Battlefield: Bad Company 2

I'm currently quite disappointed with Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Deeply disappointed, in fact, because when I first started playing the multiplayer online demo, I was in love. Extensive vehicle combat, completely destructible landscapes, and trace RPG (level-up) elements. It was a blast to play, and I stayed with the demo for a few hours, despite having access to only one type of match and only one map. "Squad Rush" was a great mix of tactical objectives, team cooperation, and good ol' fashioned shoot 'em up. Class differences, level up and weapon enhancement opportunities...I was hooked.

And then it all changed. I had trouble logging on the next day, and I thought that was odd. It looked like EA authentication servers were having some trouble, and EA's unresponsive website confirmed this, in my mind. But I was wrong, it wasn't mere authentication server issues, it was...perfidy! They were altering the game, making it different... When I next logged on, my engineer had more RPG rounds, which was nice, except...I rarely got the chance to use them, as I was being air-dropped without a parachute. Tank rounds were melting faces entirely across the map and shooting through mountains, engineers were throwing Hail Mary passes with their RPG rounds with unprecedented success, and the game became, for lack of a better word, dismal.

The graphical layout of the game pales in comparison to Modern Warfare 2, and I would think a "hotly anticipated" title such as B:BC2 would understand that MW2 had already achieved something close to full-market saturation, and not on gimmick alone, but merit. Why release, in the wake of what was probably the most successful title of 2009, an FPS that's graphically less pleasing, mechanically less functional, and significantly less customizable?

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has two advantages over Modern Warfare 2: increased vehicle combat, and fully destructible landscapes. That being said, those advantages are minor. Modern Warfare 2 was a masterfully orchestrated title that quite literally distilled the carnage, chaos, and violence of warfare into something dimly recognizable as beauty. In Battlefield: Bad Company 2, you can knock down walls. You tell me which is better.

Modern Warfare 2

First of all, let me say that I know I'm way past the point where this post could be considered timely or relevant. I know that, OK? So lay off. That being said, it wasn't until recently that I started playing the XBox LIVE aspect to the game. I was turned off by the fact that, unlike games like Halo: 3, MW2 doesn't have the ability for players to play split-screen LIVE, which was without a doubt my favorite aspect of Halo: 3. So, it may have been out of spite that I waited this long to play.

I'm hooked. I can't help it. It oscillates between deeply satisfying and bone-jarringly frustrating so quickly I almost vomit in the back of my mouth, and I like it. Bring it. Bullets flying, airstrikes ripping apart the map, sentry guns shearing enemy soldiers in twain. It's like melting down violence in a loving spoonful and injecting it into your eyes.

Beyond the universal, gory, and visceral appeal that the whole game exudes, I'm a sucker for one particular aspect of the online play: leveling up. I think it's a residual imprint from playing World of Warcraft for two and a half years, but there's something very satisfying about being rewarded for how you play. Ah, great, I specifically used this inferior scope on my sniper rifle, and now I have the thermal scope, and motherfuckers are sticking out on my screen like a Swede walking through Harlem. Wtfpwned.

I suppose I'm not surprised that the LIVE portion is a masterful blend of raw FPS action and trace RPG elements. The single-player campaign elevated FPSs to an entirely new level; it moved the player into the whole body of the soldier, and not just the finger on the trigger. Story elements pushed some boundaries as well: in an FPS, it's game over when your character dies, not part of the storyline. I was surprised the first time they killed off my character. The second time I was offended (well, they did light my corpse on fire). And when I thought they were going to do it a third time, I ended up the victor. I was sure they were going for the hat-trick.

This isn't all there is to say about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, I'm aware. I'm not sure that I could say all there is to say. This is a start, though, and for now I think I've hit all of my main points.