Battlefield Bad Company 2 Has the Best Campaign Mode
Ask any Battlefield devotee what BF game has the greatest single-player campaign, and you‘ll most likely get one resounding answer: 2010‘s Battlefield Bad Company 2. This fan-favorite FPS gave us the most memorable squad in recent warfare gaming, dropped us right into the heat of dangerous combat ops, and complemented its multiplayer mode with a killer 8-hour story full of humor, excitement, and explosions.
But what exactly makes BFBC2‘s campaign so legendary? Let‘s break it down while also showing some love to a few other BF games that got single-player right.
BFBC2 Campaign Dissected: Key Ingredients to Its Success
Clocking in at around 8 hours for main story completion, BFBC2 churns out blockbuster set-pieces one after another while seamlessly blending humor and camaraderie between squad members. You take control of Preston Marlowe alongside his B Company cohorts Hags, Sweetwater, and everyone‘s favorite redneck demolitions expert, Sergeant Redford.
This chaotically charming crew barrels through maps set everywhere from snowy Russian villages to the streets of Havana as they pursue a vendetta against an arms dealer named Arkady Kirilenko. Missions run the gamut from stealthy night raids to defend-and-hold sieges, aerial platform assaults, and high octane chase sequences.
In terms of critical reception, BFBC2 earned an 84 score on Metacritic to become one of the highest-rated BF campaign modes ever. Reviewers praised its characters, story, varied level design, and marriage of strategy and squirrelly gunfights.
Beyond the tale of B Company itself, what truly brings the experience together is how well it complements the multiplayer. The same classes, weapons, gadgets, destructibility, and engine used for solo play translate seamlessly to online battles. This synergy between campaign and MP helps cement BFBC2 as the total package.
Campaign Comparison By the Numbers
To showcase how BF titles stack up against BFBC2’s beloved story mode, let’s break things down with a quick and dirty quantitative comparison:
| Game | Campaign Length | Metacritic Score |
|---|---|---|
| Battlefield Vietnam | ~14 hours | 84 |
| Battlefield 3 | ~8 hours | 85 |
| Battlefield Bad Company 2 | ~8 hours | 84 |
| Battlefield 4 | ~8 hours | 79 |
| Battlefield 1 | ~10 hours (6 stories) | 84 |
| Battlefield V | ~6 hours | 80 |
As shown above, BF Vietnam’s campaign tops the chart for length while BF1 matches BFBC2’s critical acclaim with an 84 score on Metacritic. BF3 also earned spectacular review marks, though comes just shy of BFBC2 in terms of its memorable cast of characters.
And of course, this comparison excludes Battlefield 2042 since it contains no solo play whatsoever.
Why Recent Battlefield Games Lack Standout Campaigns
In looking at this data, you may be wondering…if BF developers DICE knocked single-player out of the park with the Bad Company series and BF3, why have recent efforts like BFV fallen a bit flat?
There are a few reasons that come to mind:
- Shift in focus and resources to multiplayer rather than crafting a compelling campaign
- Pressure for launching on a yearly release schedule leading to rushed production
- Attempts to appeal to too many different groups of gamers rather than telling focused, squad-centric stories
- Lack of continuity and character development compared to full trilogy arcs like Bad Company
Many contemporary BF games also seem to focus more on isolated epic moments rather than an entire storyline linking together. Hopefully DICE recognizes everything that made past campaigns amazing and channels it into their next solo outing.
What Does the Future Hold for Single-Player Battlefield?
The truth is multiplayer may reign supreme when it comes to Battlefield’s identity, but that doesn’t mean campaign modes must remain an afterthought.
Fans have made it loud and clear that they still want compelling single-player content packed with cinematic production values, meaningful characters, and historical or hypothetical conflicts to shed light on either unfamiliar wartime tales or tomorrow’s wars.
Rumblings of Bad Company 3 or a next-gen remaster continue swirling, but only time will tell if DICE ever returns to the proven formula that worked so well previously.
For now, BFBC2 remains cemented as the gold standard for Battlefield campaigns. It would take quite an impressive feat to dethrone Sergeant Redford and crew’s demolition-laden exploits. But we live in hope that one day another BF game will surpass even the greatest Band of Brothers tribute we’ve seen yet from this franchise.
