It’s an exciting time for fans of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. An already smartly built game, it’s going to get even better with loads of new items, vehicles, weapons, and maps for this month’s Vietnam expansion pack. By now you’ve seen the news that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam will be receiving a just announced fifth level, Operation Hastings, for all players once they amass 69 million “actions” within the game. Considering the popularity, that shouldn’t take too much time at all. With the expansion coming out on December 21 for $15, it won’t be long before players will be working through this fairly substantial addition.
Starting off, many will remember Operation Hastings is a remake of a map from Battlefield: Vietnam. However, for those who need a reminder, Operation Hastings is a fairly large map split between the US forces and the North Vietnamese Army. Tanks, boats and helicopters are all immediately available, and the map proved to be a popular destination for Conquest mode.
Hill 137 was probably the most dynamic map, especially for Rush. With the NVA forces acting on the defensive, US forces have to charge forward in an attempt to detonate bunker devices. In the middle of the match, fighter jets would rush overhead and bomb a later area of the map. Thus, when the UVA is pushed back, the later portions of the level will be the burning residue of the jungle, still smoldering from the attack. Phu Bai Bay proved to be a slightly less dynamic map, although actions would still be happening in far off battlegrounds in the distance. However, this map is a perfect place to try out the brand new river patrol boats, which can easily inflict lots of damage.
Vantage Point was quite a bit more difficult, with staggered rice paddies offering different layers of attack. Considering many of the control points are up on a hill, these become incredibly difficult to retake once lost. A smart player will use the new Iroquois helicopter to attack from the sky, or a recon player call a strike upon these points. Finally, Kao San Temple is a slightly more tropical area surrounded by water. Each segment of these island areas offer distinct control and rush points, before finally ending up in the temple itself, a close-quarters point where chaos becomes a problem.
Also, an interesting decision made by DICE is the have all the weapons and items unlocked from the get go, and this will be standard for all players. Some of these new weapons and guns will really shake things up, especially the flamethrower. This item is especially effective on more vertical maps like Vantage Point and Hill 137. As enemy soldiers charge up, using the flamethrower is a great way to quickly take them down. In addition, any points earned in the Vietnam expansion pack will be applied to the over-all score of the main Battlefield: Bad Company game.
Finally, fans of authenticity will dig the complete new addition of audio to better represent the Vietnam War. All of the American voice work has been done to better fit the time, and the Vietnamese forces all speak in Vietmanese. Additionally, loads of licensed music make it into the game, giving the title an oddly Apocalypse Now feel. The audio is fantastic, and should make this an additionally interesting expansion pack. For 15 bucks, this looks like a fantastic addition to a popular and capable game. Players looking forward to this expansion will be able to download it later this month.
