Long-time readers should be aware that I play some of the Battlefield games. They're infinitely better than the Call of Duty series. But then again, the originals are always better than the rip-offs.

My favorite is Battlefield 2142, I've spent years on that game. When Battlefield Bad Company 2 was released, of course I picked that up and I enjoy it.

I recently fired up 2142 again. After playing for a few days now, it's better. Hands down.

Bad Company brought a lot of nice changes. A few things I like from Bad Company:

  • Dedicated knife attack.
  • Experience must be earned on the desired class, no more earning experience on Assault and unlocking Support.
  • Health regeneration.
  • Medics have a delay between each revive.
  • Infinite tickets for defending teams.
  • Tracer darts.
  • More unlocks.
  • More kit customization.
  • Destructible environment.

That's a lot of good stuff. But Bad Company has a few problems that don't ruin the game, but make it less desirable between the two. Bad Company removed the ability to "cap out" the other team. So games go on as long as there are tickets left. There is less motivation to hold the posts then. This can make games go on for a very long time.

The bigger problem is the map design. All the Bad Company maps are designed in a way to avoid a direct fight. In 2142, maps like Camp Gibralter, Fall of Berlin, and Cerbere Landing require teams to fight one post at time. If the defending team loses the post, they have to fall back to the next, or recapture it. In Bad Company though, all the maps are designed so that either team can avoid the fight, and go around to another post. With the exception of White Pass.

Vehicle play is sub par in Bad Company. Even the light tanks require 3 rockets to take down. 2 with a well-placed, hard-arced shot. In 2142, when you hit the weak spot, you kill that tank. If you don't, you'll almost certainly die. There is also no such thing as a no-vehicles mode in Bad Company.

Bad Company took away the commander. It took away the strategy of the battle, in favor of tactics, but due to map design you can't even use good tactics. No supply drops, orbital strikes, area scans, or car drops. There's absolutely no strategy at all, since squads cannot talk to each other. Without the commander to direct the squads, each squad ends up doing their own thing without coordination with the rest of the team.

Don't get me wrong, Bad Company is a good game. But it feels like the ugly stepchild of the Battlefield series. There's rarely a sense of "go for the win" except in Rush games. These lots of little changes make it less of a game than 2142.