Off Duty Gamers

Off Duty Gamers military vets have been taking a look at this contender to the military realism throne in order to see if BFBC2 has what it takes in the eyes of the military gamer. It may pass the popularity contest in the face of aggravated CoD:MW2 fans but will it pan out with professional trigger pullers?

For a couple of weeks now the buzz in the land of First Person Shooters has been the Beta/Demo of the upcoming Battlefield Bad Company 2 from Dice and EA Games. BFBC2 hit the market in what seems to be a sweet spot for the genre with fans of the mega gaming hit Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 on the ropes and angry about the issues plaguing multiplayer game play and ready for either a fix or something to replace it. Off Duty Gamers has watched as countless websites pushed early reviews out the door but we felt it needed some time to really get comfortable before bringing it to our fellow military gamers.

The Briefing:

The games beta and demo versions are set on a single map called Port Valdez, playing what the game calls ‘Rush’ in which the two sides are pitted against each other to defend or attack 8 key control points. The attackers are airborne forces who are tasked with jumping in and destroying the objectives and any resistance while local forces fight to defend the control points and send the opposition packing.

Here’s a video from the developer to give you a solid understanding and SITREP!

Team Play:

Teams are assault and defense and within each team are squads you can join when things get started but the system seems to allow you to play lone wolf as well. You can chat across your squad, your team or all players but the pacing seems to limit this to the quick taunts or round closing ‘gg’ references. While a member of the squad your fellow squad mates are indicated in maps and the obligatory hovering  label following them around.

The squad system employed here has one distinct advantage and its not really the ‘work together’ aspect you might think. When you spawn or die and restart you can change your class and weapon load out and then pick one of your fellow teammates to spawn near. While in one regard this keeps your squad in proximity to a degree it can be utilized as a tactical tool to get one of your friends into a tough area and then have the rest of the crew miraculously spawn next to them. Early play in this beta indicates that this will be a heavily used way to exploit the system and have a full on assault appear where you might have just seen one single troop run by so forget the idea about mounting a defense based on the attackers (OPFOR) unit logically moving into the area (AO)

Class System and Points:

The system employs your standard class system and awards points and badges for experience and expertise. This is a tried and true system that begs players to continue in that carrot and stick view of your next unlock via progress points bar.

Class selection offers the user a choice of four: Assault (your standard trigger puller infantry class), Engineer (hardened target removal and repair specialists), Medic (strengthen and revive your teammates) and Sniper (gillie suit wearing long distance target removal). One thing ODG would like to recommend to our fellow gamers is to take the time and explore all the roles and do it soon. Leveling up one class alone may get you the best weapons in the class but you might be disappointed when you need to use the other classes and your back to basics. We predict players who don’t strive to be well rounded in each class will cling to a single maxed out or super class and rarely leave which may lead to an abundance of single class super soldiers on the field. This throws out the notion of a good squad using the best solution for the attack and reinforces ‘best toys wins’ mentality.

Points and weapons: As you move forward you logically get points and unlock weapons. While this model is widely used and accepted its predictable and in some way limits players. One suggestion we have for games like this is the option to save points earned and purchase or apply the points to weapons ‘we’ want to use. Special unlocks could be setup for using that weapon or doing something that warrants earning something you cannot purchase. Just an ODG thought here and something to discuss for the future.

Dog tag collection

Dog tags are like collecting scalps! Here’s one entertaining element that will keep gamers interested in the combat knife. If you can roll up for the close quarters kill and knife your opponent you are rewarded with a set of the users dog tags tagged with the user name of the unfortunate soul. We can completely see this being a fun way to offset the ‘everyone’s a sniper’ issue that most games suffer from.

Weapons/Gadgets/Add ons:

This is a military shooter and all the worlds popular weapon systems are represented including a few items in inventory that are just starting to see real military application. So far weapon feel is solid and ODG members were pleased with the attention to projectile physics and range as rounds dropped logically in response to the distance making ticks on a cross hair actually mean something to the player.

Dr. Can you lay down suppressive fire?

The longer you play, the more access to weapons you have with some being dependent on points alone and others being dependent on utilizing a particular class. Careful of getting ‘leveling up’-itis and forgetting that another class selection may be more suited for the task at hand.

Selections and gadgets include knife, grenades, pistols, shotguns, light/heavy machine guns, rifles and AT weapons. There is plenty of variety and as you’d expect there are plenty of ‘add-ons’ such as scopes, extra ammo, grenade launchers, mines, explosives etc. So much concentration is made on weapons in these games that we find it hard to write much more in its regard, the weapons are typical for the military application and world environment, strengths are always going to be dialed in during development and post release fixes so we’ll focus on other things and let the weapons speak for themselves.

Environment:

Sounds: Here’s where a solid set of speakers or a headset is going to pay off big time. While some games overlook the battlefield sounds that give troops in the field indications and warnings to what is around them, Bad Company 2 seems to be paying attention. Trees make noise, falling things make noise and things ABOUT to happen make noise. One such standout in this discussion is a building that can no longer bear its own weight groaning as it warns of its impending death (and yours if you’re still standing under it). While most gamers focus on weapon sounds as you fire things, its more important to note when something has been fired AT you. This gives you valuable tactical information such as direction and in some cases weapon type which can aid you in that split second decision about what will be a logical choice for cover. Big marks here for Bad Compay 2 and we look forward to ‘hearing’ more about it.

Visuals: Destruction is the signature of any battle, long after the troops have left and the sounds have died down, what remains is the footprint of a battle in destroyed homes, buildings, trees, vehicles etc etc. The level of things that can be impacted by weapons and vehicles in this game is amazing. This is the first time that Ive seen people actively using heavy weapons to clear visual obstacles like trees and small walls in order to deny the enemy the ability to use them for cover. In the US Army there is a phrase used often and it applies aptly to this game. When there is something in your way ‘MAKE A HOLE!’

You can hardly see!

A special note to the graphic purist and those who have the video capability to appreciate it is the particle physics. In short, your game play and line of sight changes based on the dust settling or smoke clearing. Even blowing snow presents interesting visual variations that can both impede your progress or distract you with sudden movement.

Real Deal:

Lets hit a few of the ‘WTH’ points that most military veterans and active duty troops are going to cringe or chuckle about

1. Paratroopers with square steerable parachutes that aren’t so steerable? Ok world.. only the Special Operations forces use steerable square (ram air) parachutes and they are typically for HALO (High Altititude Low Openning) insertions which require precise location and stealth. The rest of the worlds airborne forces use round canopy standard parachutes with limited steering and a design based on getting you to the ground safely. While this doesn’t impact the game since the chutes used are as limited in steering as standard round parachutes, it is a chuckle factor.
2. One hand grenade? Are you kidding us? While you’re packing for the assault you decide ‘hey, I’ll grab ONE of these only’
3. Prone… apparently at some level in the games design they either neglected to include or forgot entirely that the worlds military’s train in three positions. Standing, Kneeling AND Prone (lying down and both supported and unsupported). Prone has been asked for and early comments from DICE/EA seem to be negative in this regard. We feel its a vital tactical mistake since presenting the smallest target for your enemy sometimes demands using prone. As a sniper in particular, prone is a tool that makes wearing that ghillie suit actually an asset.
4. Mom always said, don’t shoot anti-tank weapons in the house! And she was right because these weapons have a hole in the back for a reason as superheated gasses and concussive force head backward to keep the firer from being knocked on his/her collective ass. The downside is that if you’re standing back there or are in an enclosed space, you’ll soon be looking for a medic or a graves registration member.
5. Don’t hide behind elements that ‘time out’. Your in the firefight engaging an entrenched enemy and working hard to use the cover around you. After the tank has been taken out it sits burning in the middle of the street, but while its no longer an offensive asset, its sitting smack in the middle of the street offering protection from dangerous open ground. As you crouch behind it firing occasionally and scouting your next move you’re suddenly standing alone in the middle of the street with ‘SHOOT ME’ painted on your forehead and all because ‘usable’ elements in the game seem to have a timeout after being destroyed. This would seem to be an easy fix but it does increase the graphics overhead as wreckage could ‘pile up’ over the game play but that’s life and Id rather have my important cover in place than have virtual streets and sanitation remove things when I need them the most.
6. You cant fix everything with an impact wrench… this is one of those things that from a realistic standpoint it doesn’t make any sense but it does give your engineers something to do and a way to keep things in the battle longer. Anyone remember the last time you saw a tank driver hop out and make repairs in the heat of battle and then hop back in and engage? No, I didn’t think so. Weapon systems that are damaged should be abandoned or engineers should get points for bringing them back to a location away from the battle where only THERE can they be repaired and then returned to service.

The Good:

• Innovative ‘trophy’ system
• Destruction level of environment
• Sounds
• Graphics

The Bad:

• ‘Something’ lacking in working as a squad
• Miracle appearance of reinforcements
• Disappearing critical cover

Our Military Assessment:

This games a winner already and can only get better if this beta is any indication. Get your military pay in order boys and girls because you’re going to want to collect up your friends dog tags just so you can trash talk them later.