A Battlefield: Bad Company comeback would be welcome

A Battlefield: Bad Company comeback would be welcome

Battlefield: Bad Company was a notable game for many reasons. Firstly, DICE attempted to do something a little bit different with the story, and even today it remains a breath of fresh air in comparison to many other military based games. Then of course there’s the fact that the game was specifically developed for consoles, and it was also the very first title to make use of the Frostbite engine, which EA have since made use of in many other games, and is now in its third iteration. 

In both Bad Company and its sequel the engine allowed for an impressive amount of destruction, with it being possible to blow holes in the frames of many buildings and other structures in the environments that make up the campaigns, with said environments being bigger in the original game and a bit tighter and more linear in the sequel, which has a more cinematic single player campaign. Even today the destruction continues to impress, and it adds to the feeling of warfare as an environment transforms through your actions as well as the actions of your enemy. On the more negative side of things, Bad Company’s visuals weren’t outstanding at the time, so it’s looking a lot more dated today, nor has it received any updates to its resolution. The sequel fairs better and looks significantly improved, although it’s still looking rather dated by today’s standards. 

The sound design on the other hand remains impeccable to this day. Back in 2008 and 2010 I never used headphones but in 2022 I do, and it really does sound like a war is going on around you when playing both games. Entering buildings results in echoes, and rockets, explosions and bullets can be heard in all directions. Battlefield has long had impressive sound, and the Bad Company series is a flag bearer for brilliantly immersive sound design. 

Something that wasn’t as impressive in its design was some of the game design decisions, particularly in the original game. One has to wonder whose idea it was to have you respawning after you die, with all previously eliminated enemies remaining vanquished and you also keeping hold of all the equipment you had before kicking the bucket. Plunging a syringe into your gut to refill health does work a little better, however, although as this quickly refills over times and can then be used again, this also contributes to making things a little too easy. The sequel was improved in this respect, with more standard recharging health. 

The shooting is a lot of fun though with a range of weapons (some of which you are quickly able to add a rocket to) present in the game, and you can also commandeer vehicles to make your way across the sizeable environments. This is no open world game, but the large environments of the original game in particular means that you are given choice as to how to approach each battle, and there’s also handy kit and weapons to find. Not forgetting to mention that there’s optional gold to seek out, littered across each level, while the sequel has you destroying enemy technology. 

The story of Bad Company definitely deserves a mention. Starring four badly behaved soldiers that have been assigned to Bad Company, their mindsets become rather wayward when they discover that there’s lots of gold to be found. It’s not a serious war game by any stretch of the imagination, with light-hearted banter from the soldiers as well as some of their actions being rather amusing. As a military based game, the lack of swearing is also a nice change, although this changed with the more generic plot that was presented in the sequel. Still, the characters go some way to making things more fun and interesting. 

Multiplayer was also a popular portion of the game, although in both games matches are often hard to come by these days. The original game was rather limited in its options, launching with only a single mode (which was later joined by another mode), but the sequel was a more rounded affair, releasing with a total of four modes.

In more modern times what I would really love to see is a third game in the series, or even a remake of the now dated Bad Company. If EA really had to test the waters for a proper series return, remasters would even be appreciated. In one way or another, it would just be fantastic to see the series make its long-awaited comeback. It really has been too long since we have had the pleasure of being in such bad company.