Video Game Vintage Title: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a 2010 first-person shooter video game developed by the Swedish firm EA Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iOS and Kindle Fire systems. It is a direct sequel to Battlefield: Bad Company and is part of the Battlefield game series. It was released worldwide in March 2010. The iOS port was released on the App Store on December 16, 2010. A Kindle Fire version was released in June 2012.

The game is primarily a squad-level first-person shooter based in a contemporary modern warfare setting. Additionally, the game includes a single-player campaign, where the player re-assumes the role of Preston Marlowe, the protagonist of the original game. The game's Frostbite 1.5 engine allows for destructible environments. Multiplayer maps, which allow for five different game modes, contain a wide selection of vehicles, aircraft and emplacements.

The game was met with a positive reception from critics, garnering a weighted mean of 88 from aggregator Metacritic for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, and 87 for the PC version. It has also become a commercial success, having sold in excess of nine million units since its initial release. Seven VIP map packs as well as a downloadable game mode have been released thus far, plus an expansion pack centered around the Vietnam War, which was released on December 21, 2010.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Plot

The game begins in October 1944, as a group of US commandos infiltrate an Imperial Japanese Navy-controlled island in the Sea of Japan as part of "Operation Aurora". They secure a Japanese scientist who was working on a secret scalar weapon codenamed "The Black Weapon", and escape the island on a submarine. However as foreshadowed by the scientist's warnings, the commandos witness the weapon firing and subsequently perish from the resulting tsunami, sparking a myth within the U.S. Army.

In the present day, Privates Preston Marlowe, Terrence Sweetwater, George Haggard and Sergeant Samuel Redford are fighting in Russia in an attempt to secure a scalar weapon device. Despite evading Russian soldiers and completing the mission successfully, the device is discovered to be a fake. Impressed with their previous activities, Army General Braidwood has the squad transferred into the Special Activities Division and assigns them a new mission; to contact Agent James Wyatt (called Aguire in-game), much to the disappointment of Redford, who had hoped to retire after the previous mission.

The squad travels to Bolivia in search of the agent, and after many firefights, they eventually save Aguire. He sends them to retrieve his scalar technology intelligence from a French weather satellite that can be controlled from a base in the Andes. Sweetwater lands the satellite and the squad successfully defeat a Russian counterattack aimed at destroying it. Marlowe soon finds the data server and proceeds to descend the mountain during a blizzard while dodging Russian patrols. He survives, and is extracted by the others.

During extraction, Aguire briefs the squad about the man responsible for rebuilding scalar weaponry, Arkady Kirilenko, a Russian Army colonel the squad did not eliminate in Russia. Kirilenko is hoping to use scalar weaponry to disable America's power grid and pave the way for a Russian invasion. He is believed to be hiding in Chile. The squad head there, aided by US forces, and find Kirilenko, although he again escapes. Left with only Kirilenko's papers, Sweetwater discovers there is a shipping manifest for an abandoned ship called the Sangre Del Toro. Aided by the rest of the squad, Marlowe finds the ship and retrieves a compound essential to the use of the weapon, while also finding out the truth behind Operation Aurora - the US military knew it was a suicide mission, and the operation was instead an exercise to learn more about the weapon's capabilities.

While attempting to meet Aguire in Ecuador, the squad's helicopter is shot down and they are separated. Along with their helicopter pilot, Flynn (Eric Loren), they regroup and escape the local militia. Redford gives Aguire the compound before finding out that Aguire has double-crossed them by allying himself with Kirilenko. Aguire reveals that he wants revenge against the United States for what happened to his father, Thomas Wyatt (the leader of the commandos killed in 1944 during Operation Aurora). Despite this, Kirilenko betrays Aguire and kills him. Before he can kill the squad, however, Flynn intervenes and saves them at the cost of his own life.

While the squad is mourning for Flynn, they hear Kirilenko talking through a guard's radio. Marlowe knifes the guard and the squad proceeds toward the city of Quito. Here, after battling squads of South American and Russian troops, they find a large cargo aircraft that is believed to house the scalar weapon. This is confirmed as a powerful electromagnetic pulse is suddenly released, disabling all electronic equipment in the city except the aircraft. Haggard and Sweetwater become disheartened, with Haggard going so far as suggesting the squad abort the mission. Angry at his allies for giving up, Marlowe is about to continue the mission alone before Redford stops him and then convinces the rest to continue. They then infiltrate the aircraft as it takes off. After a firefight to reach the cockpit, they find it empty. They return to the cargo bay to find Kirilenko attempting to fire the scalar weapon again, this time high over the southern United States. With the help of explosives from the plane's armory, they access and destroy the scalar weapon.

The explosion sends the aircraft plummeting, forcing the squad to bail out, but Kirilenko grabs the last parachute before Marlowe. In free fall, Marlowe kills Kirilenko, and is then saved by Sweetwater who hands Marlowe the parachute that was stolen by Kirilenko. The squad lands in Texas, Haggard's home state. Shortly after, General Braidwood arrives to inform them that they are to aid the US Army against the incoming Russian invasion that recently passed through Alaska and Canada, much to the squad's disappointment.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Gameplay

While Bad Company 2 is primarily a first-person shooter, it follows other games in the series by allowing the player to control certain vehicles, including ATVs, APCs, tanks, and helicopters. On foot, players are given access to a variety of real-world small arms such as assault rifles and machine guns. Players can also jump, crouch, and sprint. They can carry one primary weapon and a pistol in multiplayer, or two primary weapons in single-player, as well as grenades and other equipment. Players can fire "from the hip", but zooming in and using iron sights, reflex sights, or telescopic sights (depending on the weapon) will provide much better accuracy when shooting.

Bad Company 2 heavily emphasizes destructible environments. Large sections of most buildings can be destroyed by explosives, and some walls and fences break down under barrages of bullets, with the game's physics engine realistically simulating the destruction.

The game utilizes a "regenerating health" system, rather than giving players health points as older games in the Battlefield series have done. To accommodate this in multiplayer, the "Medic" equipment now accelerates health regeneration rather than directly restoring the player's health. If a player is wounded, he or she must take cover and avoid damage in order to regain health. A heavily wounded player will see dirt and blood around the edges of the screen. Along with Battlefield Vietnam and Battlefield 3, Bad Company 2 is one of only three games in the Battlefield series to show blood without third-party modification.[1

Reception
Critical reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator Score

GameRankings (X360) 89.03%

(PS3) 88.83%

(PC) 88.34%

(iOS) 73.33%

Metacritic (X360) 88

(PS3) 88

(PC) 87

(iOS) 64

Review scores

Publication Score

1UP.com A-

Edge 8/10

Eurogamer 9/10

Game Informer 9.5/10

GameSpot 9.0/10

GameSpy 4.5/5 stars

GameTrailers 9.1/10

GameZone 9/10

IGN 8.9/10

(iOS) 5/10

Official PlayStation Magazine (US) 4.5/5

Official PlayStation Magazine (UK) 8/10

Official Xbox Magazine 8.5/10

Official Xbox Magazine UK 8/10

PC Gamer UK 81/100

PC Zone 84/100

Bad Company 2 has received critical acclaim. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic have the PlayStation 3 version at 88.83% and 88/100 respectively, the Xbox 360 version at 89.03% and 88/100, and the PC version at 88.34% and 87. The iOS version received generally poorer reviews and holds scores of 73.33% and 64/100.

GameZone's Steven Hopper gave the game 9.25/10, saying, "Even though the single-player campaign still isn't where it needs to be, Bad Company 2 is definitely a great sequel that builds on its predecessor in every way, making for one that no shooter fan will want to miss, especially if you go online for your gaming." Game Informer gave the game 9.5 out of 10, praising the improvements made over the first Bad Company. GameTrailers gave the game 9.1 out of 10, praising its use of an intertwining multiplayer in which "Purists will appreciate that you must earn every kill." Level design was also commended; "Bad Company 2 features sprawling, densely populated environments with an excellent level of detail." However, they referred to the single-player mode as "predictable."

GameSpy reviewer Anthony Gallegos gave the game 4.5 stars out of 5, describing the single-player campaign as "a blast" and concluding that "the staying power for BFBC2 lies in its multiplayer." Dan Whitehead from Eurogamer reviewed the game and gave it a score of 9/10, describing it as an "open challenge" to Activision's market leader, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and calling Bad Company 2 a "way superior game" when compared to Modern Warfare 2. Whitehead also commented that it had "immediately evident" improvements over the previous game in the series, and concluded that Bad Company 2 is "the online shooter at its most streamlined, most thoughtful, most exhilarating." IGN gave the game 8.9 out of 10, praising the visuals as being "near-photo realistic" and calling it "one of the best looking games around."

Sales

As of March 2010, 2.3 million copies of Bad Company 2 had been sold in Europe and North America. By May 2010, it had sold more than 5 million copies, which had grown to "almost 6 million" by November. As of June 30, 2011, over 9 million copies of the game have been sold across all platforms. As of March 2012, this number had increased to over 12 million.