Blas Mo Fo Is My Bitch

I am simply loving my time with Bad Company 2 so far. Granted, I loved Modern Warfare 2 when it first came out, but one can only take so many knifers and n00b-tubers before the experience begins to ware on them. I'm not saying I don't like that game anymore--it's still a great game--I just currently have no urge to play it. It has been replaced.

Now, as for that title, I said I would publicly humiliate the first person to thrice surrender me their tags, and that unfortunate sap is none other than Blas Mo Fo. Blas, you got owned, go play PSP.

Back to my general impressions. I took that screen shot (sorry for the low res, I used my iPhone) during one of the single player levels. Take a look at it. Gorgeous, no? I really wish they made a multiplayer map out of that set. There's that sweet water fall, the hill you have to run down before bottle-necked at the bridge, and sniper posts everywhere...okay, it might make a shit map, but it's just so damn pretty that I want to see it more often. In a time when most games use only three colors (brown, gray, and muzzle flash), it's so nice to play a game with such lush landscapes, even if I do shoot them to shit with a Bradley.

I've been playing through the single player, and I've been moderately impressed. It's nothing to write home about, but the campaign does have its moments (sniping during thunder claps, running between houses in a blizzard trying not to freeze). As exemplified by that picture I took, the graphics are just jaw-dropping. Hell, light even filters in through canopies in a natural-looking way (and when you destroy the trees, the effect goes away as it should). The only gripe in that department is the fire effects, which look very Xbox 1 compared to everything else. The campaign has been pretty fun for the most part, but after a few hours I was already ready for it to end. The vehicle levels are not very fun. I just want to blow shit up in the jungle. I also just kind of miss the feel of the first game's campaign. It was funnier, and I liked the plot a whole lot better. That said, it's still nice to get more time with these characters.

Multiplayer has been a blast. The game just feels so different than anything else I've played (including BC1). The squad-based gameplay makes you feel like you're part of a war with a scope beyond your play experience. I can't really describe it better than that. It just feels like the game is bigger than you. What's really fun is just going on adventures with your squad mates. You know, little side operations. A friend and I decided that it was crucial that we knife the opposing team's UAV pilot, so we had a race to the offense's spawn area (avoiding enemy contact, of course). I got there first because my friend had to take a detour to C4 an enemy tank. It may not sound hilarious in text, but let me just promise you this: the more you just focus on you squad, the more fun you'll have. I've never laughed so much while playing an online shooter.

In terms of the game's balance, the only aspect that stands out as a little over-powered is the Hind (particularly on the last leg of Isla Inocentes). It's really tough to drive, but when someone is good with it, it's a bitch to take down. I'm sure there has to be some tried-and-true method of taking down one of these things, but we have yet to find it.
[Update]: Nevermind, the Hind is not hard to drive, and I think the only Rush level where it appears is Isla Inocentes. The Apache on Port Valdez is very similar, but that map has plenty of mounted guns and a Bakcha AA which are more than capable of taking it down.

Anyway, I need to wrap this post up so I can go play some more. Last thing: I've read some bitching about the game not allowing a squad larger than four people. The game will let you have your full Xbox LIVE Party of 8 in a game on the same team, but you'll be split into two groups of four. Why not let you have a squad of 8? It's quite simple. In a game of 12 on 12, if you have a party of 8, you can have one guy go way around to back of the other team's base and have them spawn their 7 squad mates. That would be terribly broken. To have squads of 8, you'd have to allow games with ~48 people, and based on the reviews MAG is getting, maybe more is not always better.

[Addendum]: I like that they have dedicated servers because games are almost never laggy (and with 24-player games on huge, expansive maps, I imagine you have to have dedicated servers), but they have got to get that shit working on a more consistent basis.

--Chilly P