For the last few years, Activision's "Call of Duty" series has dominated video-game warfare. The latest chapter, "Modern Warfare 2," was the best-selling game of 2009, and it still leads the list of Xbox Live's most-played titles, joined in the top five by two earlier "CoD" releases.
But Activision didn't exactly invent the war game, and almost every major publisher in the industry is competing in the genre. Electronic Arts may be the most aggressive, with three franchises - "Army of Two," "Battlefield" and the rebooted "Medal of Honor" - taking on the champ this year.
"Battlefield: Bad Company 2" (Electronic Arts, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, $59.99) has a good chance of dethroning "Call of Duty." It looks terrific. Its single-player campaign is more entertaining - and coherent - than that of "Modern Warfare 2." And its developer, Sweden's DICE (Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment), has been refining team-based online combat since its 2002 landmark, "Battlefield 1942."
"BC2" isn't quite a sequel, since it pretty much ignores the events of 2008's "Battlefield: Bad Company." But the characters are the same: Weary veteran Sarge, jittery techie Sweetwater and chatty redneck Haggard round out your squad. Stereotypes all, but their conversations are often quite funny and provide a genuine sense of camaraderie.
Your own character, Marlowe, is the strong, silent type, and since he's such a cipher, he can accommodate any style of play. I like to hang back and snipe enemies from a distance, but you can play Marlowe as a run-and-gun berserker. The artificial intelligence of your squadmates is impressive, and they'll back up whatever strategy you prefer.
The guys are racing against the Russians to find a mysterious weapon of mass destruction. (You know, the Cold War never ended in video-game land.) The pursuit takes place mainly across South America, which offers a variety of beautiful scenery, from snowy mountains and lush jungles to parched deserts and blasted cities.
The eight-hour campaign hurtles along breathlessly, offering a few clever set pieces. One snowbound sequence, in which you're more likely to die from frostbite than bullets, is a nice change of pace, but most missions consist of straightforward kill-or-be-killed action.
"Bad Company 2" lets you wreak havoc with dozens of different weapons, from knives and pistols to machine guns and grenade launchers. You can race through a city on a zippy all-terrain vehicle, or lumber through the countryside in a tank.
All these great toys are also available for online multiplayer action. The game modes are old standbys, like deathmatch and capture-the-flag, but the emphasis is on teamwork. And the fact that just about everything can be destroyed makes each round feel different. Don't get too comfy in that sniper's nest, because a well-aimed grenade could blow it right out from under you.
The latest "Battlefield" refines rather than reinvents its genre. If you're bored with war games, this one won't change your mind. But virtual warriors who are hungry for new worlds to destroy will relish "Bad Company 2." Three stars out of four.
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© 2010 The Associated Press.
