14 DAY TRIAL // DICE has kick-started its Battlefield Bad Company 2 closed beta trial for the PC and I was lucky enough to get my greedy hands on a beta key. While it's just one map, "Port Valdez," and a single game mode for it, Rush, the title is incredibly entertaining, with its four classes and huge amount of unlockables, which, for me at least, are the main drives that get me back in the game, round after round. Performing tasks while playing as each of the Assault, Engineer, Medic and Recon classes earns you experience points that, when accumulated, unlock new items for your soldier, be they weapons, items or specializations.
There are universal unlockables, but most of them are class-restricted. After all, it would be a bit too weird to unlock the 12X scope while playing with the Recon and then put that on the Medic's light machine gun. Special combat actions award you additional experience points, like a certain amount of kills with one weapon in a single round or special class actions like a certain amount of resurrects with the Medic or repairs with the Engineer.
The other huge thing the game has going for itself is the physics engine. To put it simply, if you can see it, then you can destroy it. If there's an enemy sniper hiding in a small forest, you can cut that down with a machine gun fire or explosives and leave him in a barren plain. If there's an anti-tank team hiding in a building, you can make a hole anywhere you want and rip them apart.
If you don't have a clear shot at your adversary, take a step back, throw a grenade and make a hole, cover problem solved. The downside is that you're never safe. Hiding on the top floor of a building and sniping at your enemies can end in a 40mm grenade flash, as you'll soon run out of walls to hide behind.
Bad Company 2's Rush mode separates players in Defenders and Attackers, with the offensive team having to destroy two crates before they can advance to the next set of two crates, and eventually win the round. Anybody can set timed charges on the crates, but these charges can also be defused by anyone. And while this is a universal solution, available to all classes, there are better ways to win the round.
If the crate is in a building, you can man a tank and put enough rounds in that building to make it collapse, as certain buildings will destroy the crate as the roof drops. If it's in the open, you can take direct shots at it, or call strikes and mortars down on it. Last but not least, Recons can place remote charges on the crate and destroy it in two goes, or even one, if they have the appropriate upgrades.
Overall, the beta for the game announces a chaotic and frantic multiplayer, but one in which PUGs manage to organize pretty easily. It's in an Engineer's personal interest to repair a vehicle, since he gets additional experience points, just like the Medic, who gets bonus points for every resurrection or health that he restores. But when it's not about the team, and it's just about you, walls disappearing from explosions and buildings collapsing under your feet can make for a very intense moment.
