I’ve logged about three hours on the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 single player campaign as of this posting. I’m at a good stopping point, so I’m taking the time to share my initial thoughts about the game.

I pre-ordered Bad Company 2 a few months back on Steam based largely on the incredible looking gameplay trailers that EA released. The Steam download process was surprisingly easy with this release – a welcome departure from my previous experiences with downloading games on release day. I held a steady 1MB+/sec download rate.

I dove into the single player campaign as soon as I got the game installed. I scrambled through the first few levels and I’m damn impressed so far. The controls are tight and responsive, the plot and dialogue are surprisingly engrossing, and the animation is absolutely fluid. The game is heavy on in-game cutscenes, which may be an issue for some people, but they move quickly and really help to flesh out the story. It actually reminds me a lot of Crysis. I think it has a lot to do with the environments, which are lush and beautiful.

The graphics are on par with Modern Warfare 2, surpassing them in some regards and only barely falling short in others. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that DICE has effectively redefined themselves with this release. Bad Company 2 just doesn’t look like a Battlefield game – which is a good thing if you ask me.

My only real complaint at this point is a pretty big one: the enemy AI sucks. Seriously, it feels like a static shooting gallery at times. Of course, that’s a forgivable offense considering that the game was really designed as a multiplayer title. The fact that DICE even took the time to design such a cinematic campaign is simply a bonus.