Battlefield: Bad Company

...it won't let me.

BFBC is a brilliant game and let nobody tell you it's not. It's not perfect, but contrary to the popular belief niether is COD4. What's amazing about this game?

-The stand-out moments here aren't the same as COD's. You create your own here so they also won't be the same as EVERYONE else's.

-Destructive environments allow you to be creative with the way you attack situations and this really is SO much fun.

-Destructive environments also means that replaying scenarios is infinately less tedious. Playing COD again is good but this will be a riot on the third go.

Weapons and Sound - Again variety is the key. So many weapons to try out and the sound - modelled in real-time - is amazing!

What sucks?

- It seem that if you include destructive environments you HAVE to put explosive barrels EVERWHERE. I don't blame DICE for wanting to showcase this as much as possible but I think they should have been little more frugle with the placement of explosives.

- The health system is WAY to forgiving. Being able to jab yourself with a needle every 10 seconds and get 100% health back makes the first half of the game far too easy.

- Eagle eyed enemies! You wouldn't need the health system to be forgiving if the bad guys couldn't see you through trees! This is very annoying. You do spend a LOT of time trying to find guys that you can see on the radar with no trouble.

Definately more good than bad - showcase by the fact that I've spent the majority of my waking hours playing it since I got it last Friday, and will definately be giving at least a second run through!

This game is great as long as you don't try to compare it to COD 4.

COD 4 is serious and trying to get the gamer gripped into a situation.

Bad Company is a much more relaxed, fluid game. The controls are still easy but the emphasis is more on fun and blowing stuff up rather than dramatic music killing a world menace.

Your NPC comrades are great fun, all taking advantage of stereotypes. You have a computer nerd with specs, a sarg with attitude and a hill billy, red neck who has some of the funniest lines of dialogue I've come across. I was actually laughing at some of his comments during the game, which is rare " i've got this cousin who's got a great voice but a face like a can of dog food!" All the while buildings are collapsing around you.

The game AI is not super intelligent and sometimes it seems a bit ridiculous when it takes 2/3 of a clip to kill one guy but at the same time they don't walk though walls like other games.

The destructive element of this game is excellent, you are actively encouraged not to use doors to enter houses, "just blow a hole and make your own.

Overall, the whole idea behind this game is too have a laugh. Its a great red neck adventure.

I wish i had brought it on release as the multi player is excellent.

Bad company is a brilliant game. The single player aspect isn't spectacular, but the multiplayer is something else. So to start off, the battlefied franchise has never been well known for it's single player campaigns. This is the first one to incorporate a real story and it's not done too badly. I think it introduces you to the controls, damage systems and the gadgets of the game quite well, but to be honest, I wouldn't buy it for the single player alone.

One thing I will quickly go into is the new frostbite engine, allowing you to blow up pretty much anything. This system is great.. the 'novelty' of it all wears off pretty quickly, but once you sink your teeth into the online mode it becomes second nature and seems hard and annoying to imagine a game where you can't just blow up the wall to get the guy who just ran in. It's not 'groundbreaking' but it's a lot of fun and very very useful online.

So the main part of this review then is the multiplayer. I'm a big fan of Call of Duty 4 but I truly think this is, dispite it's niggles, a lot more fun. There's not a lot of modern online shooters that are good for the new generation of consoles, so I'd say the current competition is between this and call of duty. But Call of Duty is simply nothing like this, whilst it concentrates on fast and furious gunplay, bad company is a bigger package. Although at time of release there is only one game mode and 8 maps, the mode simply doesn't get boring and the maps are massive, all lots of fun and contain a lot of variety within each one.

You will be able to drive jeeps, tanks, boats and helicopters. These vehicles all behave nicely enough and when used correctly can be devestating. But the great thing about this game is the balance between all of the classes, vehicles and weapons. Tanks can be deadly, but the specialist Class can run up beside it and plant C4, only to run a few feet away, click the remote control and experience a great explosion (one of my favourite and most satisfying moments of the game). Obviously there are many other ways to take out vehicles too, such as mines, tracking guns which can be used with or without rocket launchers, airstrikes, artillery and even stationary rocket emplacements.

The game online just feels right. When you get to grips with the classes and weapons, you can swiftly deal with any situation thrown at you which is immensely satisfying. All of the vehicles, levels, destruction and such just combines to make every match unique and provides all sorts of experiences that no two people will have. It's a game where you rush to tell your friends about the ridiculous sniper shot you took where you hit the helicopter pilot in the head.. there are just so many priceless moments. If you've never played a PC version of Battlefield, this is something you NEED to experience.

Now on with the various online rankings and unlocklables, something that makes these sorts of games very addictive and rewarding. Unfortunatley I don't have 100% positive things to say about it all, but keep in mind it is by no means bad and I only have niggles of comsplaint. Firstly, there are only 25 ranks and I am already the top one, which only requires 37000 points (I average 400-500 points per round). As you progress through the ranks you will be given credits you can use to unlock extra weapons and equipment. I personally had a problem where my ranks were displayed incorrectly, but I have not found anyone else with the same problem. Some of the unlockable stuff is essential and a lot of fun. There is an extra 'thing' you get when you reach the top rank which gives extra longevity but I will leave that for you to find out.

On top of rank, there are 120 awards consisiting of trophies, patches and wildcards. You will be awarded these for all sorts of things and they vary tremendously in difficulty. About half of them are really easy to get, whilst the other half consist of some near impossible to achieve. It's dissapointing there is not a wider variety but they do give incentives to try different classes and such. One of the final great things about this game is the dog tag collection system, something I don't think I've seen in an online console game but deffinately something that's been long awaited. When you knife somebody, you collect their dogtags which depending on who you get will award you with a different number of bonus points. You can then look in a menu to see all the dog tags you've collected which shows the persons gamertag, timestamp, rank and quantity of tags. If you're anything like me, you will be frantically trying to sneak up on people and knife them.. it becomes very addictive.

Bad Company is great. I really really like the online and I think it's as good or better than call of duty. Well, if not 'better' then a lot more fun with more variety. It's not perfect and currently there's a lot of niggles that are dampening my fun.. but if you like online games and especially if you're getting bored with COD4 and GTA4.. this is game to deffinately check out.