Lots of gaping holes in this Battlefield iteration.
Having played and enjoyed every Battlefield game to date, the release of bad Company had me excited, but also wondering how long the new setting, weapons and maps would keep me interested. The answer? For quite some time.
While the light-hearted presentation of the included campaign and the multiplayer mode's amazing polish would have been enough for DICE to push this title out the door, the new Frostbite engine is what ultimately makes Bad Company a must buy for multiplayer FPS fans. Much like Crackdown took the sandbox genre to new heights (ha ha!) by challenging players to experience its city in all three dimensions, Bad Company allows players to restructure their environment by making nearly every wall, ceiling, roof, tree and bridge destructable. No longer can a demolitionist escape a tank by hiding in, or even behind a building. Sniper in a barn window giving you problems? Take off the roof with a mortar strike. Players now creatively co-exist with the environment and, because of this, no games ever develop the same way. This sense of freedom combines with the open landscapes to completely ruin my anticipation for nearly every upcoming shooter.
The brilliant, liberating gameplay makes Bad Company easily worth the purchase, but I do have some minor complaints. First off, the communication system only allows players to communicate with their "squad," a subgroup of the team made up of a maximum 4 players. This isn't a huge problem, typically, but if you have more than 3 friends wanting to play at the same time it will be inconvenient. Also, there is no way to change squads or invite other players to your squad once in game. In other words, unless you exit the match to the multiplayer menu, you may be stuck with a 12 year old with a love for song.
These complaints, however, only keep the game from being perfect. In other words, it's still amazingly good and will leave you feeling a bit impotent when going back to Call of Duty or Halo.
