Battlefield Bad Company review

I love being pleasantly surprised by a game. So far I haven’t enjoyed Battlefield games on consoles as they just don’t cut it compared to Battlefield 2 on the PC. However, I think I’ve found something special with Battlefield Bad Company. Finally developers DICE have given us a game with a full single player campaign which doesn’t just feel like the multiplayer game with bots and this one’s very different to what you’ve played before!

First of all, for once the single player game’s not all worthy like some others I could mention. You tag along with three others who are all actually good chums despite having the name of Bad Company. They’ll cover your back and make jokes about you being the new boy without descending into parody - I particularly like Sweetwater who keeps going on about a big vehicle called the ‘Truckasaurus Rex’. Each mission sees a number of goals to complete but it’s up to you how you complete it - you can drive in, run in all guns blazing or sneak around the back, it’s the sort of sandbox play that won’t leave nasty grains between your teeth.

The scenery’s also very destructible. If someone’s hiding behind a wall you can drive through it in a tank and crush them or blow a hole in a building and watch them run for more cover - the same applies to you though so watch out for the sudden disappearance of hiding places.

The enemy AI is a bit too keen at times so it’s lucky you’ve got infinite health syringes to patch you up in a tight spot and interestingly if you do die, you re-spawn slightly back from the action and join in where you left off - which can lead to you taking risks you normally wouldn’t.

Multiplayer sees you playing Gold Rush mode as one team attacks gold stockpiles and another tries to defend them. It’s quite chaotic with all those explosives and destructible objects kicking around but it keeps you playing thanks to a promotion and unlockable weapons system. There’s 8 maps to play and soon a new mode available to download for free.

The good news is that the Battlefield Bad Company release date was a couple of weeks ago in the US and UK, plus you can check out the Battlefield demo in the PS3 and Xbox Live marketplace stores for free first. I like this game a lot - it looks great, plays well and has just the right balance of fun and thrills both in single and multiplayer mode.

My Battlefield: Bad Company review gets a truly excellent 8 out of 10.

Related links: Battlefield Bad Company sequel, Youtube Battlefield Bad Company review