Today is the launch date for the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 online beta for PC, but due to a very nice system error it’s up on Xbox live too. I actually own the first game in the series and what I remember liking most was the way explosives destroyed environments, as well as the funny characters and good story; it was almost like a modern day Inglourious Basterds, just not as awesome. Jumping back to the former, the explosive damage engine was unlike anything I’d seen in a game and quite realistic. It’s mostly used to blow up walls, but such a small element somehow makes for a world of fun. It also had the tough job of competing with Modern Warfare when it came out and now both sequels are back for round two.

The game feels much heavier than before, even with the sensitivity turned up. The first thing it reminded me of was Borderlands sans the super jumping. While shoot is RT as usual, Melee is RB and Grenade is LB. Instead of classes like in MW you get what they call kits, which are basically the same thing except no customizability. These kits come with a primary and secondary weapon, usually a rifle and pistol, and you get a d-pad-left item that ranges from RPGs and C4s to a defibrillator to revive teammates.

Adding on to the explosive engine is another nice little feature, the ability to knife through a fence. It’s a really useful feature, because you never have to stick to default boundaries and it gives you a much harder chance to find a corner to camp in. The scale of the map is nothing short of epic. One section features a four story parking garage and several large snowy mountains that lead to interesting battles, usually involving snipe. With the huge map comes transportation, which makes a world of difference from MW. You have the options of using a Quad bike to advance quickly or a helicopter or tank for assault.

The beta adds all of this together on a giant map with four sections. The game type isn’t team deathmatch unfortunately, and is more like MW’s Demoliton. Instead of the round ending, the positions move up to new locations on the map leaving you with almost four separate small maps. One of the coolest elements to the online play is when you’re attacking and spawn you actually take control of yourself parachuting in, which is just another realistic element that takes it to a higher level of fun.

Most of the fun you will have blowing up walls will be hampered slightly by what I think are clunky controls. The character feels quite heavy to move, and it feels like gun battles go really slow. Knifing is so slow that it may actually be easier to die and respawn. I really like using melee in games and this just made me not want to at all. On top of all that, you don’t even have the option to go prone, which would be so helpful considering how far you’re usually shooting. So it hasn’t quite won me over from MW2, but like the first one it’s a nice option. While multiplayer can’t really give you any idea on the humor in the game, the explosive engine has been tweaked to be even more destructive and fun. Just remember to turn your sensitivity all the way up, and you may actually like this game. This beta hasn’t won me quite over, but it still shows promise for the full release.