It’s amazing to think how far Dice has come since producing the original Bad Company. As a developer famed for focusing on the multiplayer, it was fascinating to watch it get to grips with characterisation and set pieces. It’s almost as if things have come full circle now and with the multiplayer thrills of Battlefield 1943 proving it in no way has lost its touch, Bad Company 2 is taking a different tact to its predecessor. If Bad Company 1 was a riff on the Three Kings motif, then Bad Company 2 can be described as ‘Three Kings in the Clancy universe’. It’s all far more serious this time around.

Dice is keeping its mouth shut over the single-player and instead has decided to focus much of its attention on the multiplayer. It’s difficult to talk about any modern warfare title without mentioning Infinity Ward’s colossus, but the sandbox style of Dice is different enough from the taut set-piece-driven affair of Call Of Duty to allow them both space on your shelf. After all, the Battlefield series has always been one about checkpoints, vehicular combat and big, big explosions. That’s where ‘Destruction 2.0’ comes into play.

There was no getting around the fact that the destruction in the original Battlefield was a disappointment. It even failed to really give the illusion of destruction, as doorframes and buildings were stubbornly resistant to even the most powerful of explosions and now that Red Faction: Guerrilla has shown what can actually be achieved, Dice is having to up its game. Or more to the point, has had to think more tactically about destruction. Buildings will indeed fall, but as 1943 has shown you don’t need total destruction to give the impression of an ever changing and dynamic battlefield. Simply giving options on the fly and as long as scenery looks like it could be destroyed, it can, then the illusion is complete. Once you add into the fray tanks, planes, helicopters, RPGs and a whole host of modern military tactics then Bad Company’s multiplayer is beginning to look like it could have the edge over even Modern Warfare 2. Giving players a sandbox and inviting them to ‘go nuts’ is a much more enticing prospect than what could arguably be simply ‘more of the same’ from Infinity Ward (though obviously an incredibly refined and addictive ‘same’).

Multiplayer is the driving force behind Bad Company 2, though, which does make a change from the single-player focus of before. Gold Rush will be making a return as will more than likely the Battlefield staple Conquest, which was patched into the original due to popular demand. Small squads of players and the tactical options of working as a team gives them will help carve a niche for Bad Company 2, the promo video proudly showing a whole host of tactical choices for overcoming the enemy. But giving players the tools doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get used. Modern Warfare works so well because it strips away much of the choices and puts the emphasis on the individual, the Perk system for example doesn’t require teamwork of any kind. Having said that, 1943 shows that Dice knows its audience and perhaps choice and co-operation really will make all the difference.

… continued