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This Bad Company is actually pretty good.

It's been a number of months since Call of Duty 4 invaded shelves and the lives of gamers. Even with the release of a map pack, many are most likely ready to move on and try something new online. EA is hoping that Battlefield: Bad Company fills this void. While Bad Company is not a polished as COD, it is undeniable that the game offers some great 'bang' for your buck.

Visually B:BC has some very impressive technical feats, beginning with the destructible environments. Any title where you can blow up your enemies, it's nice to blow up the terrain around them as well. Even though it's very cool to blow a hole in the side of a building, knock down that annoying shrubbery that is in the way of your vehicles, or knocking down that water tower just for the hell of it, the destruction is oddly enough limited. A great for instance is when I had a grenade launcher at my disposal. I was able to take down an enemy tanker and secure a building with such unrelenting force, yet there was a dilapidated wooden fence that would budge not matter what I would do to it. It seems like EA made the environments have certain "sweet spots" that were destructible, which can be disappointing when trying to supply as much damage as possible.

Other than that caveat the graphics are quite good and keep a solid frame rate throughout. One big visual that stands out is the personality of the main characters. While not as animated as say Half Life, they do have nuances that are distinguishable enough to know from a distance who is making the latest in rambling wisecracks.

The audio is a big stand out here as anyone with a killer sound system will be more than happy with what their neighbors will think of them after playing Battlefield: Bad Company. Not only is the game loud and boisterous as you lay waste to the battlelines ahead, the game has a great musical score that would be fitting in any great war film. Let's not forget the great single player script written for your main characters. More times that not you will find yourself laughing at some of the great one liners that comes from this group. They may say that war is hell, but who knew hell was so funny?

Like any game worth playing, the controls for B:BC are very good. The controller setup is perfect the way it is, enabling all your moves, weapon changes, line of sight, and vehicle handling with such ease. Moving about doesn't feel clumsy in the slightest and the sensitivity of your aiming feels just right. You will encounter a few times where your vehicle will get stuck upon some obstruction along the way; of course if you stay clear of debris you should be fine.

Online is even a treat with easy to access maps, finding friends, and just wreaking havoc against friends and not so friends online through your PS3 or Xbox 360. Upon release of the title, there were some server issues that plagued set up, but have been corrected by the time of this review.

Whether you are playing the entertaining solo campaign, or online you will find that B:BC was easily worth the 60 dollar price tag. There are plenty of maps, levels, weapons, vehicle, and destructible objects to quench anyone's appetite for destruction. Toss in the possibility of future DLC and you have a package worth bragging about.

Battlefield: Bad Company may not be the award winner that COD 4 was, but it is damn near as entertaining and a lot easier to get into. This is a war game for the casual gamer who just wants to have fun blowing stuff up.