are still very satisfactory. Weapons, characters, and vehicles are all up to par as are the animation sequences. The vegetation, the texture of the ground or the residue of destroyed infrastructure could all be improved. But these things are easily tolerable and in some cases understandable. After all, every tree is allowed to fall and craters are left in the ground after an artillery attack, so who cares about the details of a wooden hut. The game is most fun when things really get heated. When everything gets pulverized or when the shock waves of multiple explosions rock the screen from all sides is when the game is at its best. The game sometimes does not abide by the rules of physics but again who cares.