‘Battlefield: Bad Company 2’ iOS Review

Taking one of the best selling first person console shooters and putting it on the iPhone was said to be impossible. DICE accepted the challenge. Battlefield Bad Company 2 is currently available for the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone, and the concensus says this game is amazing.

On the day of its release, Bad Company 2 quickly climbed the charts and took first place amongst the top downloads. Shortly after, it even dethroned Angry Birds and Infinity Blade from the top grossing list. First person shooters are nothing new to iOS devices, but Battlefield Bad Company 2 successfully takes a mix of multiplayer and entertaining single player missions with fantastic graphics.

Bad Company 2’s graphics are top notch overall and the game makes great use of Apple’s Retina Display. Visuals are not quite up to par with Rage’s Mutant Smash TV running on the new iOS Unreal engine, but everything within looks comparable to previous Battlefield games. As a reference point, the iOS version of Battlefield Bad Company 2 looks a lot like, if not better than the PC version of Battlefield 1942. Guns, characters, C4 explosives and environments look great, though the tank looks a little boxy. Occasionally, the weather graphics and lighting became an issue as well, as indoor environments can be difficult to navigate when they are dark. The amount of items on the game HUD is also minimal, which is important when your thumbs take up a large portion of the view plane. Another commonly ignored factor in iPhone games (except Rock Band and the like) are sound effects and music.

During the mutliplayer modes there is no music in the background, only the gun fire, foot steps and character taunts. Using headphones are even better because you can easily differentiate what direction gunfire is coming from. Aside from the sound effects, voice acting continues to be great as all of the original actors are in the single player campaign.

The single player campaign adds a new chapter for the band of misfits and an additional 14 new levels over five different environments. Similar to the console and PC version, the player takes control of Private Preston Marlowe. Amidst battling waves of enemies, Marlowe also has access to turrets, tanks and armed APCs. The major drawback with the single player missions is the AI, or lack thereof. Playing on normal difficultly is easy, and occasionally the enemies just sit there and stare at you. The storyline is also average at best and the campaign appears to be there just to train you for the multiplayer mode.

Multiplayer brings Battlefield Bad Company 2 to life on the iPhone and iPad. Matches can have between two and four players in either team or free-for-all death match. There are a handful of guns to start with, ranging from assault riffles to shotguns and sniper riffles. Through the two multiplayer levels, you can find RPGs, pistols and additionally rifles. The controls are hard to pick up, but with a few adjustments for sensitivity, it’s easy to maneuver around the maps. The regular Battlefield gameplay options are available, including scope zooming, iron sight views, grenade launcher add-ons and the always-satisfying knifing of enemies. A new feature that feels missing and desperately needs to be added to the all versions of Battlefield is the ability to throw grenades back after they land at your feet al la Call of Duty.

The Battlefield Bad Company 2 mobile multiplayer experience is extremely satisfying and its controls are relatively easy to overcome. Being able to play over bluetooth, wi-fi or the 3G network is especially great and doesn’t appear to lag between connection types. The game is very resource heavy though,  so your battery will drain quickly and and the list of multiplayer matches takes a while to scroll through.

As a fan of the Battlefield series, I was highly skeptical that Battlefield Bad Company 2’s debut on the iPhone would be good. However, the single player missions were fun and the multiplayer will provide endless gameplay- at least until your battery dies.

Now that one of the best selling first person shooters has successfully made its way to iOS devices, what game would you like to see next?

Battlefield Bad Company 2 is currently available for the latest iOS devices for 99 cents during the EA mobile sale.