I have been wanting to write this preview up for a while now, but I wasn't sure what exactly I should say. The game is in beta so there are still a few problems that need to be sorted out, and I was thinking about how I should handle them in the context of a preview. So I will first talk about the game itself then at the end I will go into what needs to be fixed.
The first thing I noticed about BF:BC was how clean the in-game interface was. It allows you to see much more of the screen than a game such as Halo 3 where your HUD components take up much of the screen. Your HUD shows health and ammo in the bottom right and your gold crate damage (I will get into this later) and number of reinforcements at the top. It is simple to see important info at a glance.
I mentioned the gold crates earlier, these come into play on the one game mode in the beta "Gold Rush". The point of Gold Rush is to get into the enemies base and destroy two gold crates, which you do by planting explosives on the crate and defending it till it explodes. The attackers have to repeat this a few times and each time the gold crates get blown up the defenders base moves back and the attackers base moves up. There are a few issues with the mode that I will go into later.
The beta has two maps, Oasis and Ascension. Oasis is a very large outdoor desert map which starts out in a wide open area and ends up in a small town. Ascension is a smaller map focused on infantry, and the map has a ton of cover. Ascension really shows off the big feature of BF:BC, destructible environments. See a few people inside a house but can't get to them? Blow out the side of the house. The destruction works well and adds another layer of intensity to the game because you can't really hide anywhere without being in danger.
There is also a rank and unlock system in the game. It doesn't have the depth of something like COD 4 or Vegas 2 but it works. Every time you rank up you get an unlock point which you can use to get upgrades like a health recharger or tank mines. One issue that has been brought up since the beta is the fact that EA plans to charge for weapons in the game. They say they offer no competitive advantage, but I am doubting it till I see it.
Now is the part where I complain about all the problems I have had so far. The first one, and the one that bothers me the the most, is how hard it is for the Attackers to win a round of Gold Rush. The last gold crate is usually in such an easily defended area that it is impossible to blow it up. In about 20 rounds the attackers won once. Second, there is no party system implemented yet. I know that this is probably just an issue with the devs not wanting to put it in the beta, but if I don't see a party system in the full game then I don't think I will be buying it. Third, there are just a lot of weird bugs and glitches. They are all things that should be cleaned up by the time the game comes out, but I have had the game freeze on me about 3 times so far.
So, the game shows a lot of promise and looks like they really will be using this feedback in the real game. If the DICE can get the game polished up by release this could be one to look for.
by Nicolas Perez
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