Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3 & Xbox 360)

[RancidLunchmeat]

I still say the map is far too small. I've played bigger maps with more people what seems like five years ago.

Sure, I understand the destructible environments reduce the map size, but this map seems so small that the only problem with sniping from one end of the map to the other is draw distance (ie: you can't SEE your target), rather than distance of the rocket/rifle/mortar etc.

I could be completely off base here, but it seems to me that if you are out of range of a ranged weapon, you're off the map. And get killed immediately because of it.

Like I said.. I could be wrong. But when I look at the map and identify where it is I want to position myself as a sniper to try and get to a distant (but still in weapons range) position, I'm off the map.

That's completely different than the WWII HL mod I played 5-7 years ago (I forget the name.. anybody?), where you could essentially run away for five minutes, park yourself on a distant hill and then snipe the back roads if you were patient enough.

Blowing up buildings and knocking over trees is nice, but I'd rather have distant hills filled with snipers who have spent their time moving that far away and just waiting for the perfect shot rather than have a game where everything is funneled towards a very specific area... which is what this seems like.

It's still a good game, I'll give you that. But the size of the 'battlefield' really limits it in my opinion.

I don't have a PS3, but I can't imagine that Resistance which supposedly has 60 player MP has a map this small because you'd be able to touch the other team and there'd be no purpose of snipers.

 

[obonicus]

I still say the map is far too small. I've played bigger maps with more people what seems like five years ago.

Sure, I understand the destructible environments reduce the map size, but this map seems so small that the only problem with sniping from one end of the map to the other is draw distance (ie: you can't SEE your target), rather than distance of the rocket/rifle/mortar etc.

I could be completely off base here, but it seems to me that if you are out of range of a ranged weapon, you're off the map. And get killed immediately because of it.

Like I said.. I could be wrong. But when I look at the map and identify where it is I want to position myself as a sniper to try and get to a distant (but still in weapons range) position, I'm off the map.

That's completely different than the WWII HL mod I played 5-7 years ago (I forget the name.. anybody?), where you could essentially run away for five minutes, park yourself on a distant hill and then snipe the back roads if you were patient enough.

Blowing up buildings and knocking over trees is nice, but I'd rather have distant hills filled with snipers who have spent their time moving that far away and just waiting for the perfect shot rather than have a game where everything is funneled towards a very specific area... which is what this seems like.

It's still a good game, I'll give you that. But the size of the 'battlefield' really limits it in my opinion.

I don't have a PS3, but I can't imagine that Resistance which supposedly has 60 player MP has a map this small because you'd be able to touch the other team and there'd be no purpose of snipers.

The map is certainly smaller than, say, the 64-player Battlefield 2 maps, but I can't really agree about the map being tiny. Off-hand, each 'base' feels about half as big as a 16-man BF2 map, and there are 4 or 5 bases. Each disputed point is significantly larger than one of BF2's flags, for certain. I'm using Battlefield 2 as a comparison because, well, it's a BF2 game and a 3-year-old PC game.

I hate to say this, but you were complaining about draw distance and performance... are you sure your 360 is okay?

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Updated Impressions:---Earlier I was loving the MP, now I am addicted to the MP! It ROCKS!

My new mantra is to run all the way back just to kill that Mortar guy!LOL!

Edit: Oh! and BTW now I am playing on 32" Sony Bravia 32V300A, Battlefield is BEAUTIFUL!

But on the downside, in HD I can see jaggies and that grain filter now

 

[D3B]

Updated Impressions:---Earlier I was loving the MP, now I am addicted to the MP! It ROCKS!

My new mantra is to run all the way back just to kill that Mortar guy!LOL!

Edit: Oh! and BTW now I am playing on 32" Sony Bravia 32V300A, Battlefield is BEAUTIFUL!

But on the downside, in HD I can see jaggies and that grain filter now

I do the same every time but take a tank.If the helicopter is still there I pull in front of it then use the tanks smoke for cover and quick hop out to steal it

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Last night this Mortar guy was good at his job and always spotted a tank if it was moving towards him, So I trekked from the plantation straight to the first base, runnin along the edge of the map where he wouldn't see me, and then got to him, aligned a sweet headshot and killed him, took over his Mortar gun and killed their teams snipers and tanks with it ! Nothinglike using their own weapons against them!
Then this guy got a helicopter and came back to kill me but his helicopter exploded just in-front of me! Ha ! Ha! then I kept my killing going until he trekked back all theway from the plantation and got me ! I never bothered to go back again! but he must be afraid now,..... very afraid ! LOL!

 

[sevanig]

Anyone having trouble with the controls, I made them less sensitive, they are still feel weird (I have only played single player though) Will there be anymore polish on the final release?

 

[RobertR1]

I've been playing the crap out this for the past week or so. Here we go:

- Squads. I hope there are a number of squads per team. Right now I have no way of joining a specific squad of even forming one. It's too messy.

- Auto kick or vote kick after X amount of TK or even accumulated team damage. This game is very much team oriented and just 1 rouge person can ruin the whole game.

- An efficient secondary way take down Heli copters. A good heli pilot can easily dominate a game, yet again.

Onto the gun play. Dice just isn't very good at guns! The feel, the hit detection and the feedback to the player on if they've made contact, where and how much just isn't their strong point. A few hundred hours of BF2 confirmed that as Counter Strike easily has much better gun play. However, DICE do know how to set the atmosphere and it's from that, you get the BF series immersion. The contast radio chatter, squads, vehicles, sounds, the feel of a battle field is well done and yes, it'll suck you in. Take a step back though and how CS is superior to BF2 in gun play on the PC, CoD4 is superior to BF:BC on the console in terms of gun play.

I want to get this bad but I'll wait on reviews of what the MP is like in the retail version. After being burned on BF2, waiting a lifetime for game breaking fixes and arrogantly refusing to support Widescreen, I don't have a lot of faith in patches from DICE so I'll see what the full initial package brings to the table. All said and done though, the console version is a bit dumbed down in terms of marco level strategies and such due to limited options vs what's available on the PC BF2.

Playing this actually might get me to reinstall BF2 and get hooked again

 

[sevanig]

waiting a lifetime for game breaking fixes and arrogantly refusing to support Widescreen

From memory you could use a widescreen rez if you changed the target in the bf2 shortcut (Just incase you decide to reinstall )

 

[RobertR1]

From memory you could use a widescreen rez if you changed the target in the bf2 shortcut (Just incase you decide to reinstall )

Yeah, you could force widescreen but it wasn't the proper FOV.

 

[DemoCoder]

I've played every DICE game, and I agree, the gun feel/play sucks, atleast compared to every other major FPS I've played. I liked BF series because of huge # of players and vehicles, but there's just this frustrating disconnect compared to other FPSes. (BTW, I'm talking PC not console)

 

[RobertR1]

So I installed BF2 again and played 2 rounds on Jalalabad. Sigh, I was beyond a noob but that confirms what I remember. BF2 on the PC is much more frantic and intense and with IQ cranked up at 1920x1200 on a 8800GTX, it still looks the part. In my search to see what's changed, I found out that BF2142 came out without wide screen support also. I'll see how popular the retail version is on Live before picking it up. In the mean time I think I need to put some hours in and get back into BF2 on the PC.

 

[obonicus]

So I installed BF2 again and played 2 rounds on Jalalabad. Sigh, I was beyond a noob but that confirms what I remember. BF2 on the PC is much more frantic and intense and with IQ cranked up at 1920x1200 on a 8800GTX, it still looks the part. In my search to see what's changed, I found out that BF2142 came out without wide screen support also. I'll see how popular the retail version is on Live before picking it up. In the mean time I think I need to put some hours in and get back into BF2 on the PC.

BF2 is, or was (I haven't played it in 3 years) much more poorly balanced. Some choices, some combinations were overwhelmingly powerful and some didn't have any proper counters. BF:BC seems to have better balance; destructible buildings means that tanks can't get impervious cover they could get in tight maps like Karkand, and since Support doesn't have the 'healing aura' BF2 engineers do, they just don't last as long.

Also, since they distributed the heavy ordinance (mines, mortar support, laser-guided missiles, detpacks) across (almost) all kits in BC you're less likely to be in a situation where you're facing armor and are completely helpless.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

I loved the demo a lot, played it every night untill MGS4 came along!
I had decided to buy it, but now mGS has taken up all the free time I have!
Looks like BF:BC may suffer due to lauch after MGS4(on PS3 I mean)

 

[RobertR1]

BF2 is, or was (I haven't played it in 3 years) much more poorly balanced. Some choices, some combinations were overwhelmingly powerful and some didn't have any proper counters. BF:BC seems to have better balance; destructible buildings means that tanks can't get impervious cover they could get in tight maps like Karkand, and since Support doesn't have the 'healing aura' BF2 engineers do, they just don't last as long.

Also, since they distributed the heavy ordinance (mines, mortar support, laser-guided missiles, detpacks) across (almost) all kits in BC you're less likely to be in a situation where you're facing armor and are completely helpless.

Anytime you have a game on such a large scale with so many diff options, balance is going to be impossible. Want balance? Play Counter Strike, 5 on 5 with CAL maps. That's the closest you'll get.

Give BF:BC time. It'll have map/kit advantages also. It's the just the byproduct of a large scale.

All said and done, I expect some big big numbers on the 360 for BF:BC. I'm just playing hard to get anyway. I know I'll buy it

 

[Mobius1aic]

BF2 is, or was (I haven't played it in 3 years) much more poorly balanced. Some choices, some combinations were overwhelmingly powerful and some didn't have any proper counters. BF:BC seems to have better balance; destructible buildings means that tanks can't get impervious cover they could get in tight maps like Karkand, and since Support doesn't have the 'healing aura' BF2 engineers do, they just don't last as long.

Also, since they distributed the heavy ordinance (mines, mortar support, laser-guided missiles, detpacks) across (almost) all kits in BC you're less likely to be in a situation where you're facing armor and are completely helpless.

BF2 so far has been the best Battlefield, and the console BFs really can't hold a candle to the ones on PC. Bad Company is still a good game, and the destructible environments are a welcome change, but console limitations both in size of the map due to memory constraints and max number of players really hold it back. That and I completely agree with the funny feeling controls when it comes to aiming. Also I must note how simplified the destruction system is compared to other games which is understandable due to internet bandwidth.

All in all I had fun with the PS3 demo, but the controls and that terrible "glowing" effect as well as annoyingly opaque and boring color usage you see in alot of console games now (to hide the jaggies?) really puts me off and back on my computer to play some more BF2, which does have some balance issues, yet if people learn how to, they can use any class proficiently. BF2 isn't a dare-I-say simple console style combat game with easy learning curve so anyone can jump in and be the best, it alot more hardcore which makes it alot more rewarding and gratifying. That should start some mouth wars right there

 

[obonicus]

Anytime you have a game on such a large scale with so many diff options, balance is going to be impossible. Want balance? Play Counter Strike, 5 on 5 with CAL maps. That's the closest you'll get.

Give BF:BC time. It'll have map/kit advantages also. It's the just the byproduct of a large scale.

All said and done, I expect some big big numbers on the 360 for BF:BC. I'm just playing hard to get anyway. I know I'll buy it

Undoubtedly, but the game in many ways is less complex, which, again, only helps the BF series. BF2142 already went a good way into fixing BF2's problems, and I think BF:BC is another step in the right direction. And kit advantages aren't such a big problem as say, early BF2's Black Hawk issues. An overpowering kit isn't -good-, but other than the shotguns all the primary weapons seem to be equal between the factions, so you can spawn into that overpowering kit as well.

The other good aspect of having a less complex BF game is that the game isn't QUITE as dependent on having squads act in perfect unison as BF2 was. Which is a great help when you're playing on pubs.

 

[Cornsnake]

This is one of the best demo's on PSN so far. I wasn't sure if I would like it, but now its a day one sale for me. Can't wait for the full game. Hopefully it provides more ways to take down choppers. And a way to chose which squab member to respawn next. Now there are times when you respawn next the sniper sitting far off in the distance. There have been several times where the whole squad would respawn next to him. But at least its good kniving practice.

 

[rusty]

Love this game, and it will definately be on my buy list...

Main gripes:

- doesn't feel as "smooth" as COD4 for example
- Sniping hit detection is often ridiculously lame
- light machine guns are useless at range, when in reality they are deadly.
- It'd be nice if destructible environments allowed you to totally level a building rather than reduce it to a predetermined level.

Hit detection is the thing i hope they fix before release.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Tried this demo last night (360). Didn't think I'd be a big fan. The videos I saw made it look kind of choppy with screen tearing, but the demo actually felt very playable, and I didn't notice the tearing if there was some.

The sound is AMAZING. The destruction is done well, and looks good. It's satisfying to pound the side of a building out with a grenade launcher. Aiming is not as smooth as COD4. I can't seem to get the balance I want for sensitivity. Still, I can manage it pretty well. The main support gun sucks. It seems like over a short distance it just sprays all over the place. Not very useful for, you know ... supporting.

Overall the demo was enough to peak my interest. I'm not sure how tight the single player will be, but the potential is there.

Multiplayer seems pretty good, but like in other battlefield games, it's very very very very easy to dominate by spawn camping, which can be annoying.

If they roll the destructible environments and such into Battlefield3 on the PC, whenever it comes, I just might have to upgrade.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

The main support gun sucks. It seems like over a short distance it just sprays all over the place. Not very useful for, you know ... supporting..

Use ironsights?