After seeing success on the multiplayer battlefield for so many years, it was time for a change. In 2006, DICE announced Battlefield: Bad Company. It wasn't until 2008 in which gamers finally had the chance to get their hands on it. No doubt, many gamers were happy with a single-player component that was actually good and a multiplayer side that is just as great as we've come to expect.
Gold. That's pretty much the story. Gold. As Preston Marlowe, you find yourself in B Company (aka Bravo Company aka Bad Company) for unexplained reasons with three other misfits. You have Haggard, the stereotype redneck (which is awfully amusing), Sweetwater, the nerd, and Sergeant Redford, the normal sarge (think Sergeant Johnson from Halo). Each one of them has their reason for being there. As to why they're fighting? Gold. After discovering that the world's most dangerous mercenary, the Legionnaire, is real and has a huge fortune in gold, they set off looking for the stockpile of riches.
You'd think going through the entire game hearing about gold would be boring as you monotonously shoot through waves of enemies. You'd be wrong. You have a variety of objectives, from defending a helicopter to blowing something up to simply eliminating all enemy forces. While the AI is kind of wonky - half the time, they stand next to you as you shoot them in the face, while the other half is spent jumping between cover -, it provides a good enough challenge to last you off through all seven levels. Yeah, the game can be short if you just go straight from objective to objective, but collectible weapons and small gold stashes hidden throughout the map add some replay value to the hilarious campaign.
The game sports mission with wide maps that let's you go to any part of the level that isn't covered in red. Why would you do that in a almost completely linear game? Destruction. Battlefield: Bad Company uses the Frostbite engine, which allows for massive destruction. Want to get kill everyone in that house without being shot at? Launch a grenade and watch the wall disappear. This allows for some serious flexibility in the environments. Chances are, no two players will ever have an environment look exactly the same. And should I mention the destruction looks beautiful?
Destruction looks great, but what about the rest of the game? Well, character models are brilliantly done, with some especially detailed clothing. The particle effects are spot on and the lighting probably couldn't be better. My only problem is the film grain effect which drowns out the beautiful visuals. Audio is handled excellently; voice acting is great, but perhaps not as much as Uncharted. The sound effects are spot-on. Every weapon has it's own sound, things blow up with a satisfying boom, and the soundtrack is some of my favorite music in all of gaming.
However, I have to say that the game dies down a bit in the final hours. The game is definitely fun and has the stuff to be a great single-player experience. However, the lack of any jaw-dropping moments means that you may start thinking about playing another game. Me? Well, despite wanting to put it down, I played through the entire campaign without switching to another game. Now, that's staying power.
Battlefield: Bad Company isn't nearly the best game any true gamer has ever played, but it sure as hell packs a good time in a campaign that rights the series' wrongs. Truth be told, this is the best Battlefield game I've played and it leaves me wanting to buy Bad Company 2 so badly.
Score: 9.5