There really is nothing inherently wrong with the gameplay found in the campaign of Bad Company 2, but on the flipside, there is also nothing - other than the incredible audio of gunfire and explosions- that really stands out. I like to think of myself as a more than competent FPS player, and I found myself getting obliterated by the opposing forces a lot. I mean, A LOT. There are many checkpoints spread out through the levels and at times, if you don’t feel like facing all the enemies in a situation, you can haul tail right past them to the checkpoint where more often than not, a cut scene will play, rendering all remaining enemies useless and no longer a threat.

Once you have had your fill of the single player campaign, the real meat and potatoes of Bad Company 2 is the multiplayer portion of the game. There are three out of the box modes to play – Rush, Conquest and Squad Death match. Rush sets the opposing team out to detonate various M-COM stations spread around the map while the defenders try to hold off the attacks and defuse any charges that are placed. Conquest is just as it sounds and has the two teams, Russians and the US Army, trying to conquer as many of the four outposts as possible and hold them until the other team runs out of spawn tickets. Squad Death match places squads of four players against each other in a battle to see who can rack up 50 kills first and each game type also offers Hardcore mode, much like MW2, that robs the player of most of their HUD and players take harder hits.

Each player chooses a class before starting the game: Assault, Engineer, Medic or Recon, all of which are pretty straightforward in their duties and all of which gain their own unique abilities the more you progress. You are also given the ability to pick up fallen soldier’s kits and equip them yourself, which allows you to switch up your strategy on the fly, something that has come in handy more than a few times during my online game time. Being able to swap from assault rifle to sniper rifle or to pick up a defibrillator to revive a fallen teammate changes the simple run and gun to something a bit more strategic. One complaint is that is does take longer than I would have liked to get from the first level up to the second, where you begin to gain your main abilities for the chosen class and make more of a difference on the field.

All in all, don’t let the rather generic and short single player campaign deter you from picking up Bad Company 2. The multiplayer is a fantastic gaming experience and without a doubt it gives Modern Warfare 2 a run for its money.