Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for Xbox 360 review

The good : Explosive environment destruction.

                    Big map online multi-player mayhem with vehicles, squads etc.

                    Launch Price is only £35/39 Euro !

The bad : Weak single-player plotting. Steep learning curve to get into online.

Verdict :  Classy battlefield chaos online still impresses, solo script less so.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is EA Games studio DICE’s attempt to rival Modern Warfare 2 on single-player intensity and multi-player mayhem. But can the squad first-person shooter outshine 2009’s biggest hit? Read the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 review to find out.

The long-running Battlefield series has always delivered large-scale army-v-army multi-player. With squads, specialist roles and the ability to jump into lots of vehicles the key features. The original Battlefield: Bad Company attempted to add to that a semi-humorous and largely unsuccessful single-player story based around amoral mercenaries. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 expands on the single-player story further, while dialling back the humour in favour of a more CoD Modern Warfare 2-like approach, with a similar threat-to-the-US plot.

Battlefield Bad Company 2’s single-player plot is much more successful than the original – as is the gameplay. It’s variously tense, high-octane and freeform – with several key sections standing up in terms of visuals and bang-for-the-buck with Modern Warfare 2.

Standout single-player features in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 include: the ability to destroy huge chunks of the environment – taking out bad guys doesn’t need to mean accuracy if they duck behind a wall, if you have an RPG to hand; plus superb visual effects including frostbitten fog and sandstorms really give a sense of varied environs; and finally AI squadmates who aren’t utter idiots.

Despite the good, though, Battlefield: Bad Company 2’s single-player never quite turns it all the way up to 11. The barely-there characters are flat and uninvolving, the plot gibberish and the locations and action mostly come off as less thrilling than its arch rival Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Can Battlefield: Bad Company 2 make up the difference multi-player, though? Certainly, online has been one of the series’ strengths. And if you know what you’re doing and can work effectively in a squad, the 12 v 12 modes here are thrilling – rewarding good teamwork. Plus all the good stuff from the single-player – the visuals, the destructible environments etc. carry over.

Be warned, though – Battlefield: Bad Company 2, even more than most online shooters, features a very steep initial learning curve. The more chaotic the battlefield, the easier it is for newbies to get picked off, fast. Which makes for a very difficult and unrewarding entry to the game’s online strengths.

And while Battlefield: Bad Company 2 single-player does let you get behind most of the key vehicles’ controls, it gives no indication of how fast you have to move in multi-player. The lack of handholding for newbies is a gripe that’s carried across most squad first-person shooters, though.

In all, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is no rival to Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Single-player it’s less intense and cinematic. Multi-player it’s arguably better than its rival – but only for hardcore shooters who relish working as part of a team.