Battlefield: Bad Company 2

About Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 arrived in March 2010 from EA Digital Illusions CE. This shooter mixes action and strategy across PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Android, and iOS. The game follows the B Company squad through a mature single-player campaign set in Russia, Bolivia, Chile, and Venezuela. You fight paramilitaries and Russian troops to stop a scalar weapon while driving ATVs or piloting transport helicopters. Frostbite technology lets you blow holes through buildings for new tactical angles. It is a loud, chaotic military shooter that emphasizes large-scale destruction over small skirmishes.

Gameplay

A typical session involves pushing forward on massive maps with squadmates to capture objectives. You switch between infantry combat and vehicle sections where you drive quad bikes or man helicopter turrets. The core loop relies on Destruction 2.0 mechanics that let you blast walls down to create new entry points or flank enemies. Multiplayer focuses on four-player teams competing in squad-only modes to unlock exclusive rewards. Controls feel responsive during firefights, and the campaign offers a linear narrative with cutscenes between missions. You often find yourself driving cross-country to reach a satellite station or hijacking a cargo plane while under heavy mortar fire.

What Players Think

Critics loved this title with an 87 Metacritic score and an 84 rating from 634 IGDB users. PlayPile data shows players describe the vibe as Chaotic, Story-Driven, or Intense. The community completion rates suggest most people finish the campaign given its linear structure. Average playtime leans toward the longer end due to the extensive map traversal and vehicle sections. Review snippets from our database highlight the destruction system as a major selling point rather than just a gimmick. The multiplayer retains high engagement because the squad mechanics force players to coordinate attacks on vehicles and buildings simultaneously.

PlayPile's Take

This game is worth your money if you want loud explosions and vehicle combat without needing a complex strategy background. The single-player campaign takes about ten hours for most completions. You will unlock several achievements by completing squad missions or destroying specific targets. Price remains reasonable for older titles on digital stores. Do not buy this if you hate large maps with no cover or if you prefer tight, tactical shooters over chaotic firefights. The final act requires hijacking a plane and fighting through sewers which feels distinct from the rest of the experience.

Storyline

In October 1944, a group of US commandos infiltrate an island in the Sea of Japan to extract a Japanese scientist with war decisive information. They successfully secure the defecting Japanese scientist who was working on a secret weapon codenamed "The Black Weapon" (a scalar weapon), and attempt to escape the island on a stolen submarine. But after repeated warnings by the scientist, the commandos witness the effects of Black Weapon's power and subsequently perish, sparking a myth about what really happened in Operation Aurora. In the present day, Bad Company is on a counter-intelligence operation behind enemy lines in Russia in attempt to secure a high value individual of the US military, and a device related to a scalar weapon. Despite escaping Russian soldiers, and completing what they thought was their final mission in B-company, the device is discovered to be a fake. Being impressed with their previous activities, Army General Braidwood assigns them to the Special Activities Division, and tasks them with delivering information to Agent Aguire, much to the disappointment of Sgt. Redford. The squad travels to Bolivia in search of Aguire. Through many firefights with paramilitaries, they manage to save Aguire just before a Russian hauls him onto a waiting Mi-24 Hind. After discovering that Aguire's findings were stolen by the Russians, Aguire requests the squad to get all his intelligence detailing the scalar weapon from a satellite. The squad moves up to take the mountain with assistance from their pilot Flynn and his UH-60 Black Hawk. After taking over the satellite station, Sweetwater codes the satellite to crash, with the squad driving over cross country to find it, taking on Vodniks and Quad Bikes along the way. After reaching the satellite, the squad successfully defeat a Russian counterattack aimed at destroying the satellite, but soon bad weather rolls in. While Redford and Haggard go to find transport, with Sweetwater following, Marlowe soon finds the data storage unit and proceeds to go down the mountain during a blizzard, taking on Russian patrols, and is soon extracted by the others in Flynn's helicopter. During extraction, Aguire briefs the squad about the man responsible for building a scalar weapon named Arkady Kirilenko; the Russian Army colonel the squad failed to eliminate in Chukotka, who is believed to be hiding in Chile. Marlowe and the squad travel to Chile, where they, aided by US Armoured forces and Marines, find Kirilenko, though he soon escapes after US Command starts shelling Kirilenko's position. Left only with papers from Kirilenko's office, Sweetwater discovers there is a shipping manifest for a lost ship called the "Sangre del Toro." Aided by the rest of the squad getting the coordinates, Marlowe finds the ship and retrieves an unnamed compound essential to the use of the weapon, and finds out the truth behind Operation Aurora. While attempting to meet Aguire in Colombia, the squad's helicopter is shot down by a Javelin and they become separated. Sweetwater and Marlowe regroup first, taking on a militia counter-attack, and they soon find the rest of the squad. After fighting through heavily defended Russian bases, the squad find Flynn, and then race to a helicopter base on Quad Bikes. After fighting through Russian territories in a salvaged Black Hawk, the squad reach the rendezvous with Aguire, and Marlowe gives Aguire the compound, while Redford demands to know what's happening. However, Aguire double-crossed the squad by allying with Kirilenko, his rival in the quest for the scalar weapon. Aguire wanted revenge against the United States for what happened to his father, one of the commandos in original raid on Japan, after Marlowe revealed that the US military callously sent them to their deaths. Despite the alliance, Kirilenko betrays Aguire and kills him. Flynn intervenes and saves the squad at the cost of his own life, his helicopter shot down by an RPG. While still mourning after Flynn's loss, the squad overhear a Russian soldier's radio, which the squad use to find their position. They begin to move towards a city, but then Kirlienko begins the detonation of the scalar weapon. The squad begin advancing through a Venezuelan city, being attacked by Russian and militia troops, along with mortars. However, as they reach the mouth of a large river, they witness a huge firefight between US and Russian troops. However, as the fight reaches a climax, the scalar weapon detonates, annihilating the US forces and sending "all tech dead." The squad then fight through the blast zone in pursuit of Kirilenko, but, as the squad reach the plane, an An-124 Ruslan (Which Haggard mistakenly identifies as an An-225 Mriya), they realize it's taking off. The squad unanimously vote that they should hijack the plane, and set off through sewer tunnels towards it. Though they had to discard their weapons, they climb on board through the undercarriage, and await dawn. The squad begins to progress through the plane, taking out multiple guards before reaching the scalar weapon, which is protected by a reinforced pane of glass, which Haggard says will "take an act of God to get through, or a lot of C4." The squad then fight towards the cockpit of the plane, but realize that Kirilenko is in the Scalar chamber itself when they discover that the cockpit is empty. After detonating C4 to get through the glass, the squad destroy the Scalar weapon, and then proceed to bail out of the plane. However, as Sweetwater tries to give Marlowe the last parachute, Kirilenko tackles him, and Marlowe is forced to dive out of the plane, killing Kirilenko in a free fall with an MP-443. Sweetwater passes Marlowe a parachute in midair, and the pair land safely in Texas alongside the rest of the squad. However, as they begin to celebrate, General Braidwood tells them to follow him in a HMMVW, as the Russians are invading through Alaska. The last cutscene shows a map of Russian forces swarming through Alaska and Canada, quickly advancing on the US border.