Killers With A Contract: News

Battlefield Bad Company 2: more impressions

The bad

The infernal server browser
The problem with making DICE the champions of dedicated server FPS is the server browser in BFBC2’s beta blows. Sure, it will eventually work properly (we hope) – that’s what “beta” means – but being able to select by ping time would be nice. In the time we’ve played the beta there has been improvements – initially “play now” was your best option, seeing as manually selecting servers was apparently a crazy idea. That's been fixed, and if you're willing to hack with an .ini file, you can always make your own favourite list that works. Any more lo-fi and we'll be writing down server IPs on a piece of paper.

Glitched graphics (YMMV)
Maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s my PC. Maybe it’s Windows 7. Maybe it’s-you get the picture. Weird texture issues, including flashing chunks of terrain is never fun. If DICE choose to send me into action via parachute drop – thus affording me a panoramic view of most of the map – it means any flaws get exposed right off the bat. A driver update or two later and I still can’t shake the weird artefacts I get on the respawn/class select screen. Battlefield players with decent memories know how prone these kind of annoying issues are to end up in the retail version.

Arbitrary control foolishness
Your first steps in BFBC2 may not fill you with optimism. A quick ripple of the strafe keys while sprinting forwards reveals movement has been hampered somewhat – you can only sprint in a straight line and need to use the mouse to change your heading. It feels wierd. You can strafe all you like when moving at normal speed though.

The concept of toggle is for sissies, clearly, so if you want to stay crouched, you better be ready to hold down the key. If you want to go prone, you better start emailing DICE, because BFBC2 isn’t optimised for prone – presumably the last desperate act of a developer trying to stop dolphin diving players from flopping around in this game. It doesn't stop idiots from jumping around when you shoot at them however.

UI and other stuff you don't worry about
There's also a slight slap on the wrist to whoever designed the in-game menu logic. Call me crazy, but I'd rather filter servers in the browser *before* the game starts manically refreshing a massive server list. Also, when a map is finished it would be nice to have a big obvious option to disconnect and quit back to the game's main menu from the summary screen - rather than having to join the next game (or alt-F4) and exit that way. And yeah - when I'm quickly trying to hit up control options in the heat of battle, it would be great if sliders like mouse sensitivity responded sharply to me dragging them, rather than them sliding along in their own time. Quite a fiddly exercise when you're fine tuning..

Perhaps the option is there and I'm blind - but if it isn't and the game ships and people are forced to load a whole new map before being able to quit - that won't be pleasant.

Bad, but not DICE’s fault

Laggy server=death
Do yourself a favour – don’t even think of playing on an overseas server if you’re serious about enjoying the game. While BFBC2's current lack of a ping figure makes it hard to figure out which servers are fast and which aren’t (I ended up looking for ones that had my town’s name in them) you’ll know a good one when you find it. Everything seems smoother. The destructible terrain might have something to do with this as well. Not only is the game tracking the actions of all the players – their movement, their projectiles – now it’s also broadcasting information on the tree some guy in a tank just blew over as well.

Signs you’re on a bad pinging server: dropping frames at inexplicable times, inconsistent rego, and an even more horrendous than usual kill:death ratio.

BUT: we regard this as unavoidable. A wise man once said “You cannot change the laws of physics, Captain.” The alternative appears to be heavy client-side prediction a-la Modern Warfare 2 – which to be fair does a terrific job of concealing the fact you’ve connected to a host in Uzbekistan…until you notice they’re stabbing you in the face from 20 metres away. Try that in BFBC2 and you’ll quickly figure out you need to connect to a closer continent.

Your fellow players
Maybe it’s the honeymoon effect, but the players I’ve encountered in BFBC2’s beta have been pretty well behaved. However there's plenty of evidence of an impending clash of FPS cultures. In one corner are the BF vets, who take advantage of the 'join a squad' option in the loading screen and immediately race to the vehicles. Then there's the crowd more influenced by Modern Warfare or Counter-Strike. They'll normally opt for a sniper rifle and spend half the map on the blasted idiotic hill that has "SNIPER HERE" plastered across it, wondering why they keep dying. Or they might opt for the assault kit and spend half the map getting blasted by tanks or enemy snipers trying to rack up a few cheap frags with the grenade launcher (which is every bit as devastating as other games' noob tubes). However many battles this second kind of player wins, the war will usually go the other way.

For now, everything is relatively friendly, but the game could do with spelling it out for players used to big flashing arrows and waypoints. Yes - the game does put your objectives - as well as terms like "attack" or "hold" - on your HUD, but clearly the message isn't getting through. Expect a Darwinian process of elimination to take place, which is a shame as:

The good

This is a "real" Battlefield game
Don't be fooled by the existence of console versions or the name, this does justice to the steep learning curve and flexibility of Battlefield 2142/2/Vietnam and 1942. Get on a decent server, spend an hour or so acclimatising to the more sombre, no-nonsense way BFBC2 handles its business, and it grows on you. Crappy server browser, graphic flaws and odd menu logic can't stop this being a legit contender for hardcore FPS fans time in the next year or so.

Admittedly, I was spoiled somewhat. Within seconds of my first ever BFBC2 spawn, I saw an enemy plough a flaming chopper into the ground a stone's throw away from me. That's a pretty atmospheric reintroduction to the series.

Port Valdez
There’s an art to figuring out which map(s) you roll out in a beta. The map has to be memorable, it has to bring out the playing quality of the game, and show off the experience in a good light. It has to inspire. Gulf of Oman in Battlefield 2 did this. Many of us stood on that aircraft carrier deck watching planes scream overhead and knew we were watching FPS gaming taking a bold new step.

Trudging past the through the snow-capped bush of the beta map - Port Valdez - in BFBC2 doesn’t evoke the same feelings of awe, of unlimited possibility. Rather than the “holy crap it’s all happening” feeling, it’s more focused. Valdez grows on you though. The "Rush" game mode included within the game basically is like a control point tug-of-war, and the map works well in this regard. Its scope dwarfs your average Modern Warfare 2 outing, and you'll find the terrain and combat requirements change drastically depending on which part of the map is currently being contested.

Hardcore mode
Hey, I'll be the first to admit whenever I join a hardcore server my kill:death ratio plunges, but you have to love DICE for catering to truly hardcore FPS fans. No HUD and lethal weaponry make for a much more tense experience. Snipers have ample compensation for no prone mode, with the ability to pick off victims at crazy range. Of course, if you're bumbling about in open ground on a packed Hardcore-mode server, you're not going to live long enough to get within bull's roar of the enemy anyway.

Progress takes time - but is oh so worth it
The price you pay for the adrenalised nature to the likes of Modern Warfare 2 - where rank promotions come swiftly and often - is the unlockables usually look different, but perform only a few increments better - if not the same. BFBC2's unlocks take time. You're not going to hop on for a couple of hours and have beastmode gear.

The initial confusion soon wears away as you realise the focus is on grinding out unlocks and kit - not blitzing a few maps and being sorted for life. It's a refreshing change - just as Modern Warfare's speedy advancement was a refreshing change when slow progress was the norm.

That extra time you need to spend is needed too. In normal (not hardcore) mode you need to pour a seemingly endless amount of bullets into an enemy for a kill. If you’re using an assault rifle-class weapon, you’ll find the level of punishment taken by your foes to be bleeding into the “overcorrection” syndrome.

If you’ve ever had an enemy at short-medium range shooting at you while you shoot back, both of you strafing randomly trying to throw each other off – you’ll likely know what I mean. As those crucial moments tick by and your health steadily drops you have enough time to start overthinking your instinctive attempts at predicting where he/she is going to move. Invariably you jerk your aim too wide trying to anticipate a move that never comes, and get dusted. The longer an individual 1:1 combat sequence takes the more this seems to occur. It’s a fine balancing act, as we’re talking roughly one second difference – an extra beat that’s offputting until you get into the swing of things.

In summary
Playing the beta of BFBC2 – both in hardcore mode and in the ‘normal’ mode has me convinced DICE has been somewhat outmaneuvered by the likes of Infinity Ward - at least with the PC version. They’ve taken on the sky-high expectations of players who, feeling betrayed by Modern Warfare 2, have pinned all their hopes on this game. And while the honeymoon period will last for some time yet, no matter what technological or gameplay accomplishments DICE accomplish, it’s going to be impossible to meet some people’s expectations.

The biggest rap we'd level against BFBC2 - aside from technological issues which we can *hope* will be addressed at-or-post launch - is you need time with this game to appreciate how much it offers. And with gamer attention spans ever shortening, it would be a shame if only purists and hardcore punters got into the game. From what we've seen in the beta, there's so much depth in here shooter fans are doing themselves a disservice not to at the very least get hold of a beta key and stick with it. If the masses put it in the 'too hard' or 'takes too long' basket, not only are they missing out on a classic Battlefield experience, they're sending arguably the wrong message to developers and publishers as well.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 Review

I start out as a attacking member and parachute in. Explosions are rocking my house. The crackle of gun fire pops in the distance. I land and survey my surroundings. I could see smoke billowing out in the distance. I hop on a 4 wheeler and roll out to get into some action. As I round a corner a explosion rocks my 4 wheeler and makes me deaf. I jump off and take cover behind it. As my hearing begins to return, I can hear gun fire to my direct right. I turn and see a squad of 3 enemies hiding just off the road, throwing C4 on the road and peppering my men with gun fire. I bring up my iron sights and with two short burst the first guy goes down, I whip quickly left and pump another two burst in the next guy. As he falls I crouch behind my 4 wheeler again and reload my weapon. I then stand and train my weapon on the last guy, with a burst of sustain gun fire I drop him like a cheap rug. Woods cleared!!! It will take them a while to get back there.

I then hop back on my 4 wheeler and take out to the far left of the map and circle behind the bomb points. I end up making it up the stairs on a 3 story building and ran face to face with two snipers. They must of been in scope mode, cause they never seen me. I let my Ak47 rip and knock down both of these snipers.

At this point from multiple encounters I am on my last bit of ammo. I switch to my pistol and start back down the stairs. As I get back to the ground and round the back side of the building a guy is sprinting towards my location. He could not get his gun raised quick enough as I hit him square in the chest with 3 or 4 pistol shots and he slumps at my feet.

My men are spawning on me now and we are making a push for the first bomb. A set of 2 squad mates sprint across a narrow opening to the next building. Bullets come ripping through the wooden fence and as I start my run across the street. 15 feet in front me or so my buddies head explodes and the dreaded PINGGGGG of a round piercing the helmet & shattering my buddies brain stem rings in my ears.

As I make it to the building with rounds exploding all round my feet. The insane rush of a CQB brawl is about to begin. With my pistol drawn I turn the corner to see a gun poking out a window raining fire down on the swarming troops all around him. I throw a grenade in the window and go to turn the corner.........BOOOM. A sniper with a well placed shot drops me at the doorway of the building.

That was my first spawn lol. 6 Kills 1 Death!!!! That was 10 mins or so of action. Now take that and make it last for 30 mins or more and you get a idea of how the matches are. Throw in tanks and you got a hell of a rush. I played for about 2 hours last night and I could write at least 10 different stories such as this one. All EPIC!!!!

The Good Things

- Having Mouse + Keyboard control is sooooo much better than trying to play this on the 360. VERY VERY glad it has returned to PC.
- Battlefield always has the best balance of class system
- Sound effects are hands down the best of any game out there. You "FEEL" like you are in a war.
- The weapons have a great sound and kick to them. They don't sound wimpy at all.
- Weapon damage is much better. Takes much less ammo than BC1 to down a enemy.
- Terrain & Building damage is amazing. Pieces flying everywhere, buildings break down much better, being able to bring entire buildings down = EPIC
- Custom controls = Must have

The Bad Things

- The PC Beta is having Lag and Browser issues. It is being worked on and being looked into by DICE

Closing

I have not experience a shooter in a long time that has made me feel like BC2 for PC has. It is in short utterly AMAZING. This is just from the Beta, I can't imagine what the full version is going to bring to the table.

If you enjoyed BC1, you are going to fall in love with BC2. They pretty much fixed all the issues that BC1 had. Weapon damage being one of the big issues for me. I hated pumping a whole clip into someone to watch them run off. This is no longer the case on BC2. 3 or 4 rounds and they are down. Basically small burst will down someone. Sniper rounds kill in 1 shot.

I will finish with. If you own a PC and you want to experience BC2 how it is supposed to be played. Get it for PC!!! Join me in this amazing game. Not having to fight a controller to aim is a dream. It is bringing back the epicness that Battlefield 1942 or Battlefield Modern warfare brought to PC.

I can't speak high enough of this shooter.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 (PC Beta) - 10/10

Posted by کeαη on Monday 01 February 2010 - 13:29:28 |