EA Sports release Bad Company

Jul 24 2008 by Richard Evans, North Wales Weekly News

BAD Company is obviously intended as EA’s answer to the superb and epic Call of Duty 4.

On the Xbox 360 version even the immediately familiar controls let Call of Duty veterans feel instantaneously acquainted with the game.

Set in a fictional modern war between Russia, the Middle-East and the US the game puts the player in the midst of a squadron of soldiers made up of AWOL soldiers and army misfits.

Apart from the obvious similarities to Call of Duty the game does introduce some not entirely new ideas but welcome additions to the first person shooter action. For instance the interactive environment is directly affected by all the gun-fire and explosions and trees fall and buildings are destroyed.

The game is very much geared towards on-line action and like many other shooters this is where it excels. But make no mistake while Bad Company may be a temporary solution to some awaiting Call of Duty 5, it is by no means a replacement.

After initially reading other reviews I assumed it was just me who didn’t feel the level of connection with the game as I did with the intense action provided by Call of Duty. But after lending the game to a colleague they confirmed my disappointment.

Perhaps it’s unfair to compare every first-person army shoot-em-up to Call of Duty 4, as Bad Company is not a terrible game, it’s OK. But the bar has been risen and by comparison this feels clumsy, clunky and just doesn’t manage to capture the urgency, tactics and full on action which Call of Duty 4 does so well.

Bad Company is available now on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

6/10