Battlefield: Bad Company

[Indiana747]

Considering that this game is over 4 yrs old i reckon that there is no discussion thread up for it on here. So here goes.
I picked it up for a few quid months back and decided to give it a whirl the other night. The reason i wanted to mention this game was for mainly due to the fact of how brilliant the single player campaign is and how so many developers(Dice included) have managed to fuck up the campaigns in the FPS genre since its release. It gives you plenty of choice on how to approach objectives with vehicles(by land, water or air in some cases), with spralling environments it gives the player a superb freedom.
I finished it on the hard setting and needless to say this game is no cakewalk. I've read in plenty of places of how difficult a game Bad Company was, they were not lying. Although, in saying that, i found the likes of CoD's campaigns on hard(vetern) more taxing. In Cod games on vetern it is possible to end up in a grenade spamming scenario where the enemy constantly kill you will frags in tight restricted corridor type levels. This feels like cheating AI but never arises in Bad Company due to its map layout.
Also having health that does not regenerate over time is another factor. Having to administor the health jab yourself ala Far Cry, is a far better game mechanic than simply avoiding gunfire for a few seconds while a health bar regens miraculously on its own. Where are so many other fps campaigns get it wrong, Bad Company gets it right. The enemy AI is smart enough to run for cover, flank you or even hop into nearby armour just to make your ass dead. I crawled through this campaign, as rambo tactics are suicidal. Inching my way around extremely large(for an FPS) maps, darting from cover point to cover point, cover doesnt last long though.
The story is witty and very funny in places, great use of humour. I especially like watching and listening to Haggard and Sweetwater jibe each other. Just standing idle for a few minutes will prompt some hilarious shouts and conversations between the characters.
All in all i think this is the best FPS campaign i have ever played and i've played alot. Any of you guys played this down the years? Whats your opinions on it?
I'm not interested in its multiplayer, i dabbled in it for half an hour and its as i expected. Its naturally nowhere near the standard or quality of its modern day offspring, although its a pretty solid shooter. The problem here is the sad fucks that still play it even though they maxed out their character about 3 yrs ago but still find it empowering to stay on and pone everyone that attemps to join a game. All the level 50s bunched up on one side murdering the shit out of anyone else. Its impossible to even get out of a spawn area. These saddos are just afraid to move onto the next shooter cause they would get the same treatment dealt to them. Chopper raping is the worst and funnily enough Dice never fixed that for Bad Company 2, its a common thing there aswell.
Anyhow, any thoughts on Bad Company? I understand that people will have a different view of the multiplayer as it was probably years ago when they played it and it would have lead to a more balanced experience. I could see it being great fun in a case of a level playing field.

[DomsBeard]

Never played it, sounds good though. My first Battlefield experience is Battlefield 3.

[ratsoalbion]

I missed the original Bad Company, which I heard was both fun and funny.
Bad Company 2 was a fantastic multiplayer for sure.

[JaySevenZero]

Funnily enough, I've never played this either and I can't recall precisely why. I remember playing the demo when it was released but never bothered to pursue the retail release.

I guess the most likely answer was that it came out during the time we were all still playing CoD4, which at the time we were averaging a dozen of us playing the game most nights of the week right up until MW2 was released in 2009.

[RoboticMonk3y]

Chopper raping is the worst and funnily enough Dice never fixed that for Bad Company 2, its a common thing there aswell.

They fixed it with the Vietnam choppers in BF:BC2, you could take them down with a full clip from virtually any gun. There's nothing worse than being pinned into the starting area by a circling helicopter or jet...

[magicjoef]

I missed out on it completely because it didn't come over to PC, and I didn't realise the campaign was so good. Considering how cheap it will be to pick up, I might well get it for Xbox, as it sounds quite interesting.

I played through the campaign in 2 and thought the characters were certainly better than average.

[Sly Reflex]

This is one of my most played games online on 360.

I actually think they got choppers more balanced in this particular game, any fire that hit it would damage it and force it to retreat. In later games they gave you counter measures but they never quite felt the same as Bad Company simply because of how niggling a choppers health altered the flow of a battle. For instance, in BC1 on the map End of the Line, you knew that if you damaged the Chopper that it'd give you a 60 to 90 second break from being attacked by air, or even more if you managed to destroy it completely. In BC2 on Port Valdez, when the chopper got off the ground that was it. The only time you could get rid of it was through a lucky shot or by having loads of AT4 ninjas on your team. It didn't need to retreat or regroup. It was a constant threat that really messed up the flow of the game, one of the few imbalances along with the GUSTAV that was wrong with BC2.

There were a lot of things I preferred about BC1 to BC2. The class system of five choices meant you could look at a person and instantly know what job they were there to fill. It also had a more defined role for Recon due to the laser designator being the main anti armour weapon in the game. It didn't stop wookies being totally tunnel visioned but it gave them something else to do. The way the classes relied on each other meant that players tended to move in packs and stick with people they know could deal with something they couldn't, that was sort of lost in later games apart from a few instances. Escorting Demo's about the place so they could deal with armour or providing distraction fire so a Spec Ops could sneak his way in are stuff that I miss. I mean those things are still in the game now, but you can do it alone if you want, they way they have built classes in later games are a bit too self proficient. I'm not saying that they had the class set up perfect in BC1, far from it, but the holes created in one class could be patched up by another and vice versa. Not giving each class a pistol was a crime though.

I think the map design was more varied than the later games too. By that I mean the progression of the areas you were fighting through varied a lot from area to area. Take Harvest Day for example. Starts off with a big open field that is a haven for snipers and mechanical warfare. The next base sees the sniping tables been flipped on a rural outpost where the defenders have little cover and have to deal with a stream cutting into the land where sneaky people can push up over the distraction of an armour pincer movement. Then you have the fringes of a town where after an initial push of too and fro armour and long ranged battles and guerilla warfare between the waterside and tree line fighting to keep flanks protected. Movement past this base sees most sniper rifles put away in favour for SMG's, assault rifles and shotguns. C4 traps and RPG's both destroy and make new ways in to the objectives. Knifing becomes prominent because of how close quarters things become. Finally there's a literally uphill battle where defenders can really dig their heels in in a last ditch effort to repel invaders. Choke points are numerous, clever squads will send men to the houses on the opposite hill to create a cross fire situation at the risk that some sneaky players will come in and stab them in the back. Again, I'm not saying later games didn't have exciting maps, because they did, but they didn't force me to rethink how I should be playing as the game evolved as much. I could play whole nights on BC2 as the same class and not have to worry about it. I couldn't play for 30 minutes on BC1 with having to rethink my strategy within my group.

I think it's a real shame that CoD got as big as it did, it stole a lot of Bad Company's thunder and in some cases I think it was rightfully so. In many cases I think it was completely robbed. Overall I think BC was a more rewarding experience that needed to be invested in deeply to get the best from.

[Indiana747]

Definetely would recommend anyone who has just played Bad Company 2 campaign or the stiff ass borefest that was Battlefield 3's campaign. Hang on, thats not really fair, it was average when played on hardcore, cause it needed patience and some thought on enemy movement. But yeah, get Bad Company, its dirt cheap too.

[Indiana747]

Sounds like you had plenty of good gamenights on Bad Company Simon. The MP is a no go for me though as i really dont like being shot or blown up by rockets 20 times in a row before i have even moved. I only played it a bit to try and grab a few trophies, a decision i regretted immediatly as i knew at the back of my mind what i was letting myself in for. plus the fact that if i got used to BC's multiplayer controls, it would affect my skill level on BF3.
Im not a CoD basher, ive played hundreds of hours of CoD4, MW2 and Black Ops. Ive enjoyed my time with them and can understand why it became so popular. Its point and click essentially, if it moves, shoot it, no thought is needed for CoD. Whereas with the Battlefield games and BC 1 and 2 there is a process of thought needed to play. Battlefield is more like a fine wine to CoDs Buckfast. The connoisseurs choice.
I was more surprised on how good the campaign was and the fact that Devs constantly fail to replicate such a good single player story time after time.

[Sly Reflex]

Something that bothered me in later games was the amount of swearing in them. BC1 managed to have lots of humorous banter without resulting to eff'ing and jeffin'.

[NokkonWud]

Bad Company and Bad Company 2 were both great in SP and MP, Bad Company 2 in MP may even be the best in the series aside from Battlefield 2.
Battlefield 3 in SP is awful but had a good MP, but the maps for me just weren't as good as Battlefield 2 or Bad Company 2.

[ratsoalbion]

I love BC2, but the add-on maps for BF3 are some of the best DICE has ever produced.
Or anyone else for that matter.

[AndyKurosaki]

Sly's not wrong, Bad Company is one of the 360's finest online multiplayers. It offered something far more tactical than COD's grenade spamming Rambo fests. Many's the time I enjoyed legging it up to a tank, chucking C4 on it and blowing that fucker up. Or steamming into a enemy territory on a quad bike and hosing them down with a LMG. Or repairing/resupplying my squad.
An excellent series, no doubt.