Battlefield: Bad Company demo hits Live

By Robert Purchese Published 5 June, 2008

Friendly fire it up.

Microsoft has gone blow-for-blow with Sony by whisking a Battlefield: Bad Company demo of its own onto Xbox Live Marketplace.

You may misconstrue that as us trying to drum up some drama around the issue because there is little else to say - not least because we knew about the 5th June demo release date at the start of last month. Talk behind our back if you like in the comments section down there.

Bad Company is the single-player spin on the Battlefield series. It has dark humour and Dan just said it was "quite fun" after playing it for what seemed like all afternoon and so he should be fired. It also has its own multiplayer elements in line with the series' previous strengths.

We've been told before that it aims to portray a realistic look at life behind enemy lines; comparisons to the Three Kings film are quite common, as are talk of YouTube clips of soldiers clowning around in Iraq and Ypres is that still relevant?

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Benno #1 4 years ago

    i'll give this a bash then

  • penhalion #2 4 years ago

    bit big isn't it!

  • Rirekon #3 4 years ago

    Definitely giving this a shot

  • BiscuitBase #4 4 years ago

    But will it be as good as HAZE?

  • Laika #5 4 years ago

    Another HAZE joke, BicuitBase? Give it a rest.

  • T4RG4 #6 4 years ago

    I'm kind of worried it looks a little childish (from recent videos) and well, slightly shit gfx wise? But hey, I get to try it out tonight I guess!

    Hazelol (sorry).

  • monkie_king #7 4 years ago

    Fairly mixed reactions on the forum so far.

  • MilkYMoO #8 4 years ago

    What the hell I'll download it for both systems. I accidentally deleted the xbox 360 beta a few days after getting it and could'nt download it again, even after entering the beta key a second time. Can't wait to get stuck into this again.

  • BiscuitBase #9 4 years ago

    But it's the joke that just gets funnier everytime I tell it!

  • ParanoidZombie #10 4 years ago

    good game, but civilization revolution looks much more interesting after playing both demos.

  • Eraysor #11 4 years ago

    Well, the single player gets a big meh/10.

  • weaselrat #12 4 years ago

    played the demo, both single and multi.
    It ain't no COD beater. Blowing up buildings is quite nice but that's about it. :-(

  • Negotiator #13 4 years ago

    Yes its better than Haze.

  • rodge020679 #14 4 years ago

    its shit

  • deepmenace #15 4 years ago

    isnt this the one where you can blow down walls of buildings and whatnot?

  • GamesConnoisseur #16 4 years ago

    Come on! Its not that bad honestly guys, putting this next to Hours of Victory!! Now that game I knew then was shit immediately within few seconds of playing Hours of Victory. Yes decision wise with the Battlefiel's control layout could be much better, I got destroyed due to losing which move the vehicle forward and so on.

    But yeah can see potential for a good blast of old fashioned fun with much destructions of buildings, woods, smokes and using different weapons. A bit like Black in some respect, but wondered what the use of NPC teammates in SP mode? Health topped up with syringe, erm yes not that a good move!

    Visually not too bad, certainly no COD4 but we dont want a clone of that and need something new and these guys have tried.

    Yeah I found Civ Revolution a great blast, so had a go twice tonight!! Visually great with lots of details and the advisers are fun to watch especially the interactions between them on occasions!

    Edited by 1 at 05/06/08 @ 22:56

  • T4RG4 #17 4 years ago

    Tried the demo - erm... is it me or is it slightly underwhelming? It tries to be different, which is good, but the characters are weak... so on to multiplayer... erm, routine lag anyone? Not acceptable really.

    The guns feel rubbish too, rather like toys.

    I dont really have much to say about it I guess, solid I'm sure, but COD4 has raised the bar somewhat and this falls way short IMO.

  • Mudo #18 4 years ago

    The single redeeming feature of the demo is the destructible buildings. And WHAT a redeeming feature! I spent ages doing nothing but blowing them up in MP.

    Everything else is shit and I doubt I'll turn it on again

  • CARL05 #19 4 years ago

    The lag this evening has been terrible!
    Shame since I was looking forward to this and I have found it truely boring, no where near the quality of the PC versions, I think I even liked Modern Combat more than this, atleast it didn't have the appauling script and the button layouts are horrible, LT = Accelerate and LB = Brake/Reverse! only EA

    The worst glitches I have found is that the tanks sometimes pass through objects, such as trees, even with the slightest lag, only to see the much hyped destruction happen long afterwards!

  • SteJosh #20 4 years ago

    LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG

  • Kalinin #21 4 years ago

    Really underwhelming, I dunno, but it just feels like a touched up version of the Xbox BF2 with "comedy" characters thrown in. Nothing feels considered at all.

  • ronuds #22 4 years ago

    It's odd how far to each side of the fence people are about this game.

    I personally thought it was a huge pile of garbage. :p

  • RazorObsession #23 4 years ago

    absolutely loving it. coming at the top of the leaderboard, adrenaline pumping, trying not to imitate FPS doug, but failing, and having surprisingly lag free matches probably helps to sway opinion of it i imagine.

    single player, as always, sucks monkey balls, but the multiplayer was spot on. graphics were good too. As good as CoD4 is at simulating special forces type operations, it just doesn't give you the whole battlefield experience of land sea and air vehicular mayhem, destructible everything and huge open vistas. team work now actually means something too.

  • macksed #24 4 years ago

    I've been to Ypres... and i still dont know how to pronounce it.

  • ccfb #25 4 years ago

    Eeep!

  • Raziel #26 4 years ago

    Nice to see that they hardly fixed anything from the Beta, its still a piece of shit.

    It's mostly the spawning that gets to me. You either spawn so far back, you'll need a passport and a 5 day train ride, or you spawn next to that teammate of yours thats about to get hit by that tank that just killed you 10 secs ago.

  • DUFFMAN5 #27 4 years ago

    Played on line for around 30 minutes, could be good fun with the right team. I was shite, nothing new there then!

  • coojam #28 4 years ago

    I want to love this as I so love BF2 on PC, but I've never seen it translate well to console. Saying that, people need to stop trying to play it like CoD. BF always worked better when you used your noggin and played as a team, so I'm interested on how much of the superb BF2 teamplay features they initiated for this. Haven't played online... the damn thing wouldn't even connect.

  • T4RG4 #29 4 years ago

    How often does team-work come off correctly in multiplayer games? Its so hard to a) find randoms who play as a team and you click with or b) get enough mates on in party mode at the same time to play correctly.

    I loved BF2 PC, but then I used to play on a LAN at work, with people sitting a few metres from me.

    I dont think it translates to the internet (unless you have loads of mates without lives of their own that can be online at the same time as everyone else and play for the same length of time).

    However, that really isn't the games downfall. It's just not very good :/

  • GooseUK #30 4 years ago

    THis is a step back from the previous bf on xbox..... anyone remeber the near limitless bullet hole decals, stacks of shell casings everywhere, hit detcetion that actually worked, and what about recoil and accuracy THAT ACTUALLY MADE SENSE!

    Total poo-poo
    Edited by 1 at 06/06/08 @ 11:12

  • turnget2005 #31 4 years ago

    i am really supprised to hear all the bad comments!!! i actually thought that it was good.
    im not much of a fps player. i also thought that the graphics were better than COD4 lighting and textures were spot on.
    never had any lag problems at all, but the button mapping was a bit strange in the tanks.
    i did have to tinker with the controller sensetivity options a bit to get it to feel good.

  • CLOSEALDO #32 4 years ago


    you guys are all a bit harsh! Clearly the single player is no where near COD but for me the playability of the multiplayer is better. COD is dreadfully boring now on multiplayer - its so run and gun. At least you have some choice in this game. Play it in the morning UK time and its completely lag free.

    really looking forward to the full release.

  • T4RG4 #33 4 years ago

    Cant even get online with it at the moment. Has the balls to tell me something is up with my network connection, even though I've been playing a variety of games online this evening hmmm...

    Oh, and the updated ticker news says 'As usual its been an overwhelming response and we're working on getting more servers up and running' or something to that effect. If its 'as usual' maybe you should have sorted it in the first place?

    Slightly shit for a multiplayer game from an established studio in this day and age me thinks... bah.

  • xomg #34 4 years ago

    I spent hours downloading the demo, then ten minutes playing it before it was deleted.

    I want my evening back.

  • daedaloz #35 4 years ago

    Played about 20-25 matches now..

    I haven't tried Singleplayer yet.

    I haven't played CoD 4 that much.. But this is a very kick-ass game, the explosions and general graphics looks pretty sweet.. the framerate is good, never once a dropdown.. no screen tearing.. the gun sounds are absolutely fantastic... love em.. some of the most realistic i''ve heard yet in a game... the guns feel realistic.. so does the vehicels.. very cool tanks and jeeps..

    I have experienced NO LAG whatsoever.. I don't know how people are getting this much lag... Maybe your connection is shit or something.. played 25 matches.. no lag ever.. runs smoooooth. Everywhere on the battlefield.. there is war and explosions and you really get the feel that you're in a combat zone... destructable buildings and shit is just fantastic..

    You really got to get used to the controls though, and being an FPS game.. it can take quite a while if you're used to Mouse and keyboard as I am.. but I manage..

    The other annoying thing is people with headsets talk too much, and there is no option to turn ingame voice off.. kind annoying at times..

    All in all I am considered buying this.. just for the multiplayer... and if the singleplayer is good.. then it's a bonus.. multiplayer is damn fun and contains endless hours of fun.

    I played this on the Playstation 3

    8/10
    Edited by 1 at 07/06/08 @ 09:40

  • bioreit #36 4 years ago

    I just want to know how the bloody hell they managed to balls up the controls and handling from Battlefield 2: Modern Combat.

    Initial turning is like trying to push your gun through a treacle atmosphere, even with the stick rammed far left/right, regardless of which weapon you hold. Yes, yes, I understand the "realism" argument of bigger, heavier guns taking longer to move, but, come on - you're supposed to be playing professional soldiers!

    WHY THE BLOODY HELL CAN'T I LIE DOWN? Since when did a soldier only ever stand or crouch? Most ridiculous design decision for a large-scale FPS with snipers ever!

    THREE buttons for changing weapons?! What happened to the "hold right bumper to bring up weapon select menu"? Much easier and gave access to five weapons. Fumbling for the 'Y' button because some twonk landed in front of you and he's facing away should not be so difficult. Great that they copied CoD4's left-trigger aiming and left-stick-click sprinting, but they couldn't copy the knife too?

    Excuse me - but where are the goddamn parachutes? Bailing out of the chopper was both fun and necessary: fun when you did a HALO jump straight into the enemy base; necessary when you realised your pilot was a suicidal numpty hurtling towards the ground quicker than a frozen budgie and you didn't want to share in the beliefs of his particular cult... I'm guessing they took it out because they'd assigned all those buttons to weapon select.

    Speaking of helicopters, the stated controls are different in game (on both control schemes). It says that the left stick is for forward/back, with right stick doing pitch (as well as others, but my issue does not concern them). Well, left stick up and down does bugger all, as far as I can tell - the only way to move forward is to angle the pitch up, meaning you have to clamp your finger over the left bumper (ascend) to maintain any kind of altitude. The helicopter controls in BF2:MC were hard, but not "actually require a genuine real-world pilot's licence" hard.

    The general 'feel' of the game is reminiscent of Frontlines - both give the impression of PC games, designed, built, play-tested for use with keyboard and mouse, then had console controls dumped onto them at the last minute. Which is mystifying, as DICE got BF2:MC feeling so right.


    The destructible scenery is awesome, the graphics are plenty good enough - especially with the size of the maps taken into account - but it seems like DICE have taken just a few too many steps backward. If they had kept the feel and controls of BF2:MC and added the destruction of the Frostbite engine, as well as maintained the parachutes, prone feature, vehicle handling (oh God, the handling on the HumVees! They used to be so fast - now they barely go faster than the heavy tank!) of the previous one, Bad Company would have been awesome. As it is, it's merely 'good'. Will be sticking to BF2:MC and CoD4 now - no point in paying out all that money 'just' for destructible scenery.