BFBC2 Initial Thoughts

I bought BFBC2 last night. I played it for 20 minutes. This is my initial impressions.

I could not see the Ping of any servers on the server browser. So, I was blind as to whether the server I was joining had a decent ping or not.

There are about 8 settings one can put on a server. One of those was the ability to force everyone to play without the minimap. The server I joined had this option turned on. I did not like playing without the minimap.

I don't think I care for the way the graphics look. It's as if BF met CoD4 met a Console. It doesn't feel like a BF game to me.

The destructible environment is cool, but it feels like a gimmick.

Tanks arc way more than I would expect. It's closer to BF42 than BF2 in that regard. Tanks are also gimped. As the driver, you only get the main cannon. The lack of a gun makes it really, really hard to fight anti-tank personnel in close range.

Helicopters are hard to take down. Of course, I'm a noob, so this may improve in time.

Sniping is fun, but then again, it's the only weapon I could hit anyone with.

I'm not sure how the dizzy factor will be for me. I definitely did not feel well after the 20 minutes I played. I'm going to give it another round, but I may not even be able to play this.

My first impression was if I had played the Beta of this game, I wouldn't have bought it. If BF3 is built on the frostbite engine, my days of playing Battlefield may be numbered.

Thanks for being the guinea pig! I've been looking in the other clan forums that I visit trying to see what impressions are, but haven't seen a lot. The people playing it seem to be having fun for the most part, but I don't recall any specifics.

Any thoughts to add as someone who has played it Larva?

Thanks Atomm
I think the tank thing you can get upgrade perks to add a coaxial gun - armor - speed etc to your player that applies to tanks when your in them - LARVA?

Also the heli thing I know if someone has a tracker pistol that pops a tracking beacon on to the (any) vehicle - acts like a laser designator for the anti-tank (et all) gunner for their round to track. - LARVA?

Still waiting on purchase - still will be another 6 mo or so and then ebay will have it for ~$20 or less..... then I'll pick it up like usual.

I haven't played it much lately because PunkBuster and DICE are still trying to work out server issues. It's been tough to keep our servers up as a result. Server reliaiblity has been a complete, pathetic joke so far.


I can say that I enjoyed the BETA which I've played more than the official release. So far, I'm optimistic about the game, despite the expected technical difficulties. I like BC2 so far but it's going to be tough to give a thorough analysis until I've gotten comfortable with all the weapons, maps and tactics. Learning a new game is a pain in the ass these days - it's tough to be patient playing against kids who can log hours 50 hours a week against my 5. If you don't fight in a squad with buddies in comms, it's going to be really tough to enjoy this game. Without squadmates who take care of some things so you can focus on your job, you'll be trying to do too much yourself and will end up frustrated.

I'm trying to reserve final judgement for now: I know that only after I've won some games fighting in a deadly, efficient squad will I be able to say if this is the next big thing for me.

Duck wrote:I think the tank thing you can get upgrade perks to add a coaxial gun - armor - speed etc to your player that applies to tanks when your in them - LARVA?

I believe that's what Asylum told me in comms. I haven't unlocked it yet. Note that a lot of things you got initially in BF1942 and BF2 need to be earned as unlocks. I guess it's their way of making you feel like you're making progress like in an MMO or RPG. Eventually you unlock everything so it's just a matter of time.

Duck wrote:Also the heli thing I know if someone has a tracker pistol that pops a tracking beacon on to the (any) vehicle - acts like a laser designator for the anti-tank (et all) gunner for their round to track. - LARVA?

Yeah a good chopper pilot can rape your ass pretty good if you don't team up to take them out. If a squad works together it can get knocked down pretty quick. I'm not sure if the tracker dart works on the chopper yet - we'll have to test that out some night. A couple of coordinated MGs from tanks, emplacements and soldiers will take one down quick because a chopper can't dodge bullets very well. The best weapon against an enemy chopper - steal it. I've seen that turn a game completely around. Vehicle theft in general is one of the most effective tactics I've seen turn momentum so quickly. Being a sneaky bastard is still a good thing in BF.

Atomm wrote:I could not see the Ping of any servers on the server browser. So, I was blind as to whether the server I was joining had a decent ping or not.

This is part of the server issues they are seeing right now. I've been dealing with it by selecting servers that mark where they are. sticking mostly to Chicago and Dallas, and not seen too much chop.

Atomm wrote:The destructible environment is cool, but it feels like a gimmick.

Not so much a gimmick once you've played a while. Cover disappears, and building collapse can kill you. Hiding behind rocks only works if it's a big rock... and hope they don't have a recon guy with mortar access.

Atomm wrote:Tanks arc way more than I would expect. It's closer to BF42 than BF2 in that regard. Tanks are also gimped. As the driver, you only get the main cannon. The lack of a gun makes it really, really hard to fight anti-tank personnel in close range.

Not all of them lack gun access. But yeah, a lot of them take more than one man to operate. Not a bad thing IMO. Encourages teamwork, especially with the amount of power they pack.

Atomm wrote:Helicopters are hard to take down. Of course, I'm a noob, so this may improve in time.

It's not because you're a noob. They are not easy for one soldier to take down. I have the AT (wire guided) missles, and they're still difficult to hit.

Atomm wrote:Sniping is fun, but then again, it's the only weapon I could hit anyone with.

In my case, SMG most of the time. Oddly, one of my favorite load-outs is Recon with the Tommy gun. Motion mines, mortars or c4 depending on the situation it makes for a nice addition for both rush offense and defense. But it's not a kit combo I was expecting to be very effective the first time I tried it with as sniper centered as the base recon kit is.

Atomm wrote:I'm not sure how the dizzy factor will be for me. I definitely did not feel well after the 20 minutes I played. I'm going to give it another round, but I may not even be able to play this.

Have you fixed your FOV in the settings.ini (C:\Users\*user name*\Documents\BFBC2\settings.ini)? This cleared it up for me. It starts @ 55. We were used to a 90 in BF2.

Atomm wrote:My first impression was if I had played the Beta of this game, I wouldn't have bought it. If BF3 is built on the frostbite engine, my days of playing Battlefield may be numbered.

Even with the server issues I'm greatly enjoying this. If you're free Thursday evening we'll be playing online @ around 6pm till around 11 or so. Feel free to IM me on Steam or Xfire, and we'll see about getting anyone interested in playing with us in on teamspeak, speakerphone, or something of similar nature.

And that folks is why I stopped buying pre-order or on the day / week / month of a games release.

Every time we beta tested a game it NEVER turned out to be the same game in the production copy for the public.

Frustrating as hell to test it and have fun and then crap like this turn up.
I'll wait my 6 - 9 - 12 months and then Ebay the game for $10 like I've done all along.
And truthfully if the predominant amount of you don;t buy it - I'm not jonsing for this game like I did for the other releases.

I think I could truly walk away from the BF line and not give a crap what happens to it. I think it's been over a year since I had any BF - BS installed on the PC.

I get the feeling that I probably would like the game if I bought it - just like I've enjoyed all of the BF games I've bought over the years. This is assuming that my PC could handle the game, which I am not sure that it can.

I'm sure that it would also make me break things in frustration and rage just like BF2 did. I don't particularly miss that aspect of the game...

Thanks for the update Drix. I'll check out the FoV settings. I know that I had to change that in other games.

Duck, keep in mind, if you buy this game used, you'll will not have access to all of the maps and I believe game modes are limited as well. All the game publishers are going to this model to stop resale.

Atomm wrote:Duck, keep in mind, if you buy this game used, you'll will not have access to all of the maps and I believe game modes are limited as well. All the game publishers are going to this model to stop resale.

Did not know that - so games registered once and re sold and re-registered have content curtailed?
Kind of cool I guess.
But the last 5 Flea-bay games I've purchased were original sealed, as this one when I finaly do break down and buy it.

SArge wrote:I'm sure that it would also make me break things in frustration and rage just like BF2 did. I don't particularly miss that aspect of the game...

Wait - Joe when did you get back?
You don't sound like you on Vent - you sound like Sarge..... I'm confused...... 😱

Duck wrote:Did not know that - so games registered once and re sold and re-registered have content curtailed?

it's like BF2 and 2142, it's associated with your EA account. I'm pretty sure you can't transfer ownership at all. Could be wrong. Doubt it though.

I've had this rolling around in my head. I couldn't quite put my finger on what this game reminded me of, but it hit me.

It is a lot closer to BF2142 than BF2. At least, that is the way it felt to me. And I didn't much care for BF2142.

Steam has dropped the price on single issue and is also offering a "squad pack" 4 for the price of 3

Tells me it's sucking for sales and there trying to generate traffic.

Duck wrote:Steam has dropped the price on single issue and is also offering a "squad pack" 4 for the price of 3

Tells me it's sucking for sales and there trying to generate traffic.

Don't know about sales waining. I do know that the squad pack will see some sales this weekend @ the OKGG LAN. First LAN that we've had it as an option.

Used the heck out those options for L4D2 and a few other games when it came around to the LAN they were first played at. It's a deal Steam has done with a good number of multiplayer games the last few years.

Yea, it moved 2.3 Million Copies. Most successful March release ever from EA. Still, at $60 a pop, that's only 120 Million. Nowhere near MW2 territory.

So is it already dieing?
I don't see the twins or anyone else playing any more.......

Has the BF line finally pegged the BS meter?

Hey guys, I was just wanted to post a follow up on BC2.

DICE fixed a bunch of things. They also balanced a bunch of weapons. It is perfect? No. They've got more work to do, but it's better than it was.

[CgC] has 3 BC2 servers now, one running in each mode: Conquest, Rush, and Squad Rush.

Lately our most popular has been the Conquest server in LA. We turned off hardcore mode since standard mode seems to be the most popular. Some of the weapons are still unbalanced, but in standard mode it isn't as apparent as in HC mode. In standard mode the Nade Launcher, Carl Gustav and Sniper rifles aren't total noob cannons like they are in in HC. You have to get headshots for quick kills in standard. It's much, MUCH, MUCH less of a sniperfest in standard mode - that's probably the biggest reason why standard mode is more popular than HC mode.

The internet is flooded with empty rush servers for some reason. There are less Conquest servers than Rush servers, however much more of them are actually populated, probably because most battlefield veterans simply prefer good old flag capping/holding. It does leave room for changing strategies and going for a vacant flag if you get sick of getting cut up trying to take a well defended flag. In rush mode, it seems that the defenders get rolled over and lose about 80% of the time. For me Rush mode is exciting, but does get old after a while. Also I've noticed the games in a full server on conquest tend to go quicker than in rush (where they can often last 45 minutes to an hour).

Each class seems to have one really powerful tool/weapon at their disposal, so you can always fight fire with fire if someone else is putting a hurtin' on you. If someone is pissing you off, it helps to figure out which weapon your class can best use to get some revenge. My success has increased drastically since I found a powerful pistol I like that does a bunch of damage - sometimes in close quarters I'll even forsake my full auto assault rifle for my pistol. In stadard mode you can run out of ammo quick since it takes longer to kill guys, so you've got to be comfortable with mixing your use of nades, rifles, pistol and knife to try and kill off as much of an enemy squad as you can before you have to retreat and reload.


Our LA server has been full the last 2 nights. If you guys would like to give BC2 another try, tonight would be a great night to do so. It's been so much easier working in squads with a full server. It's kind of tough to work on squadwork when a server only has 6 of us on it and 4 flags to cap - that leaves less than a player per flag. Lately we've been picking a flag for each squad to hold and sticking with it. Occasionally we'll reassign flags if it gets too boring, or we'll just leave 1 guy to hold a flag in case someone sneaks around the front line to catch us napping. If any of you hop on we'll be sure to make room for you - we'll kick a pubber from the server or squad if necessary.

Conquest Server - Standard Mode (Not Hardcode)