Battlefield Bad Company 2

[Gombol]

I think when i ordered a Naruto DVD set for lulz, it was borked, they replaced it straight away. Guess you were 1 in a million Doc.

 

[Nanor]

I ordered Spore from them and they lost it in the post.

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

Maybe the boat sank. This being what i meant with what i said before, maybe it wasnt "your" country docbot that messed up.

 

[Gombol]

Is anyone else getting this: http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/5738/75237972.jpg

Its starting to annoy me now, i wanna see what i need for the next unlock and how much i need for it

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

So anyone fancy an event?

 

[Macca]

So tempted to get this after I get paid, however I think it's best that I wait till after my exams before I throw many many hours away to a new BF game ! looking forward to a brief review though if anyone fancies posting a quickie up .

 

[thatbloke]

looking forward to a brief review though

Very good

 

[elDiablo]

Very good

Pretty meh, not as good as BF2.

 

[thatbloke]

Pretty meh, not as good as BF2.

you fail

 

[elDiablo]

you fail

No, the game does. And I'm not just talking about the HUGE amount of bugs in it.

 

[Gombol]

Bugs? What bugs? Very rare random DC's? Oh noez? Only bug i have encountered, apart from VERY bad starting guns, but that was intentional.

 

[elDiablo]

Bugs? What bugs? Very rare random DC's? Oh noez? Only bug i have encountered, apart from VERY bad starting guns, but that was intentional.

How about the fact that I (and lots of other people) can only connect to 1 in 10 games? Or the fact that the server browser works for 50% of the time, and of that 50% of the time takes well over a minute to give me a list of games, and well over 2 minutes if I try and do any sort of filtering. And the fact that I can't search by name in the server browser. Oh, and the friends list refuses to work at all for me. Oh, and my favourite's list gets wiped periodically for what I can only assume is shits and giggles. Oh, and the "Play Now" button tries and joins full and/or passworded servers. Oh, and if the "Play Now" button tries to join a full and/or passworded server, I get disconnected from my account 100% of the time.

There's a few bugs, go see their forums for more.

And baserape seems to be the name of this game. Countless times I've spawned in my uncappable to be insta-sniped by an enemy standing 2 feet away from me. And this is while the 3 cap points are still be fought over. Stealing vehicles I can understand. Being dicks is just twattish. And yes, I know, "Don't spawn at your back base then, blah blah." Fuck off. I wanted a damn car, and there was an empty one there, which only stands to reason seeing as they are spawn killing everyone who tries to get one.

Oh, and the fact that the game is based around grind more than playing together as a team. It's the same problem 2142 had, and they've just gone an amplified it.

Yes, I am a grumpy old man. No, I don't care.

 

[Ronin Storm]

And I'm not just talking about the HUGE amount of bugs in it.

Seems like we're forgetting that BF2 was barely playable 'til the 1.3 patch, and even then kept spitting people out without so much as a by-your-leave.

That said, BF:BC2 isn't without its crashes. I've had one from the single player and one in multi player when I alt-tabbed out during a map reset. That'll be two crashes in three days. Not great batting, but neither were terrible problems; the single player check point system meant I only lost around two minutes of play and the multi player crash was totally ignorable as I just joined straight back into the game. YMMV.

The rest I've experienced have been classic lag/synchronisation issues. I've warped back into a building that I'd just left all of once so far and had one or two choppy moments where my target was warping in front of me, but both of those occurred on the same server at a point of apparently high lag. Don't think there's anything to see there.

Aside from that, not experienced any significant issues.

The single player was short and sweet. Entirely linear and with a couple of irritating sections where, if you did it right first time, it'd feel like you were totally awesome. I didn't, and so they felt fairly fragmented. With the possible exception of the cliff top race through the snow in the jeep, where I flung myself off a cliff one time but redoing it was actually pretty cool as second time through I got it just right. My biggest criticism of the single player is not its length but its derivative nature. Occasionally felt a bit like I was playing sequences from other games. Still, it was entertaining and well humoured so I forgive it for that.

I've not got a huge multi player experience so far (~3-4 hours) but what I've played so far is fairly encouraging. There's all the same lone-wolfing that I remember from BF2 but with a "Do you want to join a squad?" tick box on loading into the server people are often automatically ending up in groups even if that grouping is fairly nominal. That said, helping your squad gives more points than helping your team (e.g. squad heal = 20 points; team heal = 10 points), so you're encouraged to stick with them.

Spawning is now on any squad member, but squads are limited to 4-man. I say "but", but actually I think this is a good thing. 4-man is relatively natural and supports numbers from 2 to 8 very well, albeit split across two squads in certain configurations. What this means, though, is that clan members are naturally split across a wider play field and, thus far, this has left me with less of a sensation of clan-stacking.

The first unlock weapons in Assault (XM8 Prototype) and Medic (M249 SAW) both feel very worthwhile and a good step up from the fairly flimsy starting weapons. That said, once I gotten used to the starter weapons I felt they were effective all the same; not quite the killing power or stability over range that I wanted but still just fine for killing people dead.

The unlock system has similarities with BF2142 in that med-kits, shock paddles, ammo boxes and so on are all earned as rewards not provided as part of your initial load out. For a new player I can see this as being a massive boon as it means that they've had to play the "just shoot people" game for a while before they get confusing role stuff thrown at them. For the hardcore, like us, it's just a hurdle to get over before we can do the stuff we always used to be able to. I've got the basics for both Medic and Assault already, and working on the repair tool for the Engineer. Once I've got those, I'll probably do something basic with the Scout (the only other class I've not mentioned) but I suspect I'll concentrate on the Medic.

Grenades seem to be in less plentiful supply. Assault class gets its noob-tube, but only two grenades (unless he's sat next to his own ammo box). Just as with BF2, the grenades need to arm though I think I've been killed at point blank by physical impact. Hand grenades are given out as one per person and their throwing arc seems to be less insane than other games. Also, a grenade warning indicator and an auto-shout of "grenade!" gives away the incoming frags so a mobile person can often avoid the spam. There doesn't appear to be any way to cook grenades either. Result? Less of the Counter-Strike and COD grenade spam, though still plenty of it.

Snipers are still as irritating as ever but fortunately not very effective when it comes to actually, y'know, winning. I have been shot once or twice at point blank by a semi-auto rifle but mostly me+SAW versus sniper means a bloody sniper mess and me tea-bagging his corpse, or something.

Destructible environments help keep things interesting. Sniper in a building being irritating? Blow out the walls (which is a lot of what 40mm grenades are used for). Still a problem? Level enough fire on the building to bring it down entirely. Tends to mean that defenders are working with a steadily reducing quantity of cover, but actually that works well. Keeps it fresh, keeps people mobile.

Vehicles play decently well versus soldiers in that they're destructive but not totally dominating. That said, I stepped into a Bradley on one map and was 13 for 0 at the end so it's possible that they're overpowered (though I was absolutely slaying, so maybe I was just in the zone too). The miniguns on the Blackhawks are a bit crap, though. Surely they should mince meat people on touching them? Hmm, maybe I'm playing the wrong game if I'm worrying about that sort of realism...

All in all, I've acquired a fondness for BF:BC2. I can't speak for longevity, though destructible environments do help in that regard, and the levelling/unlocks system is rewarding but not too speedy.

Comparison to BF2? There's no commander role. The commander was a fundamental part of BF2. That disjoint makes a comparison fairly nonsensical. This is a game better compared to CoD4. In that regard, it fairs favourably. CoD4 might be a little more fluid but that makes it more like Counter-Strike than anything else. As a game, I think I prefer BF:BC2 for making things just a bit more dirty, less clean cut and generally having a sensation that, as a new player, I'm not constantly being pwned by air strikes and helos called in by the kids that can put a 40 hour week in practising the game.

 

[thatbloke]

I agree entirely with Ronin's post here

elD still fails

 

[elDiablo]

elD still fails

So's your face!

I think the fact that I seem to be in the 1% of players with major problems MIGHT have affected my view on the game. That said, if BF2 was remade in the BC2 engine, I would probably cream myself. The destructible terrain is plain old awesome for one.

Edit - That said, I enjoy gunning the attack choppers a bit (even if I think they are some what over powered) and would do that in a clan, rather than squad work. I'm getting damn good at hitting enemy helis from a fair old distance.

 

[thatbloke]

well the attack choppers may be a lil OP when in the right hands, but when weren't they?

Also a single AT rocket from an engineer will destroy any chopper now, which is something I am REALLY enjoying (or, I should say, my heatseeking rockets are....)

 

[Nanor]

I think a big part of Battlefield games is getting into a vehicle with your squad and enjoying the banter on the way to the battlefield. The maps are more compact so this doesn't happen as much.

Also! Why was prone taken out? Almost every wall I see is about 3 foot tall, meaning when you're crouched you can shoot over it. Perfect. But if you start taking small arms fire your first instinct is to get lower behind the wall, but you can't. You invariably end up dying because your choices are get up and move, leading you to get shot as you run, or you can sit there and die.

I had something else to add but I've forgotten it...

 

[Gombol]

well the attack choppers may be a lil OP when in the right hands, but when weren't they?

Also a single AT rocket from an engineer will destroy any chopper now, which is something I am REALLY enjoying (or, I should say, my heatseeking rockets are....)

To be fair, everything is OP in the right hands.

 

[Ronin Storm]

Why was prone taken out?

I suspect the answer to this is found in dolphin diving.

Take something like ArmA2 where getting to prone totally screws up any chance of shooting things, the foliage then gets in the way of spotting, and the transition from standing to prone takes (comparatively) ages and "diving" isn't a problem.

Take a game where transitions have all been made rapid, seamless and practically zero cost (when it comes to aiming) and dolphin diving is a logical conclusion to reduce your profile and maximise your accuracy. But it looks stupid and creates a rift in play style: those who max and those who hate it.

That said, I hear what you're saying about crouch height versus wall height. It's worse on some maps than others.

 

[Ki!ler-Mk1]

Not being a console player i can only imagine this; i would expect hitting prone players to be like getting headshots on purpose.

I dont agree that any of the complains about the server browser are real bugs as for me they dont detract from the experience, though the lack of teambalancing of people from incomplete squads does peeve me a bit.

I have spent i guess 90-95% of my time in the rush game mode and im now rank 19 with rank 25 being the last unlock. So i cant speak for the camping that eld mentions in conquest(i assume thats whats intended by uncaps), though in rush it has been my observation that if the attackers dont push, they themselves actually become camped. It really annoys me off that you cant see what classes the other people are on the scoreboard, eg more medics=easier(more tickets to attack) and more snipers makes the whole team weak.


That post was an interesting read ronin and i agree with almost all of it.

I dont recomend doing what i did though and maxing 2 roles while leaving the others at nearly unused, in the previous BF games i wrote off assault due to its low utility and poor scoring, in this game i find that scoring is easier with the ammo boxes, and being able to bring down walls helps alot too.

I recommend binding "3" (defib, 40mm, rpg,) to the mouse

And guys, dont count out BF3 yet, perhaps we will get more than 32v32.