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Mon, Jul 14, 2008
The New Paper
Battlefield: Bad Company

By Tan Ooi Boon

WHAT makes an exciting war game?

For me, it will probably be one that allows players to blow up almost everything in the virtual world.

In short, a game that is a real blast.

Remember the 'jungle-clearing' scene in the classic Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Predator?

After the alien disappeared into the dense jungle, Arnie and his boys then blindly opened fire and unleashed a storm of bullets that flattened all the trees.

You can do the same in EA Games' latest war title - Battlefield: Bad Company - because its interactive gameplay allows you to virtually destroy every tree, vehicle and structure in the game.

If that doesn't satisfy your desire to destroy, you can mow down even more trees by hopping into a tank or a truck and drive like a mad man.

But environmentalists need not be upset by this because no tree is actually harmed in making this game.

Humour is an integral part of this game as Bad Company is not meant to be taken seriously - its icon is actually a hand grenade with a smiley-face pin.

The story centres on four soldiers who appears to spend more time clowning around and looking for stolen gold bars than engaging in fighting.

Indeed, its story line loosely resembles that of that George Clooney movie Three Kings, which had American soldiers trying to sneak away with gold bars stolen by the Iraqi army.

However, Bad Company is no mere copycat.

Apart from its interactive gameplay, it deserves an Oscar for superb sound effects - its explosion and bullet impact noise is comparable to those you find in Hollywood blockbusters.

It offers a lesson of sorts in physics too - you need to estimate the angle of trajectory when you fire your mortar or grenade launcher to enable the bomb to land on its target.

Those who find shooting games boring may find it refreshing to play Bad Company for its zaniness.

After all, how often do you find soldiers going to war in golf carts?

Rating: 4.5/5

 

 
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