I bought BC2 off Steam after hearing all the hoopla about Modern Warfare 2, and after trying the BC2 Beta. I made the purchase for the multi-player only; I hear the single player campaign is pretty short. As a newcomer to the Battlefield series, I am quite impressed with Bad Company 2.
PROS:
- Fully destructible environments; it's amazing to stand inside a house while it's getting shelled by a tank, only to have the walls, roof, and windows get blown to bits around you. Nearly everything on the map can be destroyed (with the exception of some boulders). For instance, when shooting at an enemy who is hiding behind a concrete wall, the concrete first starts to get chipped, then gradually larger pock-marks form, then re-bar is exposed, then the concrete is reduced to dust. It's pretty incredible.
- Gravitational effects; yes, gravity plays a big part in this game. Shoot a tank shell half a mile, and the shell doesn't fly straight to the target. Rather, it assumes a parabolic arc. The same is true for sniper rifles, so one needs to make suitable adjustments.
- Achievements; I enjoy the multi-player method of unlocking weapons and gadgets. Many modern-day weapons are modeled, and various gadgets include new scopes, holographic sights, extended magazines, etc..
- Sound; fully immersive, adds to the authenticity.
- 32 Player multi-player servers; brilliant online madness.
- Huge maps; the urban combat maps are tricky, snipers hiding around every nook and cranny. The island warfare map is lush with waterfalls and plant life. Great map design.
- Weapons balancing; the vehicles/weapons feel more balanced in the full game, than they did in the beta. Helicopters no longer reign the skies with impunity, and can be taken down more easily. The same goes for vehicles.
- Graphics; weapons, vehicles, everything modeled with great detail. Love the Russian/American uniforms.
- Snipers not being allowed to go prone; there are already too many users who jump for the sniper class in every multi-player match, and allowing players to go prone would make them nigh impossible to spot. Being allowed to crouch is more than sufficient; the maps are huge, and there's enough rubble around to generate many good hiding spots that already make a ghillie suited sniper hard to see. If you play on a hardcore server with no killcam, you won't miss the lack of prone at all- snipers are all but invisible.
- Performance; the game runs pretty well despite my not having a top of the line gaming rig. With a Core i7 920, 4 GB RAM, and Nvidia GTX 260 with Core 216, I can run all settings at maximum and still get 70-90 fps.
- **UPDATE**; I did finally get around to trying the single player campaign, and like others have said, it is pretty weak. However, think of the SP as an extended tutorial for the multi-player, where you can try out different weapons and get used to the recoil and handling.
CONS:
- Server browser interface; it's slow and could be optimized better. Adding favorite servers takes a few seconds to do, when it ought to be near instantaneous. Also, I get kicked randomly from certain servers and EA Online occasionally disconnects for no apparent reason. **UPDATE** The connection issues were primarily in the first week of gameplay, when EA's servers were overwhelmed by players. Since then, connection has been rock-solid. Love the dedicated servers.
- Headwave; in an effort to implement more realistic effects, DICE went overboard on the headbobbing that the player experiences when walking around. It was initially rather extreme, causing motion sickness and nausea. Eventually, I acclimated to the bobbing, but it wouldn't hurt the realism if they turned it down a notch.
- Too many persons using sniper online; but you have that problem with any online FPS game.
In conclusion, I'd say the pros far outweigh the cons to make BFBC2 a great and enjoyable multiplayer first person shooter.
**Note: To unlock the M1 Garand, you need to be a Battlefield Veteran (e.g. own at least 2 games of the BF series, including BFBC2). If BFBC2 is your first purchase, you can still qualify by downloading and playing the FREE game, Battlefield Heroes. Then visit [...], to register and view your account (same login/pw as your EA Account).
