Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The single player is great, you wont be disappointed! Graphics are awesome, and the backdrops are very nice eye candy. You can switch out your guns for different ones of your choosing when you come across certain "special crates" scattered around any given level, which is nice because that means you can switch up your play style when YOU want too. The single player campaign is short and sweet (prob 8-10 hours play time), the story doesn't grab you like MW2's, but enjoyable none-the-less. Assuming that the bulk of people buying this game are doing so for the multiplayer, i'll move on to that and devote the rest of my review to it.
I downloaded the demo for this game a little while ago and hated it. The controls were completely different then MW2 - i especially dislike that they use the right movement stick for ducking. Can't tell you how many times i try to shoot a guy and ended up ducking and shooting at the same time. So i put it away and went back to MW2, as i was playing i realized that - "i hate this game", i'm at the 4th prestige and have over saturated myself with it. I cant stand the quick kill quick death formula anymore, the horrible spawn system, the team selection system, and especially the lack of team work i constantly come across. There is also the infamous "MW2 law", similar to "Murphy's Law", where anything can go wrong in a match and when it does, it always seems to happen to YOU. Ofcourse MW2 is a great game and a worthy purchase, but i personally have had my fill.
That being said, it was unfair to judge BFBC2 so quickly when i had put such an insane amount hours into MW2. So i picked it up again and gave it another shot...i was hooked! I was playing as a medic and realized that i actually wasn't focused on killing people, i was running around reviving my teammates and dropping health packs to keep them going, ofcourse i took out a few stray enemies here and there. "Wow, this is different" i thought, and when i realized how many points i was racking up i liked it even more. I"m actually HELPING my team and getting a ton of points for it. That brings me to the most important aspect of the multiplayer, you are actually encouraged to work as a team, which is a nice change of pace compared to MW2. I get just the same amount of points for shooting someone as i get for reviving them. It works beautifully.
There is a leveling up system which is similar to MW2, nothing as developed though, but there is enough there to keep you coming back for more and you do unlock different sights, guns, gadgets etc... Some are just for the particular class you use i.e - medic unlocks larger health packs, but others are more general and can be used for any class, i.e - heavy vehicle perks.
The first BFBC had 2 deal breakers for me. One was their crazy health system where you jam a needle into your stomach when your health got low, which ofcourse is something you would have to do 50 times a match. The other was the lack of any kind of kill cam! It's no fun being sniped over and over again and having no idea where the sniper is when you respawn. THANKFULLY, both of those deal breakers have been removed. Your health regenerates (no needle to the stomach required) and there is a kill cam, you don't actually see the enemy kill you like in MW2, but you follow them around until you respawn so you know where they are and can carry out the proper justice.
Also, locating enemies is somewhat unique to this game, when you see an enemy, you have to press the back button on your controller and then a red insignia appears over their head and they show up on your entire teams map for a brief amount of time. I can't express how gratifying it was to spot 3 snipers on a hill, press the back button, and watch them get lit up by my team - rockets, bullets, you name it, it went their way. Also, you get assit kill points for things like that, again, encouraging team work.
BFBC2 is a great game, very different then MW2 but in a good way. If you need a break from MW2, give it a try, you wont be disappointed. Again, one of the most impressive things about the multiplayer is how it rewards you for team work and incourages it. If actually playing a first person shooter AS a team, not just "lone wolfin it" while you're IN a team, sounds good to you, pick this game up, you wont be dissapointed.
I gave this game 4 out of 5 stars because it's not perfect. What game is? I have experienced some issues actually getting into a multiplayer match (can't find a match, busy, error, whatever,it means that their servers are full and they can't handle it, and several matchs have ended abruptly due to server issues. But once you actually get into a match, it's a ton of fun.
FYI: Snipers, snipers, snipers! What is the deal, everyone and their Mom wants to be a sniper. It seems that atleast a third to half of the players in the game are snipers. Not sure why, they always have the least amount of points and seem to stay in one spot most of the game.......i digress. Switch it up!
***UPDATE (03/14/10)***
I've been playing this came for quite sometime (all medic, recon, and heavy vehicle upgrades have been unlocked), i must say that it has held up well, although some of its flaws are more noticeable, nothing major per say, but worth mentioning, 1st one being the most important.
1)It's much easier to be a skilled pilot then to be a skilled engineer w/the rocket launcher.
Apache helicopters with missles are extremly unbalanced. What i mean by that is it is far to easy for a skilled pilot to get an insane amount of kills, to the point of feeling unfair because it's so hard to take it down. None of the rocket launchers "LOCK" on, yes you can guide the rocket, but you can't actually "LOCK" on, which is frustrating. When playing 'rush' on the map featured in the demo (the snow map which takes place during the day), there is a powerful Apache on that map, but you're given a good amount of tanks which help with taking it down, so it's not that extreme.
But......
This unbalance issue is taken to a whole new level on the map consisting of the 3 islands (with an autumn backdrop), when you're playing 'rush', the defenders are given an EXTREMLY OVERPOWERED Apache helicopter when/if they reach the 3rd island. I've played 2 games thus far where my team was about to seal the deal and take the 3rd island when the defenders hopped in that freakin apache and annihilated everyone, it got so bad that most of my team dropped out, including myself. No point in playing any longer when you've died 5 times in a row because the apache is hovering over your spawn base firing rockets at you as you spawn in. I equipped the engineer class and so did half my team and we were shooting rocket after rocket trying to take it down, nothing was working. By my 5th death in a row, of not be alive more then 30 secs, i dropped out.
The first time it happend, it was extremly frustrating because my team was actually good, everyone was playing their role well, that's why it seemed extremely unfair.
The second time, i knew the drill at this point and gave it 5min, if it wasn't taken down in that amount of time, we dropped out. At that point, it just becomes a waste of time.
This is by far the biggest flaw i've found in the game. Basically, you've invested 20-30min to get that far in a match, then putting all player skills to the side, it boils down to who can get to the Apache first. They need to either lower the health of that particular Apache or make the rocked launcher system easier to use against it, ie-better guidance, tracking, more powerful, something! It just seems incredibility unbalanced.
2)Spawning is a lot better then MW2, but could use a bit of work.
I was playing a 'rush' match and my team was defending and we were actually able to jump the spawn base of the attackers and smother them the entire match, they didn't get to set one 'com station' off, seemed unfair for the other team, we should'nt have been able to do that.
Also, i've spawned into mortar strikes twice (spawning on a teammate), that was purely bad luck on my part though, nothing against the game.
3)Match making protocol can use some work.
I've found it useful to hit/hold the 'back button' when i first get into a match because some of the time i find that i'm put on a team that only has, let's say 7 people, compared to the other team which as 12. Or i'm put on a team where the top player has 500 pts and the other teams top player has 1600 points, usually a good measure of how "good" your team is going to be.
Again, my rating still stands, it's a great game and a ton of fun, just be aware of the 3 island map playing rush, try to get to that Apache first, if not, be ready for game over.

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Story and Gameplay Like the original Battlefield: Bad Company game, Bad Company 2 is a first-person shooter following the exploits of Company "B" of the US Army's 222nd Battalion. In this new adventure, the more mature yet still infamous company of misfits are tasked with interceding in a series of conflicts that have the potential to ignite of a new World War. Game environments cover snowy mountains, all the way to jungles and deserts.

As the action begins players have their pick of four distinct character classes, and weapons, gadgets and specializations. Within these, players have over 15,000 kit variations to discover, and will be able to fine-tune their preferred fighting style to give them the edge in combat that they will need to survive and prevail. In addition, new vehicles like the all terrain vehicle (ATV) and the UH-60 transport helicopter allow for new tactics, which players are free to choose from. As players fight through mission play they will level up their playable character through the ranks as they accumulate experience points in combat for enemies eliminated and objectives completed. Excellence in the battlefield is rewarded with an extensive range of pins, insignias and stars to unlock along with 50 dedicated ranks to achieve. Battlefield 2 also features a major multiplayer component. Along with standard 24-player online multiplayer options across eight maps, players can also compete in 4-player teams in 2 exclusive squad-only game modes, fighting together to unlock exclusive team awards and achievements. During these online battles players can spawn on your squad to get straight into the action, and use gadgets such as the tracer dart in-conjunction with the RPG to devastating effect. Taken together these features make for one of the most realistic ground/vehicle combat experiences ever.

The New Frostbite Engine Tactical destruction in Bad Company 2 is taken to new heights with the updated DICE 'Frostbite' engine. Unlike in the first game in the series, which featured considerable, but limited destructible game environments, in Battlefield Bad Company 2 players can now take down entire buildings or create their own vantage points by blasting holes through cover, thereby delivering a unique dynamic experience in every match.

Key Features

8 huge multiplayer maps. Each with a different tactical and gameplay focus and set across a variety of environments.
Ultimate online vehicle warfare. 15 land, sea and air vehicles, each with a tactical advantage during play. Race into action with the ATV or rain death from above in the UH-60 transport helicopter with its 2 side-mounted rail guns.
Intense single player action in dense jungles to snow-torn mountains, following the mature "B" Company on a daring new mission.
All-new squad gameplay. Team up with 3 other players and fight together to unlock special awards and achievements in 2 squad-specific game modes.
Destruction 2.0. Take down entire buildings, create firepoints or blow it up entirely. In Battlefield Bad Company 2 there is be no place to hide.
'Play It Your Way' experiment and refine your ideal combat style with 4 character classes (medic, assault, recon and engineer), 15,000+ kit variations, 46 weapons (200 different customization opportunities), 15 gadgets and 13 character specializations.
Combat efficiency and performance is rewarded with special awards such pins, stars and insignias which contribute to unlocking 50 ranks.
Extensive online Xbox LIVE Achievements support.

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The Last Remnant Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've played almost every Square Enix game there is, and when I saw the across the board bad reviews for Last Remnant, I was a bit worried. But I bought it anyway, and I don't regret it. Just for some background, here's my preference for Final Fantasy games, so you can compare with your own tastes and see if TLR might be for you. I thought FF3 (6 US) was the best hands down, FF2 (4 US) and 7 were tied for second, 10 and 1 (for the sake of nostalgia if nothing else) were tied for 3rd. 12 is next, 9 was not terrible, but it was definitely forgettable. And 8 was a steaming pile of garbage.
With that out of the way, there's one thing you have to accept before you get into this game. If you don't just accept it going in you won't appreciate the game, and if you do you will. And that is the fact that the hallmark of this game is the battle system. That was their #1 priority. Story came second, even graphics came second. Don't get me wrong, I think the graphics are fantastic personally and the story is fine. But the battle system is very impressive and there are a lot of intricacies to it, and it really shows that they were willing to sacrifice other areas of the game for a stellar battle system.
The levelling system has been redesigned as well, although it's up to your taste whether you'll like it. You don't actually "level" your character, instead your skills go up as you use them. For example use a lot of combat skills and they'll become more powerful, use a lot of magic and you'll get new spells. Do a lot of physical attacks and your strength / attack power will go up, get hit a lot and your HP will go up. Etc. Again, some people will like this and some won't, I personally get a sense of satisfaction about hearing that ding every time I raise a level, and keeping track of how much more exp I need to get there, but I can live with this system, it's not that bad once you get used to it. One interesting aspect of it is that it really requires your characters to specialize, since you want to get access to the more powerful techniques you have to keep using that same type of technique over and over, and using some other type of technique will delay you getting the stronger ones from the original category.
The slowdown and stuttering that everyone talks about is indeed an issue, but one that I hardly notice. It's completely forgivable as far as I'm concerned and it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of the game at all, period. And that's with the disc in the drive, if you install it to the hard drive it may be even less of an issue.
The main complaints I have about this game are as follows:
- Exploration has been eliminated. I like the fact that I can go anywhere I want, whenever I want in an RPG. This game doesn't have that. The second you accept a quest, you are teleported to the dungeon / place where the quest takes place instantly. This is just weird, is it really that hard for me to walk there? A side effect of this is that you usually only have one quest active at once.
- Travel is instantaneous. Again I like walking, or taking a boat or something. Opening a map and just clicking something and bam I'm there takes away from the nostalgia feel, makes me lose sense of how big and expansive the world is. You can still travel to any previously visited place at any time, even if for example a bunch of people join your party and yell "We must get to Elysion with haste, Rush let's go now!" You can still take your entire party and travel around to lots of previously visted places. In fact doing this you might find a few secrets :P But nevertheless, it also makes the game feel more linear that no matter how far away something is, you can get there instantly.
That's pretty much it. If you're an RPG fan, if you can accept this game for what it is, I think you'll find it to be of good quality.

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The Last Remnant for the Xbox 360 is the first role-playing game in a new series from Square Enix. This game delivers breathtaking visuals only possible on next-generation platforms, a mysterious storyline full of powerful artifacts, and a massive battlefield where you'll be surrounded by countless foes and friends alike. The Story Unfolds In ancient times mysterious artifacts, referred to as Remnants, were discovered all over the world. People used these objects for their awesome powers -- a choice that eventually caused a rift in the world's balance. A thousands years later, the story of The Last Remnant begins.
Rush Sykes and his sister Irina are children of scientists researching the esoteric Remnants. One day, Irina is kidnapped right before Rush's eyes. Determined to rescue his sister, Rush joins forces with David Nassau, the marquis of a small city-state called Athlum. Together they are determined to pursue the criminals and save Irina from her strange captors.
Meanwhile, the world is thrust into confusion as ruling powers bicker over dividing the Remnants' powers. Soon a mysterious man appears calling himself the Conqueror. His presences escalates tensions as everyone eagerly attempts to answer the question: Into whose hands will the power of the Remnants fall? Before he knows it, Rush becomes wrapped up in this international power struggle and realizes that he is somehow connected to the enigmatic Conqueror.
Allies and Enemies Before her kidnapping, Rush Sykes lived a peaceful life with his 14-year-old sister, Irina Sykes. Irina is a cheerful, resilient girl who stays upbeat even during the toughest of times. Some mysterious power seems to rest within here, but she herself has no understanding of what it is or what it can do. David Nassau, the 19-year-old who rules over the state of Athlum, spends his days working towards better his homeland. Although he decides to join Rush on his quest to rescue Irina, his motives are his own. Emma Honeywell, the matriarch of the Honeywells clan, Plagus, Blocter, and Torgal round out the allies.
The man known only as the Conqueror and his minions are eager to seize the Remnants throughout the lands. His origin is shrouded in mystery, but it appears that something strange and elusive connects this villain to Rush. Enamored with the Conqueror, Roeas has declared her eternal allegiance to him and acts as the ambassador of the Conqueror's Army. Although beautiful in form and voice, Roeas is sadistic and menacing on the battlefield. Originating from a large-bodied species with pronounced fighting abilities, Castanea is Roeas right-hand-man. He rarely speaks or expresses himself, so it is difficult to decipher his thoughts -- although Roeas seems to understand him easily. In addition, the strongest fighters in the Conqueror's army are referred to as The Seven. The Seven lead their own troops and report to Roeas and Castanea.
Combat Systems: Morale, Battle Unions, and Deadlock Battles are fought between multiple friendly and enemy unions -- groups of up to five characters who fight together. Players give commands to unions as a whole, who then carry out the actions. Orders in battle are given in a command-select style that is familiar to most role playing gamers. However, The Last Remnant commands are not delivered with standard terms, such as "Item" or "Magic." Instead, players control unions with specialized commands, such as "Slam 'em with status ailments!" or "Do area attacks from afar!" Available commands change depending on the current battle situation or the distance and positions of friendly and hostile unions.
The Last Remnant adds a Morale component to the gameplay. Players can check current morale via the gauge across the top of the screen. The higher the morale, the more damage is dealt and less damage is taken by friendly unions, and vice-versa. When friendly and enemy unions go toe-to-toe and engage in melee combat, they enter a state called Deadlock. Once in Deadlock, the two unions must fight each other until one union has been completely destroyed.
Enemy monsters roam the land where they can be avoided or engaged at will. When battle is initiated, the scene changes to a specialized battle map where friend and foe can fight it out. Horizontal lined icons labeled A, B, C, etc. represent the on-field battle unions. Players choose which hostile union they wish to attack on this screen. The Last Remnant offers a wide variety of commands that focus on dealing damage or executing defensive maneuvers. Knowing which commands are most suitable for each situation is the key to winning battles.
The Last Remnant delivers breathtaking visuals, a mysterious storyline full of powerful artifacts, and a massive battlefield.

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