Battlefield: Bad Company Review

The weapons are an essential part of Bad Company - I found myself often resorting to the Russian remote mortar strike (a personal favorite and very effective against any target). However, in order to enjoy all the weapons and if you want to get your mitts on a cooler arsenal than what's available in single-player, you have to take part in online matches. You can play ranked or unranked matches in 8 well-designed maps. It's cool from our perspective, but it may not be your cup of tea if you're a single-player-only type of gamer.

Hey, quit browsing through my mailbox!

Hurry up with those repairs, ya bastard!

On the technical side of things, there's really nothing bad we can say about this game. It looks and sounds good too. The developers took extra care in providing some top-notch sounds effects. Explosions, reloading weapons and gunfire all sound differently depending on whether they occur indoors or in the open. The voiceovers are very good and they fit each character in the game perfectly.

I guess, ultimately, EA and DICE decided to emphasize the fun factor as opposed to the aspect of tactics, enemy intelligence and realistic combat. Which is fine in our book. You can have a jolly good time with BF: Bad Company just by demolishing half the environment. Still, certain design flaws and gameplay weaknesses might ward off tactical shooter aficionados and anyone who expects tougher enemies. This doesn't mean you should dismiss the single-player completely. It's funny and it has its moments, even though it may not take you too long to finish it (like most shooters). Alas, Bad Company's lasting qualities reside in its multiplayer, rather than the main campaign, which doesn't come as much of a shock considering DICE's reputation. Oh well, at least they gave it a shot and came up with a reasonably enjoyable single-player and a damn fine multiplayer experience.