EDIT: I didn’t realise this was a mandatory update. Expect to download 2.6gb next time you play the game! Ugh.

There are two pieces of Battlefield news! First is that the latest BFBC2 map pack will arrive some time today. It’s looking like the best of the map packs so far, with four new maps. FOUR NEW MAPS. JESUS CHRIST! There are two maps from the original Battlefield Bad Company multiplayer, and two from BFBC2′s single player. They’re all redone to make for BFBC2 multiplayer awesomeness. I am going to be playing the hell out of them on the RPS server a bit later. Also, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam will be appearing on 18th of December on Steam and EA Store, and 21st everywhere else. We shall also be playing that. Then.

I’ve posted the splendid, explosive map pack trailer below. Go. Me. (more…)

This weekend I found myself on the RPS BFBC2 server – as part of our rather oversubscribed RPS Game Club – and I began to remember why I have played more of that game than any other this year. Despite its flaws there’s a big bag of What Is Right About Multiplayer Manshoots in there, and I love it. Having done that and then taken a look at this new excellent new video for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam I began to get rather more excited about the upcoming historical expandalone than I had been up to this point. I’m starting to understand how Vietnam will change the dynamic – bringing the combat in even closer – and it’s looking pretty fantastic.

I notice there’s still no release date for this, despite it being slated for “Winter 2010″. I guess that must mean it’s out in December. It’ll be download only, initially only in the EA Store. I will be downloading it. (more…)

DICE says: “The article published by PC-Gamer is not accurate. We are currently researching if Onslaught will be available for PC. No release date.”

Bummer. But don’t blame the messenger, eh? EA/DICE need to get their wires straight.

PCG have gone and got DICE to confirm that the Onslaught co-op mode, in which four of the multiplayer maps are reworked for 4-player co-op, will be coming to PC. Although it’s not clear what this means for the server model, which was the reason that was given for it not being released earlier. There are also no details on price or release date, but we’re assuming it can’t take too long… Can it? Hmm, given the back and forth over recent patches, we can see why DICE weren’t forthcoming about this originally, and haven’t provided any dates this time. We’ll see it when we see it, I guess. And then we can start imagining there might be mod tools? No, you’re right, I’m just being silly. I want the moon on a stick, I do. And the strength to wield said lunar lollipop. I’d used it to swat space monsters, or kraken. Probably. I’m all about saving the earth from gigantic horrors.

The reason being for hmming that Map Pack implies new maps>, when this is actually expanded game modes for existing maps. Still, it’s free I suppose, which is nice enough, although no set release date for PC. It’ll provide for Squad Deathmatch on Nelson Bay and Squad Rush on Laguna Alta. Looks like BigDownload scooped the trailer, but thanks to the gentle magic of internet sharing, we have posted it for you below. In it you see dudes shot, and some buildings permanently crippled. Harrowing stuff. (more…)

And it’s apparently going to fix the browser issues, hooray. PC Gamer post the full change list, which doesn’t specifically seem to mention any changes to weapon balance, although they are promised. Could this be a nerf to the medic’s Light Machineguns Of Doom? I hope so. Bloody healers. DICE aren’t going to reveal the weapon tweaks just yet, as they want “unbiased feedback”, whatever that is. I suspect there might be a game on the RPS servers to investigate the changes. Join our Steam group so you get a message thingy when we’re playing.

International man of mystery Skeez187 has kindly donated a North American-based Battlefield: Bad Company 2 server for your gaming pleasure. It’s called Rock, Paper, Shotgun US Ranked [RPS], it’s currently a standard settings Rush server. (Still no hardcore, sorry! We’re a bunch of softies.) Thanks to Mr 187 for that, and I hope our North American ranks have a fun time slugging it out on there.

Incidentally, the UK server sponsored by Multiplay is back up after it fainted earlier. We’re going to password it in the evenings to make sure it’s an RPS readership on there. I know it fills up fast, so sorry if folks can’t get on, but do try again later if it’s full. See you on there!

Hurrah for the UK’s excellent online gaming service Multiplay, for they have given us a Battlefield Bad Company 2 server of our very own. They’re one of the companies hosting servers for the game, should you be interested in such things, and they can be rented here. Read on below for more RPS server stuff. (more…)

So, Plans A & B may have failed. That leaves us Plan C. That’s the one where I stop using broad strokes to paint a picture of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for you, and whip out the single horsehair brush to start filling in all the minor details. This is where the highlights and lowlights are done, chaps.

Unsurprisingly, the new Battlefield game is doing rather well with fans of the series. It’s providing similar thrills we’ve found before, on a slightly smaller scale, but with far more attention to detail. We’ve got destructible environments, prettier landscapes to kill each other over, and an EA Server system that lets each little bit of contribution to your side get logged and added to the overall tally system of unlocks. This is roughly the third iteration of Battlefield (so long as you ignore stuff like Battlefield Vietnam, or Battlefield 2142, or Battlefield 1943. Oh alright, it’s Battlefield Mk 6, although it’s not Battlefield 3, that’s still to come.)

Let me break it down for you. This is the breakdown, broken down into bits of broken words: (more…)