Review by: Jeff McAllister

The Boys from B Company have returned and although it’s an all new game, many of the same traits still remain. The last time out the squad of screw –ups raided a gold shipment and made off with the goods to live the high life. Or so we thought anyways. As the sequel starts, you take part in a secret mission during WWII to find a scientist that has knowledge of a Scalar Weapon the Japanese are planning to use, a weapon that emits an electromagnetic pulse and renders everything electrical, useless.

After the brief prologue, you are back in the present time with the usual suspects: Preston Marlowe, Haggard, Sweetwater and Sarge, with no mention of what happened to the gold score and still knee deep in the battlefield, not on a beach somewhere sipping on daiquiris. Given the amount of chatter that takes place between the squad mates during the game, you think that they might drop a hint or two, but you get nada other than some rather humorous banter.

Before long, the company is recruited from a simple support mission to a special ops division to track down information on the same Scalar weapon that is now being sought by the Russians. That’s about the gist of the campaign, and while it does have a twist and turn here and there, it really isn’t all that interesting story wise.

The first Battlefield: Bad Company introduced the Frostbyte engine that allowed players to destroy just about any and everything around them. In the sequel, the engine has been upgraded to allow you to not only blow holes through walls, but to actually bring the entire building down in a collapse of dust and twisted wreckage. While the annihilation of buildings is chaotically amusing to play with and adds a strategic element, there are times that firing off a grenade will punch a hole through a stone wall, while leaving a wooden outhouse unscathed and fully intact when hit dead on.

Like all Battlefield games, you won’t be taking the heel-toe express everywhere you go and vehicles do share a fair amount of the six or so hours of game time. You’ll find yourself riding ATV’s, jeeps, and computer controlled UAV’s that are basically remote controlled helicopters that pack one hell of a punch. While the vehicles are mainly used to cover ground quickly, there are times that you will need to clear enemy armor by flattening it with your own tanks or calling in airstrikes with your trusty binoculars.