Battlefield: Bad Company 2
So I got the new Bad Company game today from the local game store. Here's my insta-review.
8/10
Here's Why. A stellar first person campaign that just looks amazing on my xbox 360 was what originally made me think this game could easily topple modern warfare 2 as my choice of instant military gratification. The difficulty is reasonable, the checkpoints more obvious, the game overall easier to handle. Squadmates in single player are relatively smart and once in a while they hit things (a rarity these days with AI and all, i get that i'm the hero protagonist, but it'd be nice if i could depend on my team to cover me when i'm reloading... or not walk in front of me every time i launch a grenade. The first mission reminded me of the island on LOST, wondering what exactly that mysterious weapon is that could cause an entire island to groan. It's not too cartoony, and it is not overly real, it is what i expect in a game. The main menu system is intuitive, smooth, and feels tailored to the player, not some generic person that might pick the game up once in a while. The sound of ammunition is very realistic, from the shells hitting and echoing in a dark cold room, to the sonic snap of sniper rounds missing our heads. The buildings are mostly collapseable, and cover from fire is never guaranteed. It's an improvement over the original, and sure to be a new favorite in the genre.
The drawbacks: maybe it's just me, but this game is still really glitchy. the single player seems smooth, but i remember the same issues driving us mad when BF: 1943 came out on arcade. Lag is an ever present issue in all games but is not as bad this go around... what does slow you down is the fact that quickmatch is the opposite of such, and games are hard to come by. I get error messages over and over though i know that somewhere in america there must be 16 people ready and willing to duke it out in this new release. Which brings me to point 2. This game came out TODAY, so i was a bit surprised to see people who have logged 41 hours of MULTIPLAYER game time. Now I get the idea of beta testing, hell i'll even allow that people release these games really early to be dicks to everyone else who will be far less equipped, skilled, and able to defend themselves on launch day. But 41 hours? and no one is raising an eyebrow? shouldn't these people have their rank reset or accounts monitored or something? If these guys are the guys that created it, maybe they should pull themselves off the leaderboard. I imagine sports would be a bit different if the Broncos were automatically starting with 2 touchdowns before a game starts. And I get that in a week i'll still be low ranking and some guys will spend 7 days straight working on their rank. As it stands there is no way anyone could compete with that. That's a full work week spent on multiplayer.
Finally, I got the limited edition. Bonus points for it being the same price as the regular edition. And i like that there is a dr. pepper promotion, though i don't drink much soda, so i probably will never have access to the cool giveaways they have.
So there you have it, i like the game, it has a lot of potential. The fact there was an update on day one shows they care. But the team in charge shouldn't be dealing with the same simple issues every game, there is no excuse for a poor multiplayer quick match system. And I really wanted to just get rid of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 too. Because a game that can master the low latency, easy quickmatch, party chat in any game mode, and squads easily made up of party members will be the game i get my friends to buy. And we're stuck out in the middle of nowhere with lots of cash and lots of time. Believe me, if one person likes a game, we alllllllll buy it. So imagine my feelings on the game will only improve over the next couple of weeks before i head out to Vegas. But, still it would have been nice to immerse myself in the battlefield universe and hear the familiar battlefield sound (if you've ever played any of them, you know what i'm talking about)
And while we're on quickmatch (which is usually a misnomer). Dear Aliens Vs. Predator, Get your $h1T together. Love, everyone that bought your game.
8/10
Here's Why. A stellar first person campaign that just looks amazing on my xbox 360 was what originally made me think this game could easily topple modern warfare 2 as my choice of instant military gratification. The difficulty is reasonable, the checkpoints more obvious, the game overall easier to handle. Squadmates in single player are relatively smart and once in a while they hit things (a rarity these days with AI and all, i get that i'm the hero protagonist, but it'd be nice if i could depend on my team to cover me when i'm reloading... or not walk in front of me every time i launch a grenade. The first mission reminded me of the island on LOST, wondering what exactly that mysterious weapon is that could cause an entire island to groan. It's not too cartoony, and it is not overly real, it is what i expect in a game. The main menu system is intuitive, smooth, and feels tailored to the player, not some generic person that might pick the game up once in a while. The sound of ammunition is very realistic, from the shells hitting and echoing in a dark cold room, to the sonic snap of sniper rounds missing our heads. The buildings are mostly collapseable, and cover from fire is never guaranteed. It's an improvement over the original, and sure to be a new favorite in the genre.
The drawbacks: maybe it's just me, but this game is still really glitchy. the single player seems smooth, but i remember the same issues driving us mad when BF: 1943 came out on arcade. Lag is an ever present issue in all games but is not as bad this go around... what does slow you down is the fact that quickmatch is the opposite of such, and games are hard to come by. I get error messages over and over though i know that somewhere in america there must be 16 people ready and willing to duke it out in this new release. Which brings me to point 2. This game came out TODAY, so i was a bit surprised to see people who have logged 41 hours of MULTIPLAYER game time. Now I get the idea of beta testing, hell i'll even allow that people release these games really early to be dicks to everyone else who will be far less equipped, skilled, and able to defend themselves on launch day. But 41 hours? and no one is raising an eyebrow? shouldn't these people have their rank reset or accounts monitored or something? If these guys are the guys that created it, maybe they should pull themselves off the leaderboard. I imagine sports would be a bit different if the Broncos were automatically starting with 2 touchdowns before a game starts. And I get that in a week i'll still be low ranking and some guys will spend 7 days straight working on their rank. As it stands there is no way anyone could compete with that. That's a full work week spent on multiplayer.
Finally, I got the limited edition. Bonus points for it being the same price as the regular edition. And i like that there is a dr. pepper promotion, though i don't drink much soda, so i probably will never have access to the cool giveaways they have.
So there you have it, i like the game, it has a lot of potential. The fact there was an update on day one shows they care. But the team in charge shouldn't be dealing with the same simple issues every game, there is no excuse for a poor multiplayer quick match system. And I really wanted to just get rid of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 too. Because a game that can master the low latency, easy quickmatch, party chat in any game mode, and squads easily made up of party members will be the game i get my friends to buy. And we're stuck out in the middle of nowhere with lots of cash and lots of time. Believe me, if one person likes a game, we alllllllll buy it. So imagine my feelings on the game will only improve over the next couple of weeks before i head out to Vegas. But, still it would have been nice to immerse myself in the battlefield universe and hear the familiar battlefield sound (if you've ever played any of them, you know what i'm talking about)
And while we're on quickmatch (which is usually a misnomer). Dear Aliens Vs. Predator, Get your $h1T together. Love, everyone that bought your game.
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