Gaming has the power to make people go nuts! Seriously, take your pick of the many franchises that still attack our favourite pastime and more often than not, there’ll be a rabid fan base attached to it frothing at the mouth any time their obsession is mentioned. Just to put it into context, let your mind think about Halo, Project Gotham Racing and even, believe or not, Pro Evolution Soccer. This craze goes far beyond the realms of Microsoft’s box too – some Italian plumber has been sending people crazy for over 20 years now! However, this fixation doesn’t always stick to the stereotypical big guns. In fact, some of the strongest love is kept in reserve for those who consistently deliver but manage to do so without the razzle-dazzle of a million pound marketing campaign. Battlefield is such an anomaly.

Making its name on the PC with its uberhardcore multiplayer match-ups, the demand soon reached such a degree it was only a matter of time before it stretched its wings and appeared on multiple formats. This it did in 2006 and, again, attracted a super-strong following. And then DICE decided it was time to do something a little bit different. After what we can only assume was a mammoth meeting between all of its most prominent executives, Digital Illusions CE made the call to ignore its spiritual home and focus all its attentions on the console. Of course such a move would have to contain a unique twist to the franchise to try and convince those not besotted with the licence to make the jump. The answer? Develop a single-player mode!

In 2008, it’s extremely strange to say that a game adding a solid, narrative-driven oneplayer experience to its repertoire is a refreshing change, but that’s exactly the case. Following the exploits of the ‘Bad Company’ – Haggard, Sergeant Redford, Preston and Sweetwater – you do your ordinary army thing (obeying orders and all that) until the constant slog becomes too much and the boys decide to hunt down some rogue gold they just happen to stumble across. This, if you’ve been monitoring the game, you already know – the tongue in cheek and light-hearted nature of the plot has already seen many individuals warm to it. Like all things that whet one’s appetite, though, there’s nothing quite like putting a controller in your hands and seeing what it’s like to play. Thanks to EA, we got to do just that with a level not seen outside of DICE HQ!

Proudly representing the second mission of the campaign, the squad is still rather loyal to its bosses, but a taste of the yellow stuff has started to mess with their heads. Rather than turn it into a moral dilemma between right and wrong with all four soldiers’ ethics being sorely tested, Battlefield keeps every aspect as humorous as possible. Sweetwater and Haggard constantly run down their boss – who is only days away from retirement – and his deadpan, dry responses are pure comedy! Mix this with the game itself and, well, you’re in for a real treat.

After being coerced into checking out a potentially dangerous building because ‘you’re the new guy’, that classic Battlefield mentality is instantly recognisable. A huge environment sits in front of you and there’s little-to-no structure to it whatsoever. Sure, there are certain objectives and goals that have to be met, but in terms of a linear path, there just isn’t one. You head towards the red triangle on your map, and it’s entirely up to you how to approach a situation. Take our first enemy encounter for example. You’re enjoying a long walk, in which we were convinced some punk was going to snipe us from afar – old habits die hard – when a group of thugs started screaming in our direction, followed by an array of bullets. Noticing a slight verge to the right, we ran up it, nipped around the back of the two buildings and blasted these morons from behind. The real genius, though, was what the rest of our squad did. We’ve all experienced some horrific team AI in the past. Countless promises that you’ll feel part of a unit, more often than not, are outright lies. Bad Company is a little different. Much like the multiplayer – and that’s a phrase we suggest you get used to – your buddies watch what you’re up to and respond accordingly. In the same way you do during a Live match, you’ll find yourself preempting what your chums may get up to and doing what’s appropriate to stay atop of your foes. The fact that the version we tested was still relatively early suggests that this could be even more advanced when retail copies blast their way onto shop shelves around the country.

After the besting of our two debut combatants, we continued to make our way to objective one: blast the hell out of some enemy weaponry in a building to the north. A quick stroll through a picturesque field was cut short when we laid our eyes on a sight of true beauty: a boat! Vehicles have always been a staple within DICE’s shooter, so it came as little surprise when we boarded that mother. A quick trip over to the other side of the lake allowed our target to be in sight. What followed was Bad Company’s true original, universal selling point. Following a blood war of epic proportions (that saw our adversaries fall to their knees because we’d killed them!), we grabbed some explosives and placed them on the suitable machinery that needed to be destroyed. We backed out the building, safety first, whacked the trigger and waited for the inevitable explosion and satisfactory bang. This we did receive, but good gosh did we get a lot more too.

Back in 2001, a game called Red Faction was released with technology built-in known as Geo-Mod. In short, it meant a lot of the environments would respond accordingly to damage. Impressive it was, but Bad Company, to be blunt, takes the idea to a whole new level entirely. As the blast ripped through the building, numerous bricks flew outward, knocking into the surrounding environment and destroying them as well – like a run of dominoes, the wall hit a chain-link fence and the fence hit some trees; everything was ruined. Never before have we been so impressed or taken aback by the concept branded as destructible environments. Not only is it hella fun to blast the crap out of walls with a rocket launcher, the ability to use it to your advantage is key. Let’s say you’re trapped in a building with plentiful foes waiting for you outside. It’s perfectly conceivable that you could make a huge hole for yourself in the wall, whip out your sniper rifle and start picking off your prey from your man-made gap.

With our first objective down, we were a little startled to see just how far away numero two was. Like the multiplayer offering, the levels are akin to an online map. Being masters of that field, DICE has laid it out damn well. As we were worrying about the long haul to our next point, we spied a truck, begging us to hop in… which is exactly what we did! With music blaring out, and a warm feeling of contentment settling in our stomachs, the sheer variety of a single mission was about to expose itself to us. We came across a small stronghold filled with yet more budding assassins, did away with them, blew up some more enemy weaponry and then got the orders to advance to a nearby town. Getting to the area took a fair whack but the trip was a damn enjoyable one thanks to the sublime design, equipped with transportation and a few blockades. And then everything changed…

Up to this point, Bad Company had given out the impression that the particular level we were riding through was a simple seek-anddestroy assignment. While that’s true in some respects, as soon as we stepped foot into the small settlement, Battlefield’s attitude changed completely. Dozens of unrelenting, projectile fiends unleashed a wave of pure aggression towards us and keeping to cover and being tactical in any advancement became key. The shift in gameplay shocked us to such a degree that several letters would’ve been sent back to our mother. Someone would need to explain the concept of checkpoints to her, but hopefully you get our joke all the same! This shift of pace was all-but perfect, as not only does it keep you on your toes, it creates an atmosphere that’s akin to taking all the modes DICE has proven it can do (CTF, deathmatch and so on) and merging them into a solitary stage. This is clearly an area that has been concentrated on. Once through the town, more commands – which were met with so much sarcasm and quips it’s hard not to laugh – saw America’s finest send in its tanks that needed protection to another nearby village. A jaunt through a valley that threw soldiers, rival tanks and a few special so-and-sos equipped with RPGs was thrilling; it’s near vital you benefit as much as possible from obliterating raised platforms where the mentioned antagonists stand. Not only will it stop them shooting at you, it’s just damn fun seeing them fall down – immaturity is cool!

Once the tanks had safely reached their destination, yet more instructions were barked our team’s way, this time to eradicate a communications post in a nearby building. Oh, how ever will we do that? Well, you could find the building, climb the stars and conventionally pelt it with cartridges, or, thanks to that old destructible element, make an opening in the house with some kind of rocket and then lob a grenade in after it. We love choices! A quick counter-attack followed by another trek to a local port – and a shoot-out with some marines that is above and beyond – brought our experience to a close. We were damn happy!

Anyone familiar with Battlefield, who may have even been adverse to DICE’s motivation to add a single-player, will be amazed at what it’s come up with. The shooting mechanic is as solid as ever, and mastering the different weapons differs depending on your base skills. The machine gun is fairly easy to get to grips with, but the electric screwdriver – yes, you read that correctly – takes some stealth and melee tactics. More importantly, it’s morbidly fascinating to kill a man with such a tool.

This, plus the usual variety Battlefield has always offered up, means everything is heading in an excellent direction. Any worries we may have had about the story can be laid to rest, the characters are well thought out and unique and their constant banter keeps things fun, and as we get ready to close up this preview, we’re going to play through our slice of goodness again. Not only to see just how differently we can approach it, but because the run-’n‘-gun mechanic is that good.

Considering it would take a courageous, or stupid, person to bet against the multiplayer side of things, Bad Company could easily be one of the FPSs of 2008, and one that takes up home within your white box for a long time to come.

Simon Miller