Battlefield Bad Company 2

It took half a year, but EA and DICE finally awarded the Battlefield faithful with two brand spanking new maps and a pair of classics from the original Bad Company. The absence of new content outside of unlocking pre-existing maps for new modes didn't do Bad Company 2 any favors, as the game dropped precipitously from its top-three status in the Xbox Live unique users charts as the year progressed. Though you could still find full matches, before Map Pack 7 Major Nelson reported that Bad Company 2 had slipped all the way to the 17th position, behind four Call of Duty titles, two Halo games, and a slew of sports and action games. So are these new maps enough to rekindle a love affair with one of the best shooters of the year? We dusted off our guns and headed to the battlefield to find out.

Cold War

Supported Modes: Rush, Squad Rush, and Squad Deathmatch

Fans of close-quarters maps should love Cold War. This winter map takes place in the mountainside Russian town of Chukotka. In Rush mode, the attacking team parachutes onto a ridge overlooking the cramped war-torn village. Given the tight avenues between buildings and surrounding tree lines, there are no vehicles and few long sight lines for snipers to exploit. This helps encourage freedom of movement for general infantry. While there is enough room to flank the three sets of M-Com stations, it's not hard for the defending army to set a perimeter and funnel the action into the village. Given the close quarters feel, this a great map for shotgun and assault rifle fans. Several of the crates are placed outside of buildings, which thankfully curbs the overzealous mortar spamming on buildings containing crates. Snipers and RPG soldiers can no longer demolish the crates by destroying the surrounding building or lobbing rockets from afar; if you want to advance to the next two sets of crates, you need to man up and place a charge in person.

Heavy Metal

Supported Modes: Conquest, Squad Deathmatch

At first, I was pissed Heavy Metal wasn't available in Rush mode. After loading up the map, I understand why DICE made it primarily for Conquest. Heavy Metal is HUGE, recalling the expansive maps of the series' PC titles like Battlefield 2. With the picturesque Chilean mountainside town of Aconcagua serving as the backdrop, three flags are positioned in a rugged valley sprinkled with high-tech windmills. Given the large swathes of terrain between flags, the map is perfect for vehicular warfare and sniping. Each side has access to multiple helicopters and tanks, and the key to holding the flags is air superiority. If you're up against an ace pilot and skilled gunner, it can be hard to get out of your spawn base, let alone move across the map to take a flag, if you don't have talented AA gunners taking them out before they are in striking range. Traveling in a vehicle to your next destination is recommended considering the long distances between objectives. With high ridges and towers overlooking the valley and large distances in between flags, you'll probably be picked off from afar by a bush wookie or turn into roadkill if you're running across the open plain. Though the vehicular combat offers a nice change of pace from infantry-based combat, the map seems too big given the 24-player cap.

Oasis

Supported Modes: Rush, Conquest, Squad Rush, Squad Deathmatch

The most popular map from the original Bad Company is back with a few impressive additions. DICE seems to have added more foliage around the flanks, which gives both the attacking teams more cover when making its approach. Of all the Bad Company maps, this one makes me long for the commander functionality from Battlefield 2. If you don't make a coordinated strike quickly on the first two crates you may never advance the front line. It is extremely tough to blow the crates when all the buildings are destroyed and the cover is gone; in over a dozen matches, the attacking team only advanced past the first set of crates twice. As with Heavy Metal, air support can make or break your attack or defense. The defending team has an anti-air turret, but a good Apache pilot and gunner can make quick work of the emplacement so its crucial to have engineers firing tracer darts and RPGs while the gunner is preoccupied. To thwart the advancing armor, it's also smart to lay down a line of mines on the road and arm the bridge with C4 to detonate if a tank tries to roll into town from the left flank. DICE also moved the flags in Conquest to mix up the experience, but I haven't played enough to comment on whether the new placement is an improvement.

Harvest Day

Supported Modes: Rush, Conquest, Squad Rush, Squad Deathmatch

Another favorite from Bad Company returns with a fresh coat of paint. With healthy mixture of vehicular warfare, sniping ridges, and close quarters combat this is the quintessential Battlefield experience. The starts in an open field as the attackers move in with heavy armor, and as they advance the battle pushes into an urban center. As with the other new maps, DICE moved the crate locations out of buildings to discourage mortar spamming. When you're not moving to capture the M-Com crates, it's always fun to bust out the knife and clear a ridge of the snipers hiding like cowards in the bushes.

The Verdict

Better late than never. Though many of us longed for a more steady stream of Bad Company 2 experiences over the long summer drought, it's tough to be ornery about getting two brand new maps and two classics for free. Hardcore fans should pick this up to check out the new maps, and if you never played Bad Company this the perfect chance for you to experience two of the better settings. VIP Map Pack 7 may not pry people away from their fresh holiday purchases, but for fans like me it offers the perfect excuse to dust off my skills before the Vietnam expansion releases December 21.