First Look: Battlefield- Bad Company (EA /Dice)
Not usually one to post a review on the front page, I indeed have fallen prey to the fast nature of product review. This aside, I was actually very excited to talk about this title. Thinking initially that it would be another cool looking WWII shooter loosely following the premise of Kelly's Heroes or The 
Dirty, Dozen, I was wrong. Same story drive, bad guys looking for money; present day though (well a bit in the future). I really want to scream this one to the world: this title is F@CKING @WESOME. For reasons just beyond smooth game play and fantastic visuals.
This game embraces the other senses as well and stimulates the mind, the funny bone and the auditory. The writing is spectacular with very timely dialogue, both in fore and background with the constant banter of Haggard the hick demo expert and Sweetwater the more introspective a-liner. "Good shooting new guy!" brings to mind the simple yet entertaining dialogue of My Name is Earl, add guns and tanks and you have a masterstroke of digital entertainment.
As for the soundtrack, this is like Tarantino meets Noone Lives Forever meets The Wild Geese, has a three-way with the Swedish Bikini Team and then gets to jam with the Cadillac Tramps AND Rocket from the Crypt. It is that good. It's not often that the whole retro music thang comes to bear so favorably in video games of this nature, but the surgically placed tunes interspersed with the dialogue, especially after a firefight when there is no sound (60 -0 in 1 second)....until someone coughs and asks "is anyone dead?".
Just kinda make you realize how little control you would actually have in a combat situation. The tunes end when the fight is done, whether you are jacked up or not. Like being thrust out of a moving car or suddenly realizing that outer space is dead silent. It's jarring at first but quite effective, this beautiful relationship between dialogue, music and silence. I would buy the soundtrack, it is that enjoyable.
As we know the first review is usually about first impressions, little to do with the tech side, but the engine used (designed by Dice) is formidable. The damage maps in the environment are so effective and widespread that you could shoot the same door with a rocket launcher over and over and NEVER get the same damage twice. Like war in a the glass environment house of Red Faction. It all comes tumbling down. Images and art to follow....
9/10 as it stands