Martin ‘nKM’ Bowman gives an insight on the highly-anticipated multiplayer war simulation from a competitive viewpoint.

This column is the sole opinion of the author and does not represent the opinion of Heaven Media Ltd or the opinion of any affiliates.

The competitive scene from Battlefield 2 had been largely quiet when it comes to the competitive elements of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The beta, being an older build, had numerous significant bugs to begin with; those affecting FPS, graphics, the servers and the overall stability on the huge number of different setups that we’re all familiar with on PCs were most prevalent. It seems many have spent the majority of the beta period trying to overcome issues with the client itself, rather than forming any sort of opinion on the game play or the potential of the upcoming title.

The beta release began on 28th January 2010 and finished on 25th February. In this month there has been 7 server-side and 4 client-side updates, which have for the most part delivered improvements in performance and playability. We have started to see favourable reports from players managing to get the beta to work properly on their machines, and we also saw a successful beta tournament in the form of EA Masters. The tournament had over 90 8v8 teams sign up with less than one weeks’ notice – a great turnout for a beta version for a game - and saw a rather familiar looking line-up win under the moniker ‘Still Alive’.

I thought that with the end of the beta approaching, it would be a good time to give Cadred readers a more detailed insight into what Battlefield: Bad Company 2 has to offer as a competitive game, what kind of feedback has been received from those players playing in well-known teams already and finally a brief look at the developments I am hoping to see post release.

I’m aware that there will be many readers who are not familiar with Battlefield, never mind BFBC2. So, for those who need a quick run-down, here’s the game as we know it:

The Basics – Game Modes

There are 4 game-modes, each with a specific format in mind.

Rush (up to 16v16) – Two teams, attackers and defenders, battle it out on a progressive map with the object being to destroy two bomb-sites positioned on the map. When the attackers destroy the sites, the playing field opens up, and another portion of the map becomes available with two further bomb-sites to take care of. The attackers have a ticket count which reduces by one every time a player dies. When the sites are both destroyed, the attacker tickets are partially replenished. The defenders are tasked with simply stopping the bomb-sites being destroyed in any way they can. If the attackers destroy all the bomb-sites, they win. If the defenders manage to have the other team run out of tickets, they win. Both teams have a selection of ground based and aerial vehicles and weapons with which to win the game and there can be up to 16 players per team. Game play should be familiar to anyone who played Enemy Territory.

Conquest (up to 16v16) – The ‘classic’ Battlefield game mode. Two teams fight head-to-head on a huge map capturing flags at a number of choke-points across the map. Both teams have a ticket count this time, and depending on the map layout there may be a team who are ‘bleeding’ tickets from round start. The object of the game is to reduce the enemies’ ticket count to zero, or finish the round with the most tickets when the time limit is reached. If the map is laid out in such a way that there are no ‘uncappable bases’ and all flags can be captured, then if a team manages to capture all the flags and eliminate all the enemies, then they win the round. Again, there is a full arsenal of vehicles and weapons to be utilised and there can be up to 16 players per team.

Squad Rush (4v4) - For the COD4 fans out there. A 4v4 format similar to Rush, except this time the maps are smaller and more enclosed, with no vehicles to use. The object is the same as before, except there are only two bases and one bomb-site to destroy. However, there is in increased emphasis on teamwork and communication to win as well as a heavier reliance on individual skill.

Squad Deathmatch (4v4v4v4) – Four teams of four fight it out against each other to win in a straight-ahead TDM format. The twist is there’s only one tank. It’s at the middle of the map. It’s yours, if you can get there before the others do. First to 50 kills wins.

The Basics - Weapons and Vehicles

Like you’d expect, a Battlefield title isn’t complete without a plethora of vehicles and weapons to use. There are tanks, there’s APCs, there’s choppers (2 man, pilotable), there’s remote UAVs equipped with the ability to smash the enemies with Tankbuster missiles from an unseen plane above. You got sick aim? Try the Recon kit, you get C4 and the ability to call in mortar strikes as well as a nice high-powered rifle to play with. Fancy yourself as a medic? Here, have some shock-paddles. When your team mates go down, you can pick them back up and continue the fight. Assaults kits get the grenade launchers attachments on their weapons, which are of course devastating and great fun in equal measures. Engineers have a selection of mines and RPGs to use, as well as a tracer dart designed for tagging an enemy vehicle to help your team take out a pesky Armoured AA vehicle. You also have quad-bikes to quickly ferry your squad around the map and help you co-ordinate a fast attack on a bombsite. Or, if you’re feeling energetic, you can run. According to DICE, there are well over 1000 kit variations you can have kits, so there is plenty to get to grips with.

Martin ‘nKM’ Bowman gives an insight on the highly-anticipated multiplayer war simulation from a competitive viewpoint.

This column is the sole opinion of the author and does not represent the opinion of Heaven Media Ltd or the opinion of any affiliates.

The Basics - Maps

Only a few maps have been unveiled so far, but we can expect 8 maps to be available on launch, with more to follow. Port Valdez on the beta is a winter map with lots of snow and scenery to navigate, whereas Arica Harbour is a desert landscape with the potential for long-range tank battles and intense infantry combat around the bomb-sites. Almost every type of landscape is covered... jungle map, anyone? All the maps are beautifully rendered and destructible using whatever you please.

So that’s a quick rundown of what Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is about – but what does the competitive community think of the game so far? I asked some of the prominent figures from recent Battlefield what they thought:-

"I can't really predict if the game will be suited for competition. It all depends on the other game modes and possibilities to configure things such as which weapons are allowed."
Dennis ‘Sumera’ Winkel, ESL Master League Admin, Europe

“My overall impression is quite good. We really like the destruction engine and the squad management system. I’m really waiting for the conquest mode where I expect the game will deliver all its potential. Although it's a bit early to speak about this because it's still a beta, there is still lot of work to do to improve the game. Last but not least, no demo recording and no first person spectator mode would definitely hurt the competitive aspect of BFBC2.”
Mat ‘SouL’ Robillard, Relapse Gaming

"Having played the BETA for a few weeks now I would say the game has a huge potential for competitive gaming. The game still needs a few fixes, which I am hopeful will come at some point as it seems like DICE have started listening to the community. Overall they have managed to create a game where victory or loss is not determined by random factors but more on who is the best overall team."
Joachim ‘Campez’ Gryholm, H2k Gaming

“We have been playing the beta since release and we all see huge potential in both the 8v8 conquest modes and the 4v4 infantry modes. The recent cup hosted by EA Masters just shows the interest in this game and I expect much more on game release.”
Gary ‘vorty’ Millar, Epsilon eSports

“The game has a lot of potential in the competitive scene but needs some fundamental changes before it is ready: the movement feels a little sluggish, hit registration still isn't perfect and demo recordings and a spectator mode are a must. Having been provided with only one map and one game mode, it gives people little scope into what the game will actually be like with full conquest and the new maps, so we'll have to wait and see at release. It's great to see that the EA Masters tournament was already highly over-subscribed and I hope other tournaments are as popular in the near future, especially at LAN.”
Andrew ‘HK2’Holt-Kentwell, Reason Gaming

As you can see, it’s a rather mixed bag so far.

A lot of this reserved judgement is down to the fact that the game has huge potential, but some of the major point affecting the development of successful competitive play will only be addressed in future patches, if at all. For example, there doesn’t appear to be a way to broadcast BFBC2. As far as we can see, there is no free cam or spectator mode to use, and DICE have been rather vague in their intentions of including this in the future. There is no way to record demos directly in the same way you have /record in COD4. There are no mod tools on release, and there is not likely to be any usable tools for a fair few months yet, which means no prospect of a mod allowing for competition focused changes to be made, such as with Promod, in the few months after release. With the Summer LANs approaching fast I’m not convinced this is good news. The servers have some limited RCON based changes which can be made, but DICE have been tight lipped on what they will and will not allow to be changed on unranked and locked servers.

On the plus side, there are some out of the box competitive rule sets already in game. The 4v4 and 4v4v4v4 modes look particularly appealing for anyone crossing over from other games like the afore mentioned COD series. The Conquest mode is a mainstay in Battlefield and has always been the most popular and most active game type. The net code issues which plagued BF2 seem to have been largely resolved as you’d expect for a new engine such as Frostbite – head– shots are head-shots instead of being infuriatingly ineffective. The maps are large and expansive and weapon balance is very good if a little on the weak side at the moment.

DICE has promised further game play, balance and performance improvements on the retail release and in subsequent patches. DICE Producer, Gordon Van Dyke was recently interviewed and stated that they have ‘the biggest ever post-release support team’ for BFBC2 which for anyone who struggled on with the numerous issues in BF2 will testify, is sorely needed. On the subject of mod tools and implementing new features like spectator mode and demo recording, the vague responses received so far are not dismissive in nature, which we have seen for the people requesting that prone be added to the game. In fact, some have been very positive, in the sense that many feature requests have been duly noted and responded to on Twitter and on the official Battlefield Blog, but the focus of the dev team is on stability and performance first and foremost, features and balance tweaks after. For a first PC release on a new engine, this is not unreasonable in my opinion.

It is also worth mentioning that the community which surrounds Battlefield is possible the most resilient I have ever witnessed. When people complained of struggling to detect certain cheats in BF2, the community developed a Demo Analyser, which helped remove doubts about suspicious players and helped many cheaters be removed from the game. When patch after patch on BF2 still failed to deliver a first person spectator mode, casters such as rushTV simply changed the way they worked so that they can still deliver live competitive games to the community. Leagues like ESL continued to support the game by hosting tournaments, and nearly 5 years after the game was released, there were still thousands of people watching and playing in the ESL Nations Cup, just a few months ago.

It’s still very early days when it comes to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and we are going to see a huge influx of players as well as numerous patches over the next few months. What it is lacking at the moment is outweighed by what it delivers on – immensely playable, enjoyable and immersive game play. It remains to be seen whether DICE will listen to the community that perpetuates its existence, but you can rely on the community surrounding it making the absolute most of the game in all respects, including its competitive aspirations.

For more information read the Gaming Heaven beta review