Battlefield: Bad Company 2

[Jimbo]

Downloaded it for xbox live, pretty fun demo, great to see DICE large maps with vehicles going again!  I luv running up and knifing snipers in the back, the knife is worse now than BF2 or BF 2142, but still okay, you just have to be freaking inside the person.  The shot gun isn't a one shot kill....that or i guess I'm still too far away, liked it better how they worked in the other versions.  I am wondering why the got rid of some of the classes, just wish those who played the assault kits would freaking drop ammo boxes!

Does anyone think it has gotten uglier?  BF2 was a mix up of colors that made it nice to look at and play, BF2142 was ugly but very detailed, now this version looks like freaking brown is everywhere....bleah!

[Pennilenko]

Downloaded it for xbox live, pretty fun demo, great to see DICE large maps with vehicles going again!  I luv running up and knifing snipers in the back, the knife is worse now than BF2 or BF 2142, but still okay, you just have to be freaking inside the person.  The shot gun isn't a one shot kill....that or i guess I'm still too far away, liked it better how they worked in the other versions.  I am wondering why the got rid of some of the classes, just wish those who played the assault kits would freaking drop ammo boxes!

Does anyone think it has gotten uglier?  BF2 was a mix up of colors that made it nice to look at and play, BF2142 was ugly but very detailed, now this version looks like freaking brown is everywhere....bleah!

I like the how the shotgun and knife are in this version. Also I disagree about the coloring, the graphics are great, and I think you are gonna see a lot of brown and gray, the only map we have is a snow map with concrete buildings pretty much. I really really really like that this is not a modern warfare clone.

[waffel]

I'm sorry but the knife in BC2 is one of the easiest knives I've seen in any game. If you're anywhere near an enemy, hit your knife key and you'll get a kill. I've knifed people behind me, to the side of me, people I've run past, and people behind others.

As for the shotguns. The pump shotgun is decent, but totally dwarfed by the auto-shotty. The pump has literally 0 room for error and requires you to be within 5 feet of someone. The bullet spread is bonkers.

For a hilarious display of the knife and shotgun, see 4:07 and 5:20 respectively in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UizRcJxAMhU

The game is amazing, but the more you play it the more little things like this come out.

[Azazel]

Bit the bullet and bought it rather than wait forever for a possible 4-pack. Downloading the demo now. Will check it out in the morning.

[LK]

Those... are some pretty nasty glitches. The only thing I can think of that even comes close to what I saw in that video from Modern Warfare 2 is the questionable trajectory of certain Sniper Rifle shots that I've seen killcams for.

Besides the obvious "Hey Tactical Insertion will encourage boosters."

[jakonovski]

I'm sorry but the knife in BC2 is one of the easiest knives I've seen in any game. If you're anywhere near an enemy, hit your knife key and you'll get a kill. I've knifed people behind me, to the side of me, people I've run past, and people behind others.

As for the shotguns. The pump shotgun is decent, but totally dwarfed by the auto-shotty. The pump has literally 0 room for error and requires you to be within 5 feet of someone. The bullet spread is bonkers.

For a hilarious display of the knife and shotgun, see 4:07 and 5:20 respectively in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UizRcJxAMhU

The game is amazing, but the more you play it the more little things like this come out.

I hate magical one shot knives, the only game where it makes sense is Chronicles of Riddick. They should instead put some effort into it. Have a bayonet you can charge with as well as a knife you can only use quickly if you have a pistol. If the first killing attempt fails, the players are locked in melee. Have some sort of a quick button mash fest decide who's the winner, but also have it take enough time that others can shoot your asses dead while you're getting medieval. Guaranteed hilarity, especially with friendly fire on.

[Malakili]

My only real worry at this point about the game is the glitches.  When the game is played in the spirit of how it is meant, it is great, but with people cheesing game mechanics to kill objectives in seconds, i mean, sure its winning, but it isn't really playing the game.  Luckily, I haven't seen these exploits being widely used yet, though when they are used, it totally ruins the experience.

[Nonentity]

Being an avid MW2 knifer, the knife in this game is notably different. The problem with the knives hitting anywhere is that most servers, even with a low ping, have a stupid amount of latency.

There is the chargeup time for the knife hit. You hit the button to pull it out, you pull the knife back, and THEN you stab. With MW2, it's more button, stab. They may just need to bring down the effective range on the knife a bit.

Also - it's a friggin' beta! The last patch they did for the PS3 beta was this multi-page monster. I'm happy waiting.

[Malakili]

Being an avid MW2 knifer, the knife in this game is notably different. The problem with the knives hitting anywhere is that most servers, even with a low ping, have a stupid amount of latency.

There is the chargeup time for the knife hit. You hit the button to pull it out, you pull the knife back, and THEN you stab. With MW2, it's more button, stab. They may just need to bring down the effective range on the knife a bit.

Also - it's a friggin' beta! The last patch they did for the PS3 beta was this multi-page monster. I'm happy waiting.

Indeed, I'm happy they are doing a robust beta for the game and hopefully they will close up some of the loopholes and exploits.

[LK]

There is that. All of this stuff is coming out before release. But I wonder about their QA department.

[HaemishM]

Ummm, it's DICE. They've ALWAYS had releases that were buggy as fuck and menus that suck monkey ass through a sippy straw. The first patch or two after release usually fixes the games.

[NiX]

I hope you're submitting all these complaints. There's a reason they gave a month and a half of testing before launch.

[Azazel]

To sell more pre-orders?

[NiX]

To sell more pre-orders?

Pfft, if you had to pre-order to get in, you're too slow.

[Azazel]

Way to miss the point and be a douche at the same time!

[Azazel]

After some playing - some thoughts.

The game is slower than MW, which is a good thing, but faster than BF2, which is a bad thing. It still feels a little spammy.

Knife is a bit too powerful. Feels more like a lightsaber of doom.

Snipers are too powerful, I think this is due to the narrow map. The best BF1942/DC/BF2 maps were big wide open affairs that allowed for deep flanking rather than being long death funnels. Even Karkand allowed for some thought after the initial assault. If the maps were more wide open and allowed multiple directions/assaults snipers' power would be less overbearing. Wake is a good example.

Too much dust and smoke. It feels like a design decision to try and force players closer together, but one of the greatest things about BF games has always been the wide open rolling spaces. Hopefully the dust and fog is not as prevalent on other maps, but I'm not hopeful.

Russians and Americans? I'd have preferred at least the initial weapons to be national-native rather than generic to both sides.

Fun so far, but so was the initial play of 2142, and I list interest in that one quickly enough.[/li][/list]

[Malakili]

Snipers are too powerful, I think this is due to the narrow map. The best BF1942/DC/BF2 maps were big wide open affairs that allowed for deep flanking rather than being long death funnels. Even Karkand allowed for some thought after the initial assault. If the maps were more wide open and allowed multiple directions/assaults snipers' power would be less overbearing. Wake is a good example.

Yeah, I do with the map was a bit wider and more open.  I think part of it is that we are basically looking at 32 player max, which I think 1/2 of the earlier Battlefield games, so the maps aren't going to be quite as big.  BUT, I do wish the maps were at least as big when compared to that player count.  Hopefully other maps will have multiple choke points, as Valdez seems to have one major choke point per section, and I think that isn't quite enough.  Still, I'm having a great time with the game none the less.

[Malakili]

Had anyone's performance in this game totally tanked in the last couple days.  My computer is admittedly on the low end of what can run this, but early in bet a I was at least regularly getting a very playable framerate, but in the last couple days it seems like my frame rate has tanked even when I turn everything to low.  Damned odd.

[NiX]

Way to miss the point and be a douche at the same time!

[Nightblade]

I haven't noticed any performance drops... Actually, I stopped crashing to desktop everytime I was in an exploding vehicle when I updated my graphics card drivers. I'm still trying to get over the shock that updating my drivers actually did something useful for once.

As far as the knife being overpowered; It's at least a little harder to use than the CoD4 knife. The BC2 knife has this weird animation you have to go through, and sometimes it doesnt register. There are times when I stab someone, only to somehow fall on my ass and get stabbed myself... Even though he was turned in the other direction. 

[Malakili]

I haven't noticed any performance drops... Actually, I stopped crashing to desktop everytime I was in an exploding vehicle when I updated my graphics card drivers. I'm still trying to get over the shock that updating my drivers actually did something useful for once.

Hmm.  Well, I was tweaking settings trying to get the best frame rate possible, and my frame rate ended up actually getting worse.  Finally, in desperation, I just clicked the "reset to defaults" button and that seems to run better  (its medium settings or so), than everything on low.  Now, DICE has stated that the beta version PC players have is an old build and unoptimized, so I am wondering if it'll get better for the release version.  Then again the old "its beta" excuse never ends well.  Still, I can play the game on default settings with an acceptable framerate, so at least I know I  can do that worst case.

[Elerion]

It's not entirely uncommon for games in beta (or shitty releases) to run better on default settings than on lower settings.

[Azazel]

As for the shotguns. The pump shotgun is decent, but totally dwarfed by the auto-shotty. The pump has literally 0 room for error and requires you to be within 5 feet of someone. The bullet spread is bonkers.

Honestly, you get the auto shotgun so quickly after the pump shotgun, it makes me wonder why the pump action is in there at all...

[Jimbo]

I was an avid engineer and the old M11-87 was a total beast if you got shot with it in BF2, the upgrade to the auto shot gun was crazy awesome!  I'm not liking the range and punch of this pump gun, but then again, I'm playing on Xbox Live (I've got the dvd preordered for PC), so hopefully it is a little better.  I wish that they had kept the seven classes instead of going with 4.

[Malakili]

I was an avid engineer and the old M11-87 was a total beast if you got shot with it in BF2, the upgrade to the auto shot gun was crazy awesome!  I'm not liking the range and punch of this pump gun, but then again, I'm playing on Xbox Live (I've got the dvd preordered for PC), so hopefully it is a little better.  I wish that they had kept the seven classes instead of going with 4.

I think with the reduced max players from the other battlefield games, 7 classes would probably be a little much, especially for the console version.  I think  of Bad Company as almost a totally different series than the original lineage of BF games (1, 2, 2142).  They lean slightly more towards the action side, and such.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but I think for what they are going for with BC/2 7 classes would have been too many.  Also, 4 is nice given the squad mechanic.

[Jimbo]

Was digging around, found out no prone (even on the PC) and a limit of 16 vs 16 on PC (not sure but something like 12 vs 12 for consoles).  Hopefully BF3 will be back on the PC and having large maps with 40 vs 40 teams and the return of squads and commanders.  This will be fun to play while waiting for it.

[Malakili]

Was digging around, found out no prone (even on the PC) and a limit of 16 vs 16 on PC (not sure but something like 12 vs 12 for consoles).  Hopefully BF3 will be back on the PC and having large maps with 40 vs 40 teams and the return of squads and commanders.  This will be fun to play while waiting for it.

I basically look at it as a separate game series compared to the normal BF games.  I think its good in its own right, but it isn't necessarily a replacement.  So far I'm liking the smaller squad based fighting.  I find that when you actually get a small team working together there are great gaming moments to be had.  It lacks the epic feeling of the other BF games though.  Perhaps conquest mode will feel a bit different.

[WayAbvPar]

Was digging around, found out no prone (even on the PC) and a limit of 16 vs 16 on PC (not sure but something like 12 vs 12 for consoles).  Hopefully BF3 will be back on the PC and having large maps with 40 vs 40 teams and the return of squads and commanders.  This will be fun to play while waiting for it.

Amen.

[LK]

http://www.ultimateprestige.com/

OK, this is actually pretty cool, complete with areas on a map where a certain weapon is most effective.

[Jimbo]

If I can blow up the Bridge of America's that would be sweeeeet!  I hatted that fucker and the cluster of how the Panama's Police Force would direct traffic on it.  Panama would be a cool map that they could make for BF3...lots of stuff from Howard AFB, Ft Amador, assulting the Presidents house, etc... could be a fun design.

[Malakili]

After playing this game frequently since beta started, TF2 has lost so much of its luster its amazing. 

[Nightblade]

After playing this game frequently since beta started, TF2 has lost so much of its luster its amazing. 

Ehhhh... Huh?

About the only thing in common these two games share is the fact that they're both first person shooters. Playing BF2 in all it's chaos makes it easier to focus in other games by comparison; but I wouldn't cal one or the other simply "better".

[WayAbvPar]

Anyone have a good line a beta keys? Can't run any down.

[HaemishM]

I finally got a beta key from EA - I think I had signed up for beta on their web site awhile ago and got the email out of the blue.

I like it. I won't be buying it because my computer REALLY can't handle it. I managed to get it playable with the lowest settings possible, but the framerate is shit. There is WAY too much going on, total sensory overload. But the gameplay at its core is Battlefield with some tweaks. The unlock system is nice, and I just unlocked the first set of weapons at lunch. Sniping is HARD, especially on laggy servers (which they all seem to be right now), but recon has been my best kit so far with engineer second. Even my work computer with Windows 7 and an ATI Radeon 4870 had to be set on medium to be playable. Is there a way to turn down the head bob? It's really overkill.

[Pennilenko]

I finally got a beta key from EA - I think I had signed up for beta on their web site awhile ago and got the email out of the blue.

I like it. I won't be buying it because my computer REALLY can't handle it. I managed to get it playable with the lowest settings possible, but the framerate is shit. There is WAY too much going on, total sensory overload. But the gameplay at its core is Battlefield with some tweaks. The unlock system is nice, and I just unlocked the first set of weapons at lunch. Sniping is HARD, especially on laggy servers (which they all seem to be right now), but recon has been my best kit so far with engineer second. Even my work computer with Windows 7 and an ATI Radeon 4870 had to be set on medium to be playable. Is there a way to turn down the head bob? It's really overkill.

I run an i7, ati 4870, 6 gigs of triple channel, I run on high maxed out with no issues. I use the server browser to select low ping servers. If you click the play now button it will set you on almost any latency server it randomly picks.