"Desant gamer.ru". Review of the beta version of the game.

After long and successful battles in Modern Warfare 2 our team landed in the snowy beta test of the new Battlefield. In the first days, we were looking around, figuring things out and rejoicing at the dedicated servers. Now, as the main writer of our gang, I present a preview based on the days we spent in Bad Company 2.

The trump card of all Battlefield games is scale. The same Call of Duty always offered us local skirmishes (here we only talk about the multiplayer mode, the campaign does not count), where everything can be in the hands of one player, where you can't feel safe at your “own base”, because the enemy can easily show up there in a minute, and where there’s a certain coziness on the maps: you know every nook, and you can find any road from point A to point B in seconds and easily calculate how the enemy might move. The latest MW2 is just a confirmation of this.

Battlefield has always been different. I recall the old and dearly loved Battlefield 1942, where one of the teams spawned on an aircraft carrier and then traveled to the island in boats. Huge maps that don’t need to be explored in detail, vehicles, large teams, and dynamic battles with long returns to the battlefield (a sort of penalty for death).

So, I briefly remind you of the differences between these two series, which seem never to have been competitors. Only after the loud release of Modern Warfare 2 and the realization that nothing similar could be found in the near future, players suddenly began to talk about Bad Company 2 as a 'savior'. It’s said that only this game can give a slap in the face to the proud guys from Infinity Ward and show how weak and imperfect their project is.

On the field, the cannons roared...

And here we are kicked out of the airplane, we fly with parachutes, gazing into the distance and hear how enemy snipers try to shoot us down before we land. Upon landing, we already have guns in our hands, and the enemy is still nowhere in sight. Around are our teammates. Similarly confused fighters, looking around, hurriedly jumping into vehicles and rushing somewhere forward.

And as we run after our initial drop, we see experienced soldiers taking up advantageous positions to fire at the enemy point, as snipers hide among the pines, as engineers scurry behind tanks, and medics, without waiting for the cry of a fallen soldier, are running around with defibrillators. I can’t say that this is a real war because I don’t know what that is like. But it certainly feels closer to something natural. And when in Modern Warfare 2 we see fantastical firefights resulting in one player dying five times in ten seconds, in Bad Company 2 the battle takes on a more natural appearance.

So, I wouldn’t compare these projects. The gameplay between them is completely different, if only because it’s impossible to do anything without a team.

Here’s a simple situation — I run out to the enemy, with a machine gun in hand, I fire a burst. And what happens? Nothing, the enemy continues running or shoots back. Ten more bullets in him, and he’s still standing. It reaches the absurd: if you shoot from a distance with good spread, you can waste a whole magazine for nothing.

Is this some kind of joke? Certainly not. Although, usually, 15-20 bullets are enough to kill an enemy. But just think about that number. Even 10 rounds is already horrifying. In Modern Warfare 2 on regular difficulty, enemies die from 3-5 hits, but here you’re fighting against some sort of terminators... However, there’s one fundamental difference: in Call of Duty, you drop enemies in heaps all by yourself. You run out, take one down with a few rounds, toss a grenade, and you’ve racked up kills by calling in an UAV.

In Bad Company 2, we are clearly tied to the team. One-on-one battles are laughable. Two soldiers stand against each other and pull the trigger until their fingers give out. But when you run with your teammates, each one fires literally 2-3 shots, and the enemy is already completely dead.

You can't destroy a tank by yourself either. Even if you want to blow it up with C4, you’ll need those to cover you and distract. And you can’t drive a BRDM or an AA gun alone, because who will then sit at the machine gun, who will defend the vehicle from multiple sides? And you can’t capture a point by yourself, as someone has to get you there, cover you, or help hold it (although, of course, the tactic with C4 somewhat undermines team play, and I still believe it should be abolished).

Overall, Bad Company 2 is an extremely team-oriented game. And it’s not just because the battles are 16 vs 16, but because a harmoniously composed and played squad is incredibly important. Where a medic is needed, where everyone must help each other, and where the mistake of one fighter is the fail of the entire group. After all, as I’ve already said, reviving in Battlefield takes time, while the squad-respawn system allows you to respawn right next to a teammate.

Reserve fighters

And for those who didn’t make it into the beta, a brief update on what’s happening on the snowy battlefields.

The unmerciful Russian army attacks the positions of the Orthodox Americans. One team attacks, and the other defends. The task of the latter is to prevent the explosion of two key points. If they fall, the front advances further into the map, and the attacking group takes the position previously held by the defenders and starts the next assault on the newly emerged two points.

The score, as in other Battlefield games, is not based on time but on lives. Many dislike this, but I think it’s quite interesting. Firstly, it encourages you not to die at the first good opportunity, and medics become way more useful.

The battles themselves look quite simple. The attacking team first jumps from the parachutes, assembles their equipment, and starts rushing forward. The defenders hide in houses, lay mines on the roads, climb into buildings and on mountains, and begin firing at the audacious Russian invaders. Overall, it’s all in the spirit of the series. Just the maps here are generally smaller than in BF 1942. And that’s mainly because the territory is divided into sectors, and the front line shifts every time points are captured. If the release version includes modes where the entire map is accessible at once, it will only get more fun. The familiar scale for the series will return... But then the number of players on each side must also increase, and sadly, EA has said nothing about 32 vs 32 battles. So, one can feel a bit wistful...

When we first entered the game, we decided to joke and write a silly tag PAPKI, and later it turned out that when we play, we are always the best group in the team. It was quite funny.

The Chosen Few

As for other characteristic features of the series — the classes remain in the game. There are four of them. I’ll briefly dissect each and explain how they play.

Scout. A regular sniper, notable for the fact that his rifles either need to be reloaded every time after firing or you need to hit the enemy a multitude of times. And since the rifle doesn’t kill with one shot (if you don’t hit the head), playing this class is quite difficult. You can always hit your target accurately but still not get a single frag.

Another hindrance for snipers is the somewhat realistic ballistics. A bullet, traveling a certain distance, starts to drop. So, snipers have to account for the movement of the target, its distance from the shooter, and the slight wobble of the rifle.

So, snipers have it quite tough here, although playing them is extremely fun. Just imagine: maps are big, there are clearings, elevations, buildings with roofs and windows, and simply attics where you can make a decent hole with a grenade or a rocket launcher. Meanwhile, enemies rarely come from behind, so you can confidently move through your territory, change locations, and beautifully eliminate foes. It’s more enjoyable to snipe only in the Flashpoint and ArmA series.

And yes, don’t worry that you won’t be able to kill anyone. The shooters usually finish off the opponents. After all, tanks are constantly firing at the enemy, machine guns are shooting, someone is throwing grenades and using under-barrel launchers. So, just hit once...

Also, the sniper marks the opponents excellently (here, to 'light' an enemy, you need to aim at him and press Q, then the foe will be immediately noticed and visible to the entire team). And this is incredibly useful.

Medic. He heals those suffering from sniper fire, tank shell blasts, and simply indiscriminate shooting from wild enemies who either storm points or defend them.

As we know, in Bad Company 2, the health bar has disappeared altogether. This could have spelled doom for the medic class, but it didn’t. The thing is, here the standard health regeneration is much slower (also because health points are higher than in other games, which means that soldiers can endure hits from a rocket launcher and remain fine under machine gun fire), so the medkits thrown by the doc on the battlefield are very useful. For instance, stormtroopers sit in a ruined house, defending a position, but they are being pressed. There’s constant shooting, and straying bullets hit the soldiers. Without support, they can last about fifteen seconds, but with a medkit, they can sit until some tank comes along to blow everything up.

Additionally, the doctor can resurrect fallen soldiers. This is immensely helpful if the team has a limited number of respawns. In the mode available in the beta, defenders could die as many times as they wanted, while the attacking team had to conserve their resources. You can return to the battlefield about 90 times (counting the storming of one position). Moreover, this is not for one player but for all sixteen fighters! How can a team do without a medic to resurrect the fallen?

By the way, the medic scores points faster and easier than anyone else. However, he can not only heal and revive but also kills excellently. His arsenal includes machine guns.

Assault. Well, nothing special here. A regular fighter with a rifle who can replenish the ammo of his teammates. I won’t go into details about the controls because he resembles a standard soldier from any online shooter.

Engineer. Also a fairly standard class, though it doesn’t appear in all “Call of Duty” and “Medal of Honor” games. He is capable of repairing vehicles, which is incredibly important in tank battles (two combat vehicles come together, start shooting at each other while 2-3 engineers are repairing them). This class also runs around with rocket launchers. So, destroying vehicles is also his responsibility.

As the primary weapon, the engineer uses a submachine gun. Initially, he gets a SCAR, which is also extremely deadly here, but has a very small magazine. And in the absence of “skillful hands,” it’s quite sad to reload it, especially if five or six enemies are attacking you.

Collectivization

Individually, each class looks somewhat dull. Unless, of course, for the sniper who climbs up a hill and only thinks about not being noticed by the enemy. The other fighters must constantly interact. The medic runs behind the attacking group, shouting: “Hold on, I’ll heal you!” (you may not even know how badly you're wounded, but the medic can see your health bar), throws out medkits, and quickly resurrects those who didn’t manage to hide. Meanwhile, assault troops press forward, destroy enemy cover, throw grenades, shoot from under-barrel launchers. Here, all buildings are destructible, therefore it’s a pleasure to watch the assault that begins with the blasting of a wall. Bricks fly apart, dust rises, and suddenly from the dark, a gun starts firing. Immediately, someone falls, a medic lifts him up, the medkit lands, and fighters begin to seek cover...

And while on one side the house is being stormed like this, on the other side, a tank drives up, which is being covered and repaired by engineers. This group is also trying to break through, and they have their own plan. And above, a helicopter is flying, where a trio from another squad resides. They intend to first take out everyone with rocket launchers and guns, then land on the roof to unexpectedly descend on the enemy's heads.

Here you understand the spirit of Bad Company 2. Other online shooters — they are only about tactics. Any pointers for Modern Warfare 2 — are very basic. Block that passage, put a soldier here. Here, however, you have to rely on strategy. You need to choose the right directions for attacks, skillfully use vehicles, and play as a squad (better still — two squads). Only team interaction, considering the vastness of the maps, allows you not only to win but also to simply enjoy.

Should we wait for Bad Company 2? Of course, if you’re looking for something more or less epic and team-oriented. So far, the game has no competitors. But the same goes for Modern Warfare 2 — it has none as well ;)

And lastly, a few words about the increased difficulty. Yes, there will be one and it’s already somewhat present. I played for several days on Hardcore servers. They differ from regular ones in that there is no mini-map, you cannot mark enemies, third-person mode for vehicles is disabled, there’s no reticle, health regeneration without medkits is turned off, and damage is increased. You can kill enemies the same way as on normal difficulty in **[Modern Warfare 2](http://www.gamer.ru/games/636-modern-warfare-2)**.

For me personally, playing this way is more interesting. Mainly because I really love ArmA2, where such battles are even a breeze.

But for many, this will be tough. Blowing up a point becomes very difficult, and you have to act very cautiously. And how annoyingly snipers meddle... But overall — the sensations are completely different, and it’s worth trying out the increased difficulty. It’s interesting, it’s engaging.


*And once again, I urge you to add me to your feed. If you’re interested in Bad Company 2, then expect many more materials from me about the game, and then we’ll gather a team for joint battles (though we already have enough for three