The story mode takes you and three other renegade soldiers on a quest to find gold without the help of the army. You'll battle through some beautiful wide-open European countryside locations with your three allies for the entire game, so it always feels like you're fighting as a team but they're not exactly helpful. The humour is also pretty dry but it's keeps the atmosphere alive. Overall I found the entire campaign a bit of a bore, in my opinion it's probably just practice for multiplayer as your one character can use weapons and tools from all the different classes in the multiplayer mode.
Now, the multiplayer is the real reason you want this game. To be honest it has to be one of the best multiplayer games I've ever played and that includes PC and consoles. I've played Killzone 2, Call Of Duty 4, Resistance 2 and Halo 2 and I honestly think Battlefield Bad Company destroys them when it comes to multiplayer. It is not as deep as Battlefield 2, yet I'd still call it an improvement. It's slightly smaller scale but still huge compared to the games I just mentioned. BFBC takes all the classes from BF2 and squeezes them into a simplified yet versatile selection.
Here's a quick roundup of all the classes:
Assault: powerful and accurate weapons with a self health injector unlock. Recon: the sniper class, has sensor grenades which show enemies on the map in a 10m radius (eg. UAV), also has an extremely useful laser-guided bomb for armored vehicles which you can control in first-person as it falls. One of the easiest ways to take out tanks in the game. Demolitions: Shotguns, anti-tank mines and anti-tank rocket launcher. This is mainly a defensive class but is also good for attacking if you're skilled. Support: Heavy machinegun and medic in one class. Drop health packs for your teammates or yourself and also can repair vehicles. They also have the ability to call in mobile airstrikes anywhere, extremely useful for flushing out people from cover. Specialist: Close-range sub machine gun, C4 that can be used to destroy tanks, buildings and bridges. Also has a gun that tags enemy vehicles. Once tagged, a Demolition's rocÂkets will be guided towards the tanks, but it still has to be quite close. Points are also awarded to the specialist when the tagged tank is attacked.
So what makes this game different to all those other multiplayer games? One of the main reasons is the destructible environments, it may sound like a gimmick but it really changes the way you play, no where is truly safe. The other main reason is the battlefield itself, it's HUGE compared to what you usually get. It's not just big and flat, the maps are sloped and on mountains and hills so it feels like a really natural environment. A giant battlefield combined with all the different classes gives you many different ways to approach a situation. As the maps are so huge there are many different routes to take, and if that's not enough you can also blast your way through the destructible environments.
Here's an example the classes in offensive: Assault: storm in with your rifle, take cover and refill health and continue. Support: you're a non-stop killing machine, you can heal yourself and others, lay down cover fire AND call in airstrikes (within 30m~) when you're enemies are too well covered. Demolitions: take out tanks with your rocket launcher and anti-tank mine, plus a shotgun for close encounters. Recon: take out any covered defenders gunning down your allies from a distance and drop bombs on tanks/vehicles (extremely useful). Specialist: shoot tracer darts at tanks to permanent tag them so they always show on the map. Use C4 to make shortcuts through the enemy base or use it to blow up the gold without warning (planting the bomb alerts and gives the enemy time to defuse).
In conclusion, the combination of the huge varied maps, the destructible environments and the unique classes really means there are so many ways to play this game and apply your own strategies. You can really get creative in your approach, this game just never gets old. Unlike simple confined arena-based shooters like Call Of Duty 4Â where you do the same old mindless run-gun-grenade-die-respawn (repeat every 30Â seconds), this game has a lot more depth and feels much more rewarding than any other online FPS out there on consoles this generation. I've been playing since release and I'm still not bored of it, when you take in all the different classes and ways you can play combined with the huge maps and destructible environments, you honestly cannot get bored of this game. IÂ honestly recommend this game over anything else out there. If you're not convinced, read this review again and think about the freedom this game offers when it comes to approaching a battle.