Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Studio	DICE
Publisher	Electronic Arts
Erstveröffent- lichung	March 4, 2010
platform	Windows , PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 , iOS
Game engine	Frostbite 1.5
genre	Tactical shooter
Game mode	Single player , multiplayer
control	Mouse , keyboard , gamepad
system advantages preconditions	Windows XP or higher CPU: Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 2.0 GHz / Intel Pentium D 3.0 GHz RAM: 2 GB Graphics card: 256 MB Hard Disk: 15 GB are required to install the game, 10 GB for disc version Internet connection: 512 kbit cable / DSL
medium	1 DVD , 1 Blu-ray Disc
language	German
Current version	PC: 795745 (September 21, 2011)
Age rating	USK PEGI

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a first-person shooter developed by Digital Illusions CE that was released by Electronic Arts in March 2010 for Windows , PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 . In December 2010 a variant for iOS was also released . The game is part of the Battlefield - franchises and the direct successor of Battlefield: Bad Company .

The game offers a single player campaign lasting about six to eight hours , but the main focus of the game, as with all Battlefield games, is on the multiplayer online battles.

A (non-nuclear) war between the United States and Russia serves as the backdrop for the single-player plot and the multiplayer battles . In the single player part, the player controls a soldier of a commando unit that is on the trail of a Japanese super weapon during this war.

Gameplay

General

In both the single-player and the multiplayer part of the game, the player takes control of a soldier. This is controlled on the PC with keyboard and mouse, on game consoles with a gamepad. Most of the time the character moves through the area on foot, but there are also vehicles, boats and helicopters available (in the single player part only in selected places) in which the player can take a seat behind the wheel or the on-board gun.

The head-up display that appears depending on the setting offers only a few displays. Optionally, a small map showing the teammates, enemies sighted, ammunition, weapons and the next target, as well as other small displays showing the weapon used as well as remaining ammunition and grenades can be displayed. There is no health or damage report. If the player is hit, the edge of the field of vision turns red and the perception of the playing figure decreases. This manifests itself in the reduction of the field of view and the ambient noise is only played back at a muffled level. If the player is not hit for a while, the character recovers quickly and returns to normal. In addition, no blood appears when the enemy is shot down.

The character can carry two weapons, plus grenades and explosives. You can choose from a variety of different weapons, from submachine guns and repeating shotguns to sniper rifles and rocket launchers. Most weapons have an alternate aiming mode that allows the player to zoom in on his target, but is limited in his movement. Some weapons also have an underflow grenade launcher .

As in the previous game, very large parts of the game environment can be destroyed by weapons. Houses, protective walls and trees can be damaged and destroyed by powerful weapons. This change in the game environment forces the player to adapt his game tactics accordingly, since, unlike in previous games, he is not long safe from enemy gunfire even when he is under cover behind walls. The developers placed fuel barrels and tanks in various places. The explosion of these containers often damages nearby buildings and tears holes in them. They can also be used to injure or kill nearby enemies.

In the game, realistic weapons with fictional names are sometimes used. Some websites have completely specialized in this topic. These websites compare the weapon names from the game with those from real life.

Single player

In the game, as in the previous game, the player takes on the role of the soldier Preston Marlowe , one of four members of the B Company, known as the Bad Company.

The levels of the game are linear and tubular, there are no alternative paths to the end of the level. Only in a level called "Sangre del Toro" does the player get more freedom, since he can choose between the three goals of the level, which are spatially far apart, in any order. The individual levels are mostly crossed on foot, but sometimes you also take the wheel or an on-board gun of a vehicle or boat. In the "Heavy Metal" mission, however, the player mostly controls vehicles. Initially, the player controls the M1A1 Abrams heavy main battle tank , later taking over a UAV drone . The player is only on foot towards the end of the mission.

The three teammates controlled by the game are always close to the player. They attack targets on their own, but always wait at predetermined key points for actions by the player before they advance further. The teammates cannot be harmed and therefore do not die. However, they take cover when fired and fall over when grenade or rocket fire. However, you can wound and kill opponents. In order not to ruin the fun of the game, however, they hit very badly and cause very little damage.

Initially, the player only has a limited, predetermined selection of weapons available, but he can pick up and use weapons from killed opponents. The weapons used are often carried over to the next level. In addition, there are regular supply containers where the player can freely choose two weapons from the weapons that have been found so far. This increases the player's options for action, as different tactics are required depending on the weapon and situation. For example, if the player decides to use a rocket launcher, he can easily take out enemy vehicles. Without this weapon, he has to find alternative solutions, such as the explosion of a fuel tank near the vehicle. However, weapons required for the situation can often be found nearby.

The game offers several different game environments. The character fights through dense jungle with wooden hut settlements, South American deserts, the icy snow-covered mountain region of the Andes and South American cities with residential buildings, corrugated iron huts and industrial complexes.

Multiplayer

In the multiplayer part there are five different game modes to choose from:

• Rush: The rush mode is the main focus of the multiplayer part of the game. Here the attacking team has to destroy communication systems (M-Com), while the defenders have to prevent them. The attackers have a limited number of respawn tickets; no ticket is lost in the event of resuscitation. As long as this quota is not used up, killed players can re-enter the game. However, the players of the defending team can re-enter without any limit. If the attackers have destroyed all systems, they win the round. If, on the other hand, they have used up all the tickets, the defenders win.
• Conquest: This is the classic Battlefield mode. As with Battlefield 2, the fight for the control of flag points, which also reduces the respawn points. The more flag points a team controls, the faster the enemy will lose points.
• Squad Rush: A modification of the rush mode in which two teams, each consisting of a four-man squad , fight for a communication system.
• Squad Deathmatch: Here up to four teams, consisting of two or four players, fight against each other for a point victory.
• Onslaught: There are a few goals to be achieved in this cooperative mode. The team consists of four players, the opponents are controlled by the computer. You have to download the pack for a fee from the EA Store, Xbox Live or PlayStation Store .

The player selects one of four classes, which differ in armament, equipment and skills. The Recon soldier is equipped with a sniper rifle and mortar aiming device or C4 explosives , and has a so-called "motion sensor" that is thrown like a grenade and indicates enemy soldiers within a radius of 25 meters. The medic has a light machine gun and can heal and reanimate teammates. The Assault class has assault rifles with an underflow grenade launcher and can distribute boxes of ammunition. Instead of the grenade launcher, a shotgun or a smoke grenade launcher can also be attached to the rifle. If a shotgun is selected, Assault Class C4 is available. The Engineer is armed with a submachine gun and a bazooka / anti-tank mine and can repair damaged vehicles. There are also various weapons such as shotguns or rifles that can be used in any of these classes instead of the primary weapon.

The players only start with basic equipment, other equipment must be unlocked with experience points. These are obtained for many actions such as capturing a flag or killing opponents. The multiplayer mode uses PunkBuster to fight cheaters .

The multiplayer part can only be used online - there is no LAN support. It is also not possible to create your own dedicated server, but must be rented for a monthly fee.

So far, seven map packs have been released for the game (December 1, 2010), which players can download free of charge with a VIP code. The VIP code is included with every new game pack. Map packs are automatically downloaded as updates and are free of charge. This VIP code is supposed to be the beginning of the fight against used versions of the game. If you still decide on the used version of the game and want to play multiplayer with the new cards, VIP access can also be purchased for around 15 euros on the Xbox Live Marketplace , in the PlayStation Store or in the EA Store .

Bad Company 2 also has various additional content, such as the new "OnSlaught mode" (in German "Attacke" mode), in which on revised versions of the maps Valparaiso, Atacama Desert, Isla Inocentes or Nelson Bay in co-op mode Fight AI opponents with up to four players and control points must be captured and held. The OnSlaught mode can be played on different levels of difficulty and can be downloaded for 4.99 euros, which corresponds to approx. 420 Microsoft Points. The mode is only available for consoles and is no longer implemented for the PC version.

Vietnam

The downloadable content (DLC) "Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam" takes place in the time of the Vietnam War , more precisely in 1969. The expansion can only be played online, the story will not be continued. A total of 15 new weapons were added, such as the AK-47 assault rifle or a flamethrower, here called the M2. Six new vehicles were also added, including the Bell UH-1 “Huey” multi-purpose helicopter . The flight behavior has been simplified so that even beginners can fly with a helicopter.

The United States Army is fighting the North Vietnamese People's Army (NVA) on five new maps . There are maps with few vehicles, without vehicles, and with many vehicles. Care was taken to make it clear that you are in the rainforest, but the game dynamics should not be negatively influenced. A large part of the area can still be destroyed. However, there are no collapsing houses this time in the sense that the Vietnamese houses in the add-on do not have a stable framework. You can only destroy the walls. Watchtowers, which only exist on the American side, continue to collapse if hit by a heavy gun.

The sound system has also been revised and well-known songs from the 60s and 70s have been added. The previous messages from the US Army and the Viet Cong have been replaced by announcements from real radio traffic. The sound of the weapons and vehicles was also used in real life.

action

1944: The action begins in World War II . As part of Operation Aurora , an American command team lands on a Japanese- occupied Pacific island. Your goal is to enable a Japanese scientist who is working on a super weapon to escape to the USA. Although they are discovered quickly, they manage to free the researcher. They manage to reach the American submarine and escape from the island. Before they get far, however, the Japanese super-weapon is detonated on the island. A subsequent tidal wave hits the submarine and washes the soldiers into the sea.

Present: The US is at war with Russia. The Russian army has already conquered Eastern Europe . The B-Company, called Bad Company, consisting of the four soldiers Marlowe, "Hags" Haggard, "Sweets" Sweetwater and "Sarge" Redford, mainly operates behind enemy lines. During a mission in Alaska, which was conquered by Russia, they fail to protect an American spy; he is killed by a Russian commander in front of them. The commander escapes, but they manage to get hold of a truck with the cargo they are looking for and escape despite fierce Russian resistance. Her commanding officer, Braidwood, then sends her with data on this cargo to a CIA expert named Aguire in Bolivia so that he can analyze the data. The pacifist helicopter pilot Flynn drops her off in the Bolivian jungle, where the B Company finds out that Aguire was kidnapped by Russian soldiers. In the dense jungle they track down the kidnappers and free Aguire. This confirms the assumption that it is a Russian super weapon. However, his data about it, obtained through a secretly hacked communications satellite, has been stolen. The only copies of the data are on the satellite's data server. Therefore, with the help of Flynn, the B-Company penetrates the satellite control center high up in the Andes and crashes the satellite. The Russians also try to take the crashed satellite, but the B-Company can defend the position and recover the data.

The details of the weapon that Sweetwater identifies as a scalar weapon are passed on to Aguire. From this the soldiers learn that Kirilenko (the Russian commander, whom they had to let escape earlier) is the brain of the project. The team independently decides to track down the man itself. In Chile they succeed in capturing the Russian during a US attack on a village. They learn that the last part of the unfinished weapon can be found on the ship Sangre del Toro before Kirilenko manages to escape amid the US bombing of the burning village. For unknown reasons, the shipwreck lies in the sand of the Atacama Desert , where the team immediately sets off. In the wreck, Marlowe finds an old container with a mixture - the last part of the scalar weapon. In the ship, Marlowe also finds a report about the deployment on the Pacific island at the time, according to which the American leadership knew about the existence of the scalar weapon and deliberately sent the men there to their death.

On the way back to Aguire, her helicopter is shot down and the team is separated. Flynn is captured by militias but can be freed. When the B-Company wants to hand over the container with the mixture to Aguire, they experience a nasty surprise: Aguire has teamed up with Kirilenko. It now turns out that his father, Thomas Wyatt, was one of the commandos that had been abandoned. Aguire, who learned through Marlowe's find that his father was deliberately sent to his death, wants to wipe out the United States in revenge. But Kirilenko, now in possession of the mixture, no longer needs it and stabs Aguire from behind. Before his men can kill the B Company, Flynn appears and attacks with his helicopter. The B-Company is rescued, but Flynn's helicopter is hit by a missile and explodes while Kirilenko escapes.

The soldiers now pursue Kirilenko to a nearby port city that is in the middle of the war. The soldiers fight their way across the city guarded by enemy soldiers and militias, survive enemy mortar attacks and finally reach the port area. There they observe a Russian airplane that, strangely enough, begins to glow. The scalar weapon is on board this aircraft and is ignited while the B-Company has to watch helplessly. After narrowly escaping the detonation of the weapon, the soldiers rush to the airfield to hijack the aircraft, which was surprisingly not destroyed by the detonation, since apparently all objects and living beings in the center of the weapon remain undamaged. They manage to get on board at the last second. As the plane approaches Texas , the commandos overwhelm the Russian soldiers on board. As the last survivor, Kirilenko locks himself in the protected high security chamber with the scalar weapon and intends to detonate it over US territory. Knowing that the explosion will destroy the aircraft, the soldiers use explosives to blow up the chamber and then destroy the scalar weapon. While the heavily damaged plane crashes, the soldiers grab parachutes and jump off. However, when Sweets is about to hand Marlowe a parachute, Kirilenko jumps in between and falls to earth, wrestling with Sweets for the last parachute. Marlowe spontaneously jumps after without a parachute while the burning plane breaks apart. He freefalls Kirilenko with his pistol and grabs the parachute. They land safely in a field in Texas and are already enjoying their victory. But when Braidwood picks them up there, he has bad news: the super weapon is destroyed, but the Russian army has just marched into Alaska . In the credits you can see a map of North America, which is largely occupied by the Russian armed forces. The soldiers jokingly prepare for battle. The story continues in the not yet published part Battlefield: Bad Company 3.

development

Development of the game began a few months before the predecessor, Battlefield: Bad Company, was completed . Overall, the development took about 18 to 19 months. The number of participants fluctuated in the various stages of development, and has now risen to between 70 and 75 employees.

The PC and console versions were developed in parallel. Various changes have been made for the PC version, including higher resolutions and the ability to adjust graphics settings and aspect ratio. In addition, the PC version offers multisampling anti-aliasing and HBAO (Horizon Based Ambient Occlusion ). In addition to DirectX 9, DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 are supported.

The technical framework of the game is the Frostbite engine 1.5 developed by the developer DICE itself, which uses the Havok physics engine .

In November 2009 the developers started a closed beta test of the multiplayer part of the game. Participation codes were available through pre-purchase at certain dealers and certain hands-on activities.

publication

The downloadable public beta version of the game had already been downloaded over two million times in the first five days, and by February there had been over 3.5 million downloads.

Pre-orderers of the console version as well as buyers of the PC version got immediate access to the fourth multiplayer mode, called Squad Rush. All other buyers of the console version had to wait 30 days for it to be unlocked. A separately available "Limited Edition" of the game gives buyers direct access to six unlockable items. It is available for the same price, but in smaller quantities.

The Xbox 360 version of the game immediately topped the sales charts in North America and the UK . The Playstation 3 version reached No. 4 in North America and No. 2 in the United Kingdom, and the PC version was No. 1 in North America and the United Kingdom. The game was the best-selling software title of all platforms in North America in its debut week.

reception

reviews publication Rating PS3 Windows Xbox 360 GameStar k. A. 90% k. A. IGN k. A. k. A. 8.9 / 10 Meta-ratings Metacritic 88% 87% 88%

The game was rated very positively by the trade press. The website Metacritic calculates an average rating of 87% for the PC version from the reviews of the trade press, the console versions are each 88%. The Vietnam expansion also scored 88% on the consoles, the PC version again scored worst with 86%.

The computer magazine GameStar gave the multiplayer part a high rating of 90% and particularly praised the battlefield atmosphere, destructible environments and the sound of the game. The sometimes clumsy textures and the restriction to only four multiplayer modes were criticized. For the single player part, on the other hand, they only gave a rating of 76% and commented on the plot as “unspectacular blast” and “pathos common to the genre”. Above all, the short playing time, lack of variety, "stupid" artificial intelligence of the opponents and the small difference between many of the weapons are criticized.

Erik Brudvig from IGN is also a little disappointed with the single player part, but praises the graphics and atmosphere. The multiplayer part of the game, the game mechanics and the presentation (sound, graphics) were also praised. Brudvig awards a grade of 8.9 out of 10 points and an “Editor's Choice Award”.

Dan Whitehead from EuroGamer.net praised the improvements over its predecessor, including the expanded possibilities to destroy the game environment and its consequences for the player. According to Whitehead, Bad Company 2 even reaches and surpasses Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 , which he takes as a benchmark. It awards a rating of 9/10 points.

Kevin Lunn from Spieletipps.de was also disappointed with the single player part. For that he praised the graphics and atmosphere. However, the online mode also impressed him because of the destructible environment. He rated the game with a score of 92%.

Alexander Boedeker from Gbase criticized the somewhat arcade-heavy gameplay as well as the small number of cards included in the Vietnam DLC. However, he was convinced by the destructible environment, the large fleet of vehicles and the relatively moderate hardware requirements. He rated the game with 8.5 out of 10 points.

Web links

• Official website
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 at MobyGames (English)
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in theInternet Movie Database(English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Bad Company 2 for the iPhone: the sale has started ( memento of the original from December 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , bf-games.net of December 16, 2010; Accessed April 9, 2011 
2. ^ Johan Andersson: Bad Company 2 PC Graphics Details. In: Battlefield Blog. February 19, 2010, archived from the original on January 26, 2012 ; accessed on August 29, 2018 . 
3. ↑ Official website: BFBC2 Patch for PC and XBox360 ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . November 30, 2010. Retrieved December 8, 2010 
4. ^ Battlefield Bad Company 2. In: RealShooter.EU. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011 ; accessed on August 29, 2018 . 
5. ↑ VIP Map Pack # 6 is here. In: Battlefield Blog. August 17, 2010, archived from the original on February 25, 2011 ; accessed on August 29, 2018 . 
6. ↑ Looking ahead. In: Battlefield Blog. February 3, 2011, archived from the original on January 3, 2012 ; accessed on August 29, 2018 . 
7. Jump up ↑ Bad Company 2 - Vietnam - Music Tracklist. In: BFcom.org. December 26, 2010, archived from the original on September 20, 2011 ; accessed on August 29, 2018 . 
8. ↑ Gamasutra : Battlefield Logistics: A Bad Company 2 Interview . March 5, 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
9. ↑ ^{a b} PC Games Hardware : Bad Company 2: Exclusive technology interview on DirectX 11, physics and more . February 20, 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
10. ↑ PlayStation Blog: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - PS3 Beta Begins November 19 . November 5, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
11. ↑ ^{a b} Gamasutra : Bad Company 2 Demo Hits 3.5 million downloads . February 22, 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
12. ↑ Gamasutra : Saling The World: Bad Company 2 Leads US Multiplatform Sales . March 5, 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
13. ↑ ^{a b} Meta evaluation Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360). In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed June 9, 2016 . 
14. ↑ ^{a b} Erik Brudvig: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Review. In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis , March 2, 2010, accessed August 25, 2015 . 
15. ↑ ^{a b} Meta assessment Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Windows). In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed June 9, 2016 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b} Meta ranking Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PlayStation 3). In: Metacritic . CBS Corporation , accessed June 9, 2016 . 
17. ^ ^{A b} Fabian Siegismund: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Test. In: GameStar . International Data Group , February 26, 2010, accessed June 9, 2016 . 
18. ^ Metacritic: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam PC
19. ↑ Metacritic: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam PlayStation 3
20. ↑ Metacritic: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam Xbox 360
21. ^ EuroGamer.net : Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Review . March 2, 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
22. ↑ Review of Spieletipps. Accessed on January 5, 2011
23. ^ Gbase : Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Vietnam Review . January 6, 2011.