BBC2 Vs MW2

Posted on 05. Feb, 2010 by admin in Entertainment, Games & Technology

Why my hopes are pinned on Battlefield Bad Company 2 being a modern warfare 2 beater.

So the much anticipated demo of Battlefield Bad Company 2 finally arrived, and whilst waiting for it to download I spent a few moments remembering just why it was that I hoped this game would be able to defeat the behemoth that is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Firstly for people accusing Dice of trying to leech off of infinity Ward’s success with modern warfare I think a mini history lesson is in order.

The Call of Duty series was first released for the PC in 2003 whilst the battlefield franchise started in 2002 with Battlefield 1942. The Call of Duty series went forward with fast paced action whilst battlefield placed the focus on tactics, teamplay and good use of the VoIP setup. Fast forward seven years to Modern Warfare 2’s release and we have a game that has massive commercial success, but at the same time brings about so much vitriol from the people that play it; just ask this guy.

Now, I play Modern Warfare a lot. I used to play Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142 a lot more before my PC became a steaming pile of junk and the main difference is that I never used to feel angry playing the battlefield series. Modern warfare is in my opinion an infuriating game. A good infuriating game but an infuriating game nonetheless.

• The kill streak system is flawed. Rewarding kills with the devastating ability to make even more kills making some players nigh on unstoppable.
• Camping is the most effective “tactic”.
• The latency of the game’s servers means that you can sometimes run behind cover to recover your health only to find you were actually already dead.
• There is no balance between the weapons. I’m not even talking about the complete “pwning” ability of M203 underslung grenade launchers but the fact that assault rifles seem to be the only weapon worth using in any situation. The lack of recoil or sway on most of the assault weaponry in MW2 is ridiculous. The F2000 is probably the only assault rifle which remotely resembles the actual firing profile of an AR weapon.
• Akimbo shotguns (Snm - Ed)
• The weapons are also so overpowered to the point that the game is reduced to “he who sees first, kills first” sometimes the only reason you know that someone is shooting at you is because your dead.
• Glitches

One of the things that always kept me playing battlefield was the team-play. Modern Warfare’s team-play consists of teammates scrambling to steal your emergency airdrop packages. In the former, you gained points for following the orders of your squad leader who in turn gained points for following the orders of the commander.

With online battles taking place between platoons of 32 v 32, being a commander in control of 32 players was a big deal. It was also extremely exhilarating and satisfying when your orders were obeyed. There was also the added tactic of being able to revive, heal and resupply your teammates depending on which kit you were carrying all adding to the feeling that you were not some lone wolf trying to get the highest score or kill streak but actually part of a military machine striving to achieve some goal.

Unlike the modern warfare series, battlefield didn’t flatter you by making you think you were a better player than you are. Modern warfare has taken the ability to score highly by teamwork, intelligence and tactics into winning by (ab)using the right weapons and kit, knowing where to camp, glitching etc.

There’s just no learning curve or difficulty in the game. I can still remember when I first was able to smoothly fly the helicopter in battlefield 2, or mastered the half barrel roll in a Eurofighter to escape an enemy aircraft missile lock, or aim a camera guided missile whilst the pilot was avoiding anti-aircraft guns in an F16. Theres just nothing in modern warfare that even comes close to being as complex. Its a very glorified noob fest if you like, and that is actually the main reason why it is the biggest selling video game of all time. Most people with a little practice can become quite “good” and thats what I love and simultaneously hate about the game.

Anyway, enough ranting. Download the game demo HERE, on xbox live or playstation network and comment here what you think, will the game be a serious contender for MW2?

Pic Sources

http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/image/article/951/951448/battlefield-bad-company-2-20090205072430852_640w.jpg
http://xbox360media.gamespy.com/xbox360/image/article/952/952010/battlefield-bad-company-2-20090206113851455_640w.jpg
http://scrawlfx.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/modern-warfare-2-screens_06-18.jpg