As a die hard FPS gamer and a true fan to the Battlefield series, I can proudly say I have played every single version of this series. I have even hit up a few of the mods. Up until recently, my friends and I took part in the still-packed-multiplayer community of Battlefield 2 (2005), the modern adaptation of the original multiplayer masterpiece: Battlefield 1942 (2002).

Moving away from the standard PC gaming community, DI partnered with EA and created a whole new area of the Battlefield series solely for console gamers called, Battlefield: Bad Company. Straying from their norm even further, DI even came up with a somewhat decent storyline for single player campaign mode as opposed to no campaign mode at all. Naturally, many PC gamers were upset, but that didn’t stop me from playing it.

Anyway, DI announced the sequel to there series, Dubbed Battlefield Bad Company 2, and at the end of January, the PC beta was opened to anyone who pre-orderd. Oh yes, PC. DI must have listened to the cries of the true gamers because this game is now at the mercy of PC gamers as well as those dubious modders (make us proud!).

For those of you who haven’t played the previous Bad Company, I need to mention something that was supposed to make the game and set it apart from the rest, and which was also partly why many PC gamers were upset that it was console only. DI developed a new game engine that allowed the somewhat complete destruction of buildings. I’m talking – your in a building protecting an objective and a tank blows a hole through the wall you were standing against – yeah, it was pretty awesome. However, the destruction was limited, as you couldn’t completely knock down a building on top of your enemies; Until now.

Let me first state that what I have played so far of Bad Company 2 is a beta. This means that the game is not finished and has a lot of glitches and problems. That said, the destructive power of this game is still impressive. Where DI and EA missed out previously, they covered here. I have experienced first hand the sensations of an entire building crumbling to the ground around me and on my head ending my life. I have even flipped my 4X4 over by accidentally driving through a crater on the ground from mortar strikes while simultaneously dodging trees that are being sawed down by .50 cal machine guns. Needless to say, you get a pretty decent feel of being in a very active battlefield, as the destruction will make you thing twice about taking cover from an enemy tank behind a flimsy brick wall.

The graphics look pretty decent as well. Not amazing, but decent. It’s clearly a port from the console version. Although I can’t expect an entire world to be destructible and look amazing, DI truly tried to do both, and what they lacked in graphics they made up in other areas, like sound effects. Full surround sound capable, giving anyone with a 5.1 channel surround system a slight advantage when someone tries to sneak up behind you, and sound effects that will make you swear that you are standing on the battlefield.

Despite being a graphics junky, I know looks are not everything in the gaming world. Gameplay is a major part of making a good game, probably even the majority of it. Before I get into this I must again stress the fact that this is still a beta, so hopefully many of these things will be fixed.

That said, Bad Company 2 feels ported. It feels like DI took the console version of the game and went, “Lets make this for PC!” last minute. Hence the PS3 Beta being way before the PC beta. When I say it feels ported, I mean it feels sluggish. As a PC gamer, the advantages of having a mouse over a joystick when aiming are limitless in comparison to a joystick and controller. When ported from console to PC, the control mapping can cause some weird smoothing issues that despite playing with a mouse, you feel restrained like playing with a joystick on a controller. Not the end of the world, but not appealing either.

I may just be nit picking, but some things should have been looked over control wise when moving to PC. For example, I don’t care what FPS you are playing, there should always be a toggle for crouch. I do not want to have to hold down the “shift” key, aim down my sites/scope and try to maneuver. It should be click to crouch, click to stand up. Just another feature ported from the console version which shouldn’t have been.

Now this last control issue is a big issue for me. I love to snipe, and sniping is all about cover. For some reason, when DI developed the Bad Company games, they removed the prone (laying down) stance from the game. Something that had a huge effect on gameplay in Battlefield 2. Now add in the fact that you have to hold down the crouch button to stay crouched and you can see my frustration.

Other then some control issues due to an obvious port from the console adaptation, Bad Company 2 is pretty decent, even in beta. Weapons are mostly fairly balanced; Dice has even mastered bullet physics. Meaning, when sniping from really far away you’ll need to aim higher as gravity causes the bullet to drop. Ever since Battlefield 2 I had been waiting for a game that had BF2’s gameplay and Bad Company’s destruction, and although Bad Company 2 is not quite there yet, I don’t think DI and EA are too far from a game that is capable of such abilities.

Who know, maybe, if we’re lucky, Battlefield 3 will do just this… if it ever comes out that is.

Look for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 by Digital Illusions and EA Games, In stores on March 2nd 2010.