thewar,andyouplayasoneofthem.The
openingis brilliantlyatmospheric,withthe
squadmovingalonga foggy,moonlitriver
in a dinghy,deepbehindenemylines.As
theysneakthroughenemycampsandtry
tolocatethetarget,thesunslowlyrises
untilthejungleis bathedin goldenlight.
It’sagedquitea bit,butstilllooksvery
handsomein places.
Asyouplay,youoccasionallyhear
a loud,machine-likegroaningin the
distance.Thisis laterrevealedtobethe
Aurora,anexperimentalEMPbombthat,
attheendofthemission,youseebeing
detonatedin spectacularfashion.The
operationis coveredupbytheUSmilitary
andsoonbecomesa myth.Thenweleap
throughtimeandjoinBadCompanyin the
presentday.It’sa fantasticintroduction,
andoneoftheBattlefieldseries’best,
mostevocativesingleplayersequences.
It’salsoa lotmoreseriousthananything
in thefirstgame,whichsetsthetonefor
therestofthestory.Thehumouris still
present,butthecharactersaren’tasself-
centredasbefore.
DICErealisedthat,in theoriginal,there
wasa disconnectbetweeneveryman
Marloweandthefactthat,whenyou
playedthegame,youbecomean
unstoppableone-manarmy.“Youwere
thisordinaryguy,butwhenyouwere
playingyouwereActionJackson,”said
producerGordonVanDykein a 2010
interview.“Sowewantedtofusethat
together.Wekeptthesamecharacters
andthesamevoiceactors,anddidn’t
loseoursenseofhumour,butmadetheir
goalsmoreseriousandhadthemfightfor
everyone,notjustthemselves.”Theresult
is a leaderandsquadthatarea lotmore
likeable,andwhohavea muchmore
noblecause.
RussiancolonelArkadyKirilenko,the
villainofthepiece,is planningtotrigger
theEMPanddisableAmerica’spower
grid,pavingthewayforaninvasion.
And,naturally,it’syourjobtostophim.
Thisdoesmakeit easiertorootforthe
characters,andgivesthema clearergoal,
butit’sa fairlygenericstorycomparedto
itspredecessor.Theheroesofa military
FPScampaignchasinggoldratherthan
glorywasa uniquespinontheformula,
andonethatDICEshouldconsider
returningtoif it makesanother
BadCompany.
Therearenoplansfora sequelatthe
moment,though,despitethesecond
gamesellinga tidysixmillioncopies.
“We’renotsurewhatpeoplereallyliked
aboutit,”saidformerDICECEOKarl-
MagnusTroedssonin a 2014interview.
“Somepeoplesaytheyfoundthe
multiplayerfasterandmoredirect.Some
likedthecharactersandthehumour.
Peoplelikeddifferentthingsaboutit, and
it’sscarytogobackandtryandremakea
fanfavouritewhennoonecanreallyput
theirfingeronwhatexactlyit is people
lovedaboutit.”
Thesingleplayercampaign,though
aboutaslinearasit gets,makesample
useoflarge,openspaces,includingruined
cities, mountain bases and vast, forested
valleys.Likethemultiplayerthatmade
theseriesfamous,it mixesair,vehicle
andinfantrycombattogreateffect,and
thoughthereareslightlytoomanyon-rail
sections,there’sa goodamountofvariety.
Despitethesquad’sbestefforts,however,
theRussiansmanagetoinvadetheUS
andadvancethroughCanadaandAlaska.
Thegameendsonthatratherbleaknote,
andcreatesa clearsetupfora sequel,
which(ifit evergetsmade)couldseeBad
Companydefendingtheir home turf, in
Homefront-style.BETTERWITHFRIENDS
Asfunasthesingleplayercampaign
is,it’stheclass-basedmultiplayerthat
keptpeopleplayingBadCompany 2
forhundredsofhours.Thefastpace,
destructiblelevels,enormousmaps,broad
selectionofvehiclesandcompelling
progressionsystemareamongthemany
reasonspeoplestillconsiderit their
favouriteoftheseries.Latergameshave
expandedmassivelyin termsofscopeand
scale,butthere’ssomethingappealing
aboutthemorefocused,andlessflashy
designofBadCompany2’smultiplayer.
Skyscrapersfallingoverandtropical
stormsarecool,butthisis proofyoucan
haveanamazingmultiplayerexperience
withoutbeingsooverthetop.
Themapsaresomeofthemost
memorablein theseries,too.Teamingup
withfriendsanddrivinga columnoftanks
alongthewaterfrontin AricaHarbour
whilesnipershangbackandpickoff
Engineersis a thrill.Andthedense,snow-
coveredforestsandscatteredvillagesof
WhitePassmakeforsometense,brutal
firefights.TenmapsshippedwithBad
Company2, andtheyeachhavetheir
owndistinctivepersonalityandambience.
They’resmallerthantheseries’other
sprawlingbattlefields,butthisworkedin
thegame’sfavour,makingeveryround
feeltightandfast-paced.If youmakea
mistakeandgetyourselfkilled,youcan
respawnanddashbackintothethickofa
battlein notime,whichgivesthegamea
greatenergy.
SomehardcorefansconsiderBad
Company2 tobetoostreamlined
comparedtothescopeanddepthofits
massive,anddenselaterbrethrenin the
series.Butthisis preciselywhyit works.
It’sa polished,tightlydesignedand
brilliantlyrefinedtakeontheBattlefield
formula.Andtheadditionofupgradetrees
foreachofthefourclassesencourages
youtostepoutofyourcomfortzoneand
trydifferentstylesofplay.
Alloftheseelements,combinedwith
thecharismaticcharactersandhumorous
toneofthesingleplayercampaign,make
BadCompany2 oneofthemostbeloved
gamesin theseries.If DICEis stillsitting
aroundandwonderingwhypeople
lovethesegames,andif it shouldmake
anotherone,thechoiceis obvious.The
factthatpeoplearestilltalking,writing
andreminiscingaboutthisgamealmost
sevenyearsafteritsreleaseshouldbe
evidenceenoughthat a sequel is more
than welcome.