Battlefield: Bad(Online)Company Multi-Player Review

Since Last Fall the entire community of shooting fans have focused themselves mainly on the award winning shooters Halo3 and Call of Duty 4.  Week after week, they sat one and two on top of the XBOX Live Leaderboards being the most played games on the service.  Their online options are rivaled by none as both games share many options that catapult each games multi-player components into being the best in the history of online shooting games.  As the heat from the summer forces most of us into our air conditioned basements we are finally tiring of those great online shooters and looking for something else to play.  Enter Battlefield: Bad Company.  Battlefield: Bad Company follows DICE’s 2006 release Battlefield: Modern Combat as it tries to improve on its average 77 out of 100 rating on Metacritic.com.

After playing the demo for a week straight I was thoroughly impressed on the scope and scale of the game as my son and I ruled Oasis on a consistent basis.  We had a great time and were very excited for the final release of the game.  After picking up two copies of the game we plopped them in out boxes and continued to play online for 3 straight hours as we were eager to see all we could see on the first night.

My excitement soon faded to disappointment though because as soon as I got online I noticed the faults with Bad Company’s lack of online options.  One game type, no clan support, no lobby system for online clan matches, are just a few of the games online faults.  Have developers ever played COD4 or Halo3?  Did anyone notice how great MP games are loaded with options for people to experiment with.  The three gripes that I listed above are inexcusable in this day and age .  The game does run smooth but I think the online functionality of the game is just terrible.  Man do I wished they would give you a Helicopters only Team Death Match mode, how fun would that be.  Or better yet, what about a Tanks only CTF game, the possibilities are limitless.  My question is why?  Why not give us the option to play the game the way we want to play it.  Make your “get the gold crates” game type the default but at least let us play the way we want to play.

As the game lacks any real features that make up a top notch shooter’s online functionality it gets 10’s across the board from me for the games fun factor.  Yes, it is missing a lot but when you pop it in and hit the online battlefield but you always have a great time playing even if you can only really ever get three other friends in your games.  The game is just plain fun, whether your crashing your teams only helicopter into a group of tangos running for cover or whether your on foot trying to take down that tank with your nube tube your always having a blast.  It’s the kind of fun that makes you want to come back every night.

The graphics of the game are excellent.  While not the best out there, the graphics sure make up for the lack of MP features and really add to the fun of the game.  Trees sway in the wind, the character animations are great, the buildings and smoke look realistic, and the landscape of the battlefields look amazing.  This is definitely a high point for the game as it looks like some of the better shooters out there.  The graphics of the game complement the controls quite well as the controls of the game lie somewhere between the hardcore shooter and the arcadey shooter.   The precision in aiming is not on par with COD4 but they are OK for a game with the scope and magnitude that this multi-player game offers.  One issue that I do have with the controls however is that they are generally too fast for my old ass as I literally had to dumb down the sensitivity to bar one.  The default sensitivity was way too fast and my reflexes are not what they used to be.  It seems to me that the controls are more dependent on what gun or class you picked as they tighten up a little more depending on your kit.  No matter what gun or kit you use you can bet that anything you pick is going to sound completely awesome.  I dare you to shut your eyes and just listen, after a minute or two you will think your in the middle of Saving Private Ryan 2 or Platoon.  The sounds in the game are that good and coupled with the great graphics it is a real stimulating experience for two of your 5 senses.

All in all the game is pretty awesome but I am still having a hard time with the way EA and DICE delivered the game without key options in place that would have made the game one of the best online shooters ever.  If you want a team based game to play because you need something for your clan to compete in then pass this game up when your at your local Control Pad but if you want to run around crazy for the next four months playing with a few friends in hectic online battles then this game is a definite buy.

8.3

King Kong

One might wonder why I am reviewing a game that is older than dirt and that’s first appearance was on the original Xbox and to that person I would answer, “because I can, lol.”  In all seriousness, the reason for the review is because if you play the game today it is pretty much a solid rental or cheap buy that will give you 5-8 hours of entertainment while netting you an easy 1000 Achievement points if your inclined to play a game that is over 3 years old.

My son has this King Kong/Achievement fetish lately so after his flag football game last Sunday we ventured up to our local Gamestop to get the game which we bought for $12.  The games visuals are totally outdated when comparing them to today’s FPS’s but battling the great dinosaurs that are in the game is a fun as every encounter leaves you waiting for the next.  I couldn’t help but compare King Kong’s T-Rex to Turok’s.  Both are big, nasty, and full of heart wrenching roars as the T-Rex in King Kong would probably give the one in the latest Turok game a fair battle if they ever were to meet.

The game uses the standard FPS control scheme which controls quite well and the sound is also a pleasant surprise.  There are a few different weapons that you use in the game but arguably the best for me was when I was able to find and throw spears at my enemies.  At first it was tough but then I learned how to aim and I was able to hit anything that pissed me off.  The story in the game was ripped straight from Peter Jackson’s movie but the presentation was well done as you could follow the story easily even if you lived under a rock and had no clue who or what King Kong is.

I recommend this game for anyone who wants a quick 1000 points and for only $12 it is well worth the purchase especially if you get it at EB Games or Gamespot.  Those companies let you trade in your used games if you beet them or did not like them as long as it was within a week of initially buying it.  So do what I my son did, buy the game, keep it for under a week as you beat it and get the points, and then trade it back in for another game while getting the full value of what you payed for it.  Sweet deal if you ask me.