Alternative warzones

Do you like first-person shooters? If the answer’s yes, you probably spend all your time fragging friends (or enemies, or strangers) online in Modern Warfare 2—and with good reason. EA has been trying to find a good competitor for Activision’s flagship FPS series for a good while now.

The closest thing they’ve got right now is the Battlefield Bad Company series, although it certainly has an identity of its own.

Unlike other entries in the Battlefield series, the BC series focuses on a rogue’s gallery of interesting (and modern day) squadmates, all with their own personalities (and even a bit of humor, unlike the ultra-serious MW2). BC2 is actually more of a direct response, in some ways, to MW2, rather than just another sequel.

MW2 dealt with the possibility of WWIII breaking out with Russia over a misunderstanding following a terrorist action at a Russian airport. BC also features a world on the brink of nuclear war with the Ruskies, but unlike the “what if” element of MW2, BC2 is content to take things more realistically rather than, say, having the Russians drop an EMP over D.C.

What does this mean to you, the average player? Less insane, Michael Bay-esque action set pieces. Now, playing a video game, this might sound like a bad thing, but here it actually isn’t. There’s a couple reasons for this.

First, thanks to the colossal power and financial reach of EA, the developers at DICE had enough money to make the environments completely destructible. Pesky sniper getting you through a window? Knock down the front wall with a well-placed shot from your trusty grenade launcher. It’s a pretty cool effect that makes the game a hell of a lot of fun.

Second is the game’s character. Aside from the members of B-Company themselves, the game seems to have a little more personality than MW2, which, despite how utterly great it is, is almost all Hollywood-style gloss.

Battlefield’s trademark vehicle usage also makes a return, which is most notable in the massively overhauled multiplayer, which features all manner of vehicles taking to the skies, the water or dry land.

What DICE has done with BC2 is, to some degree on a much smaller scale (aside from the aforementioned 24-player multiplayer) like MW2—some of the later levels even have some brief moments of respite before you go back to shooting everything that moves again.

DICE is well aware of this, though. They make sure to take more than a few jabs at their competition, and with the slightly stylized aesthetic it’s clear that these games aren’t necessarily targeting the exact same audience.

Needless to say, the guns are still balanced (and a lot of fun to use), and the environments are gorgeous. BC2′s more down-to-earth approach may not be as epic as MW2, but it’s still a damn good game—and proof that a game shouldn’t be judged solely by its competition.