Review: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Bringing Out The Big Guns
by Felix Xiao
December 16, 2010
Overview
If you've ever played Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on a console, you probably know it as a superb game characterized by massive wars in interactive environments. As the most recent contender in iPhone first person shooters, EA's Bad Company 2 tries to overtake the bar set by Gameloft's Modern Combat 2.
Features
The heart of the game lies in 14 missions that are played in 5 areas around the world. They can be played in any of the 3 difficulty levels and involve 14 weapons and controllable vehicles. Multiplayer for up to 4 people is available via online, local wifi, and bluetooth in free for all and squad deathmatch game modes. Bad Company 2 includes 52 total achievements from both single player and multiplayer, as well as a full stats page.
The Good
The Battlefield series is well-known for its use of vehicles, and this transfers quite well to your iDevice. Whereas other shooters allow you to only shoot or drive, Bad Company lets you do both and wreck a path of mayhem with a tank. Vehicles include primary and secondary weapons that can be aimed down sights and their own health system. This provides both a challenging and fun experience, as you have to strategically pick off enemies while navigating around obstacles.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has several features that are better than those in Modern Combat 2. Many of the weapons you pick up have lethal attachments, such as grenade launchers, on them that you can switch to by tapping on icons underneath the weapon logo. Aiming down the sight requires you to hold down a button in the left hand corner and is much faster. Enemies also spawn on several heights instead of just on the ground. When directing your tank down a narrow jungle road, hostiles will shoot you from the tops of rocks and trees. A series of detailed and interactive tutorials will help you get the hang of the game, even if you're new to first person shooters.
Once registering with EA, you'll get to battle against up to 3 other opponents in multiplayer mode. Before the start of a match, you're prompted to pick the character you want to use and a starting primary weapon. The maps are decently fun to play on with 4 people and matches flow quite smoothly without much lag.
The Bad
When the title screen is the best image you'll see throughout the entire game, you know there's something wrong. The graphics in Bad Company 2 simply don't cut it when compared to Modern Combat 2. It feels like an envelope of gray surrounds the environments and prevents them from looking bright and polished. Textures of objects look rough and your character's actions are a little chunky at times. The voiceovers and cutscenes that try to describe an uninteresting storyline are nowhere near impressive either.
EA definitely surprised us by throwing a $0.99 price tag on Bad Company 2. However, you really do get what you pay for, as this game is much simpler than Modern Combat 2. The 14 missions go by quickly and only take 5-10 minutes each. Although you can customize the aim assist and turning speed, the 3 control options are pretty much the same system with an extra button here or there. Even with aim assist off, a huge amount of auto-aim is included. While it may perhaps be more realistic, the recoil on weapons is ridiculous and makes it hard to be acurate, especially when shooting an enemy from far away. Grenades also can't be thrown back for some reason, and the sight of that dreaded red logo will deal your character a significant amount of damage.
One of the most disappointing parts of Bad Company 2 for iOS is that it fails to include 2 of the game's most crucial elements. Aside from explosive barrels and a few vehicles, the destructable battlefield that Battlefield is known so well for is completely absent. The multiplayer system also pales in comparison to Modern Combat 2. While there are more than enough random disconnections and menu freezes, there are no perks, unlocks, 72 levels to play through, or experience gained for kills. Instead, you get to watch the scoreboard increase by a number every few seconds. The fact that only 4 people can play at one time is truly a letdown and will leave fans of the console game very disappointed.
The Verdict
While it is still a fun shooter to play through, Bad Company 2 feels like it was released in a hurry to be a mediocre game rather than a phenomenal one. Had this been a premium priced game, we probably wouldn't have recommended it to anyone. However, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is worth it for its current sale price of $0.99, as it'll still provide you with a few hours of bullet-filled action.