Battlefield: Bad Company

Battlefield: Bad Company is the latest game in the Battlefield series developed by DICE. It was released June 23rd, 2008 in the United States and 28th June in Europe. The game is anticipated largely because it adds realistic destruction to the game. It uses the new Frostbite Engine developed by DICE. A sequel has been announced and will release Winter 2009.

Frostbite Engine
Battlefield: Bad Company uses the newly developed Frostbite Engine by DICE It is built specifically for Xbox 360 and PS3, also multi core PC's.

Some Notable Engine Features:


 * Long view distance
 * Very realistic enviromental destruction
 * Very high detail when looked at up close
 * Easy building destruction

Singleplayer
Battlefield: Bad Company is unique to the series because it contains a singleplayer campaign. The singleplayer campaign has 5 main characters, Redford is the leader in the squad, he is the most responsible of the four he is three days from retirement and then plans on fishing marlin. Redford is unique to the group in that he volunteered for the group, despite its dangers.
 * Sergeant Redford
 * Haggard

George Gordon Haggard's character has a Southern US accent and is Bad-Company's demolitions and explosives expert, he carries a 870MCS shotgun and a missile launcher. He's in B-Company for blowing up the biggest ammo dump east of paris, and blowing his CO's latrine sky high with a couple of claymore high explosive devices.


 * Preston Marlowe

This is the character you control in the game. He is just transfered to B-Company for reckless flying of a helicopter. The quietest of the group, Marlowe shows his voice through force. Marlowe tends to surprise Haggard and Sweetwater by staying alive for so long.
 * Sweetwater

Sweetwater is the mastermind of the squad. He's the most inteligent out of the four and is often mocked by Haggard as a nerd, Sargeant Redford also criticizes him for talking too much. He carries a M249 SAW. He was thrown in B-Company for uploading a virus onto the US army's mainframe. Before the incident, he was saving up money to go to college.


 * Mike-1-Juliet

Mike-1-Juliet is the dispatch girl and will be aiding you through your earpiece, telling you what to do and also giving you valuable information. Her real name might be micheal July, but we know for certain that in the first mission Sweetwater says her last name is July

Battlefield: Bad Company's singleplayer is set in the near future, it depicts the United States of America facing the Federation of Russia and its fictional bordering country of Sederistan.

Multiplayer
Battlefield: Bad Company has an online multiplayer for up to 24 players on Xbox Live and Playstation Network. The player can to choose from kits, or classes which will each have their own weapons, tools and purpose. For example the anti-tank kit, will have a rocket launcher with which you could destroy heavily armored vehicles, or obviously, tanks. New to the series however is the destruction. 90% of the environment ingame is destructible. You could destroy walls, vehicles, crops, foilage and even whole buildings. This could become very useful to a player. For example, if you choose the sniper kit, you could blow up a large piece of the second floor wall, then use that to camp and snipe.

This directly effects the battlefield online, making for tense and tactical negotiations between teams, this in order to make a successful assault/defense.tracey

Plot
Welcome to Bad Company: The game starts as Preston and the rest of Bad Company are brought from a helicopter to the front lines. An artillery barrage wipes out the convoy, along with B-company's truck. This is where the player learns to look, jump, crouch, shoot, fire grenades, and repair vehicles. B-company is sent to wipe out an artillery spot used by the Russians and use them to shell the incoming vehicles. As you see your helicopter shot down by anti-aircraft fire, B-company is sent to destroy the emplacement and raid Russian occupied farms. As you hed deeper into Russian territory, you encounter mercenaries and while an incoming airstrike kills them all, Haggard finds a gold bar in the suit of a Legionare.

Acta Non Verba: You move through more Russian territory when you find a house with the Legionare's Moto, Acta Non Verba (Latin for "Action Not Words") Haggard sends you inside to check out the house. Inside you find a case of cold, which is where you would get the Trophie or Achievement 'I Love Gold'. You destroy fuel and missle storage facilities and meet up with a group of tanks as you escort them to a Russian held town. you destroy the radio equipment and are sent to the harbor. You fight your way to the trucks and watch them drive away. As they go, a bar of gold drops out of the back and B-company is determined to follow them and retrieve the gold.

Crossing Over: Soon after you arrive in Sederistan and as you look for the gold, Haggard runs into the boarder, starting a War with a neutral country. Sarge Tells Mike-1-Juliet that it was his idea to wipe out a potential threat. His tour of duty is brought back to 12 months and tells Bad Company they're going AWOL. Your first objective is to destroy 3 transmition towers to cover your tracks. You get intel saying the gold is in the harbor. After you arrive, you are about to enter the Legionares cargo ship when the U.S. army comes and captures you.

Par for the course: The army sends you on a mission to go through Sederistan and capture the president. You make your way through the golf course and when you reach the presidential mansion, the grounds are crawling with mercenaries. You fight your way in to get the president but when Sargent Redford calls for an evac chopper, Mike-1-Juliet tells them that the army ditched you there so you wouldn't cause any more trouble. The president then tells you he has a Russian Hind coppter and you use that to escape from Sederistan.

Air Force One: You take the president's Russian attack copter as you attempt to destroy Sedaristan's internet equipment, fuel silos, boats and supply lines. Your helicopter soon runs out of fuel and you arrive at a refueling station. you battle your way to one of the 3 trucks and bring it to the chopper. Haggard accidently pours the fuel into the cooling unit and Sweetwater tries to fix it. You hold off Sedaristan's Army and as tanks roll in, Sweetwater fixes the Chopper and you escape. The President than asks you to bring him to Russia for his exile and as he informs you about where the gold is, the legionare shoots down your helicopter and takes the president and Bad Company Prisioner, leaving you because they thought you were dead.

Weapons
Battlefield: Bad Company features 5 classes each with different weapons and 4 unlockable guns and 1 special piece of equipment. The classes are Assault (assault rifle and grenade launcher), demolition (shotgun and rocket launcher), recon (sniper rifle and pistol), specialist (sub-machine gun and dart gun that allows all allied demolition classes to fire a homing rocket on the targeted vehicle), and support (heavy machine gun and med kit which he can use to heal himself and his allies).

Here's how the classes perform in combat:

Assault Class

 * Assault Rifle
 * Grenade Launcher (only if applicable)
 * Fragmentation Grenade
 * Auto Injector (Unlock)

Carries an assault rifle of their choice with an Underslung Grenade Launcher. Also carries fragmentation grenades (frags) and can spend 1 unlock point to unlock the Auto Injector.

Demolition Class

 * Shotgun
 * Rocket Launcher
 * Fragmentation Grenade
 * Anti-Tank Mine (Unlock)

Carries a Shotgun of their choice and a Rocket Launcher. They also carry frag grenades and can spend 1 unlock point to purchase the Anti-Tank mine.

Recon Class

 * Sniper Rifle
 * Pistol
 * Motion Sensor
 * Laser Designator (Unlock)

Carries a Sniper Rifle of their choice and a pistol. They also carry motion sensors and can spend 1 point to unlock the Laser Designator.

Specialist Class

 * Compact Assault Rifle
 * C4 Remote Explosive (Unlock)
 * Fragmentation Grenades
 * Tracer Gun

Carries a Compact Assault Rifle of their choice and can spend 1 unlock point to acquire the C4 Remote Explosives. They also carry frag grenades and a tracer gun.

Support Class

 * Light Machine Gun
 * Medical Kits
 * Mortar Strike Designator (Unlock)
 * Power tool

Carries a Light Machine Gun of their choice and medkits. They can also spend 1 unlock point to purchase the Mortar Strike Designator and also begins with a power tool.

Vehicles
Battlefield series has always featured a wide array of vehicles ranging from Land, Sea and Air. Battlefield carries on with that tradition. It will contain helicopters, trucks, tanks and jeeps. However, jets, which have appeared in Battlefield 2, are confirmed to be excluded from Bad Company.

One vehicular add on for the single player, is the mission exclusive gold plated helicopter, it is confirmed to include a disco ball.

There are 6 groups of vehicles in Bad Company,

1. Light transport - The only type of light transport is the buggy, It is the same for each army, it's the fastest but least armoured vehicle. It is armed with a grenade launcher, machine gun a place for a fourth soldier at the back. The variation is a russian van like vehicle, the same as the same as a Battlefield 2 MEC armoured car.

2. Armoured Transport/Car - This is a Hummvee with a heavy machine gun a 2 extra places, There is a variation for the single player mode but it isn't included online.

3. Light Tank - Russian and US variations of a light tank exist within the game, with multiple firing grenade launchers which can flatten enemy infantry and small buildings with ease.

4. Tanks - The US version and Russian version are similar, yet obvious interior and design exteriors are altered. They are the most powerful vehicles in the game due to their heavy guarding, and large cannons.

5. Helicopters - Helicopters dominate the sky online and off, in order to immerse the player in dog fighting with others.

6. Golf Carts - Not strictly a vehicle type, yet a fun addition that adds to the humour of Battlefield: Bad Company.

Find All Five
Find All Five is a way for players to unlock specific weapons. The game's official website includes promotional events that give the player codes for free downloadable weapons. These "Find All Five" weapons include the F2000 Belgian assault rifle, USAS-12 automatic shotgun, M60 general purpose machine gun, QBU-88 sniper rifle and silenced Uzi sub-machine gun. The five events from EA's website instruct the users to participate in the Battlefield Veteran's program, check the player's stats online after playing the game, register for the BF newsletter, pre-order the game through participating stores, and get to rank 4 in the demo.

On the 11 September, 2008, Battlefield: Bad Company's website revealed that 3 of the Find All Five codes would be released due to lack of availability. These 3 guns were the QBU-88 Sniper Rifle, M60 Light Machine Gun and the Silenced Mini Uzi Sub-Machine Gun. The F2000 Assault Rifle and USAS12 Semi-Automatic Shotgun still remained exclusive, but eventually the code was released to unlock the USAS12. EA still wants the F2000 to be reserved for Battlefield Veterans.

Beta, Demo And Release Date
Recently, there was a populated beta of Bad Company on the Xbox360 and Playstation 3. Seeing footage and screenshots from the beta the game is looking nice and refined although bugs are being reported constantly most of them shall be fixed in the retail version.

On the 5th of June, the Demo was released, containing the map oasis and only allowing 4 level increases, However players are rewarded if they reach level 4, with a Uzi silenced sub-machine gun for use in the full game. If anybody was lucky enough to pre-order BF:BC they had access to it on the 29th of May. Nearly all of the bugs in the beta version have been fixed. Dice did not predict the large amount of demo users causing the ranking system of the demo to shut down, DICE is doing all it can to start up more servers to compensate for the amount of users.

Battlefield Bad Company had been released worldwide by Friday 27th June, 2008.

Links and Sources

 * BF: Bad Company Official Website
 * Planet Battlefield
 * Frostbite Engine Video
 * Destruction Demonstration Video