Battlefield: Bad Company

Title
Developer
Publisher
Genre
ESRB Rating
Demo Release Date
Full Release Date
Platforms
Official Website
Demo Download Size
Review Date

Battlefield: Bad Company
EA Digital Illusions CE
Electronic Arts
First Person Shooter
Teen
5th June 2008
24th June 2008 Buy Now
PS3, Xbox 360 (Reviewed)
http://badcompany.ea.com
800MB
23rd June 2008

What did I think before playing?
First off, full disclosure, I helped work on this game. I also took part in the closed beta for this on Xbox 360, (similar to the Halo 3 beta, but you didn't need to buy Crackdown!) so I had a good idea of how the game would work in multiplayer. I have both liked some and disliked some previous Battlefield titles.

What is included?
The first single player level, multiplayer matches and viewing stats. You also unlock a free weapon for use in the full title by playing multiplayer mode and reaching rank 4 in the demo.

What did I think afterwards?
I actually had to play this across two sittings due to time constraints and didn't get a full stab during either, unfortunately. Despite that, however, I was impressed with the game.
I started out with the single player mode since that would be new to me. It seems like the first level since you get some intro cutscenes to setup the story and get prompts on how to do things while in-game. I didn't quite get time to finish the level but had fun blasting away at the enemies and blowing up buildings.
The multiplayer mode I was already familiar with from the beta. Not much has changed, which is a good thing since it is great fun. I have found some Battlefield games can be pretty hardcore and difficult to get into, (BF2 springs to mind and Modern Combat to some extent,) but I fell right into this one, (as I did with 2142.) There seems to be some polish to the presentation since the beta, (mostly a brush up of the in-game graphics,) but it is hard to point to specifics. Either way, the game looks great with a slightly grainy filter applied to give a more cinematic quality.

Would I buy the full game?
Yes I will, but then I get it free/cheap from work. If I were a regular customer I would still be tempted since this is a great demo. Lots is offered to the player, with a solid amount of single player spied up with never-gets-old online play. If I only had $60 to spend the decision for me would be between Call of Duty 4, (since I must be the only guy on the planet that doesn't own it yet,) or BFBC.

Demo Pros
Lots of content. Shows most of what you would get in the full product. View your stats online and unlock weapons for the main game.

Demo Cons
Some server issues at launch.

Demo Rating 10 / 10

Thoughts after playing the full game?
If I play the full game I will put comments here about whether I feel the demo was representative of the final product and if I am happy with the purchase.

Sales Figures
If I can find sales information about a game after it has been released I'll add that here. It may be useful to track demos to sales performance.