EA and DICE graced us with a wonderful expansion to the Bad Company 2 (BC2) game on December 21st this year. We've been presented with an add on extension to the original game that is a stand alone online only multiplayer shooter based in Vietnam during the 1960s. This expansion pack is an incredible value ($15) for anyone who loves first person shooters (FPS) and already has a copy of BC2.
This expansion offers 5 full new maps that allow all games types to be played, they include Vietnam war era weapons, vehicles, music and characters. Playing the game I have flashbacks to such popular movies such as Platoon, Hamburger Hill, Full Metal Jacket, and Casualties of War. Stuff like this adds to the overall experience when playing.
I believe anyone who's tried this expansion has to give credit to the incredible art and design work DICE put into these game maps. They are amazingly detailed with lush jungle foliage, war torn landscapes, bunker and tunnels systems and more. One map in particular, which continues to amaze me is Hill 137. This map is made in memoriam of Hill 937, otherwise known as Hamburger Hill. My first experience w/ this map was playing a game of Rush as an attacker. Rush on this map consists of three checkpoints where the attacking team must destroy pairs of objectives. Our team spawns and has to find a way to trek up a steep jungle incline to the first set of objectives. The enemy is well entrenched w/ bunkers and foxholes to fully cover them as they await our assault. As the team confronts the enemy I notice a distance yet deep guttural bass sound in the background. I really don't know what it's from, but I will soon find out. Our team manages to come together and overtake the objectives, which opens up the map for further play. Now, in my first experience of this map, I was actually a gunner on a patrol boat off in the distance and was not hoofing it by foot around the bases. When the second set of objectives opened up, we took our boat around a bend and turned to look at the most amazing map scenery I've ever experienced in a game like this. The entire view in front of us was completely scorched Earth. The entire hillside is a mess or black charred dirt, sporadic fires are burning where bush, trees, or other objects had once remained along w/ charred embers floating through the air. As I take note of all this I see the jets fly overhead along w/ their screeching engines. From this I realize where that earlier booming bass sound was from. These jets are only ambient background, but they are flying over our heads to the background and dropping napalm bombs. An enormous yellow cloud billows up as the mountains side behind us disappears into a flaming could. It's just awesome. Sadly, I think most of the footsoldiers continuing on the attack would miss most of this since they are traversing a number of trench or tunnel systems to reach the enemy camp and likely are keeping their heads down to avoid fire. It was pretty cool though watching the firefight ensue at a distance from the water, and somewhat safety of a patrol boat, as our team hit the enemy head on. I don't recall if our team actually won on this map in the end, but it is a tough fight.
DICE designed these maps and weapons to formulate close quarters combat and more battle chaos, but its is intensely fun. A number of choke points are created on purpose in maps which can really be frustrating, but when a team comes together it is an exciting feat. The game play definitely took me a while to get used to even with my extensive time in the standard BC2 gaming. I believe a lot of it stems on the fact that you're gunning with basic iron sites on all weapons besides the sniper rifles. The lack of scope and the different jungle environments with choke points can really shake up your game play. After burning through the pain of adapting, I fully enjoy this game and love to play it.
The other maps in this game are incredible in their own ways. Each has varying vehicle options and terrain to master as you cross the map. Its a great experience and one you should definitely share with friends as teammates, or foes if you like.
Again, I have to stress my favor to the battlefield series of games for the incredibly dynamic FPS gameplay. The Call of Duty series has really taken the FPS world by storm. It is simplistic shooter than any player can pick up and run with, but in the end it works as an extremely fast paced run and gun individual focused game. Battlefield can be done the same, but its likely that player won't last long or gain much in terms of team awards or wins. If you have BC2 and enjoyed it in the past, this is a must buy for you.
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