Welcome back to Part II of the Battlefield Bad Company 2 Multiplayer Strategy Guide! I’ve got plenty of additional tips, tactics and advice to dispense that will hopefully improve your playing ability and make you a role-model for society, or at least a deadly teammate. If you somehow managed to bypass Part I, then you can find it right here.

I have also written an article titled When Bad Players Ruin Great Games, which is all about the dumb things players do in Bad Company 2 that ruin the experience for everyone else. You will hopefully find some useful information there and if not, you’ll at least know you’re not alone in feeling very frustrated with players who don’t quite grasp the Battlefield concept.

Okay, enough intro, let’s get down to business.

Playing the Medic

The Medic can make all the difference between you team losing or winning, assuming the person playing a medic knows what he or she is doing.

Your Role: You are a support class so you should play as one, which means not leading a charge into an enemy base, as your death will be of no benefit to anyone except the other team. Instead, stay behind you squad or teammates, dropping medkits in locations where your squaddies or teammates are currently staging a battle. You’ll accrue a ton of points for healing injured players if you’re placing your medkits in a useful, accessible location. Always drop a medit in a defensive location, like within a building that houses an objective, because you know fighting will be taking place sooner or later.

The Effective Medic: By trailing your squaddies or teammates, you can easily spot who needs healing and drop a medkit to alleviate their pain and suffering. More importantly, when a fellow player goes down for the count, the medic can fly into action and revive the fallen soldier with the Defibrillator. If you’re dead, you’re of no help or use…so don’t die by being overly aggressive.

Help Bring Down Helicopters: The Medic is typically outfitted with a machine-gun, capable of firing a ton of sustained rounds for extended periods of time. This makes the Medic an especially effective class at bringing down helicopters. You’ll need to master the art of leading your target, which means you should be firing your gun slightly ahead of the target’s flight-direction. You’ll know you’re hitting the copter when your crosshair briefly flashes with an X symbol.

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I haven’t officially reviewed Battlefield Bad Company 2, though I’ll make my opinion quite clear: it is superior to Modern Warfare 2 in every respect. I’ll be presenting my case in a future article, one that will surely irritate MW2 fans clinging to brand loyalty. In the meantime, I have some issues with Battlefield Bad Company 2 that are driving me nuts and chances are you…yes you, are responsible.

World Wide Suck

Unlike most video games that are either great or not based upon its own merits, Battlefield Bad Company 2 is a truly great game, made less so by an abundance of players who don’t know their ass from their elbow. I’ve made an attempt to alleviate some of the rampant suck by writing a helpful multiplayer guide, which you can find here. Part II will be coming soon.

Unfortunately, most people who suck don’t know they suck and hence, their suckiness continues to evolve within an impenetrable bubble of suck. That would be fine if they were playing on their own private server, but they aren’t; they’re cooped up with me and I’m trying to win a round.

Let’s take a closer gander at how players suck:

What’s The Objective?

Bad Company 2 multiplayer has a pretty simple objective, depending upon the game type: either blow up or defend two crates within a zone in Rush, or capture and hold at least 2 out of 3 control points in Conquest. While this seems pretty freaking straight-forward, apparently these concepts are very difficult to understand for an alarming number of players.

If you are not actively engaged in either defending or assaulting crates or control zones, you are wasting everyone’s time who has an interest in playing the game as it is designed. I’m talking to you, the six snipers on the assaulting team, hiding up in the mountains for the entire duration of the round, taking pot shots at defenders who aren’t even busy defending. No team needs 6 snipers. That’s 6 people who will never assault the crate. Add to this a few people in tanks and a few more in a helicopter, and you’re left with only a few poor bastards (usually me) trying to penetrate enemy lines with zero support.

Let me make this real simple: When you are on the attacking team, you cannot win by killing more of the defensive team than they kill of you. It’s not possible. It’s doesn’t matter how many times you try or wish things were differently, it just won’t work. This isn’t Modern Warfare 2.

Typical Scene: I’m on defense. An enemy has penetrated the lines and managed to activate a crate. In a perfect world, several defenders would be converging on that area with guns blazing, removing hostiles and deactivating the bomb. This isn’t what I generally see.

Instead, I see people standing around, making no effort whatsoever. Or, if they make an effort, it is so half-assed as to be useless, like the dainty noobs who appear too frightened to enter a building because they might get killed so they hang around outside like a gaggle of drifters, waiting for god knows what until finally the bomb explodes, objective lost. Good work men. Try not to work up a sweat next time.

Where The F*&K Did You Get Your Pilot’s License, Phoenix University?

My balls shrivel every time I hop into a helicopter as a gunner or passenger, my life at the mercy of some pilot I don’t know. It’s like Chat-Roulette, you never know what is going to happen or what you’re going to see, but chances are it won’t be pretty.

Some people just aren’t born to fly. I’ll place some of the blame of this on DICE, who made no attempt to create a flight tutorial or practice area, two elements that would have gone a long way in reducing frustration. Because of this omission, players are left learning to fly in a live multiplayer environment and that means the rest of us get to be Guinea Pigs for your flight-training.

If you can’t fly, please don’t hog such a valuable asset. Learn by watching. Read the manual for controls. Adjust the controls from the options menu to better suit your style. Hell, just know the controls.

The absolute worst thing that can happen is a rookie pilot uses the helicopter as an expensive transport vehicle, landing the machine behind enemy lines, hopping out and doing whatever that noob is going to do. In the meantime, a crafty enemy simply jumps into the copter and takes it for himself. If he knows what he’s doing, that helicopter will now become a serious threat to the other team. Worse, the original team won’t gain access to another helicopter until the original is destroyed. This rule hold true for all vehicles, not just helicopters.

Every vehicle you abandon can, and will be, used against you. Either repair the vehicle or blow it up so it respawns. Don’t just let it sit around!

A word of advice on flying: don’t over-compensate. Little movements on the stick is all you need. Learn to hover first, controlling your speed by pitching the nose forward and back. Fly slow at first until you gain some insight.

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Part II is Now Available Here

I write this guide not for your benefit but my own. You see, I am tired of playing with teammates who treat a round of Bad Company 2 (BC2) like it’s Halo or Modern Warfare 2. An overwhelming amount of players just don’t seem to grasp the fundamentals; how to score, how to win, how not to suck, how not to play like a lone wolf who doesn’t contribute anything except a few useless sniper-rifle kills.

Not to brag, but I consistently rule at Battlefield games and have since the genre originally debuted back on the PC with Battlefield 1942. I play like a man on a mission with clear goals and objectives, a style that usually finds my score high enough to lead the team. It’s not because I wield l33t weapon skills, it’s because I play the game as it is intended. Hopefully, by the end of this guide, you’ll be playing in a similar style and I won’t have to curse my team for being top-heavy with noobs.

1. Objective Based, Not Kill-Based

Contrary to how a lot of people play Battlefield, killing members of the other team is NOT your objective. Killing other players is a fringe-benefit of completing objectives.

Your overall objective is to destroy targets dotted across the map, usually two crates in each zone. These crates represent your holy crusade. If you’re on the attacking team, every thing you do as a player should be geared towards taking down a crate. Any activity not related to taking down a crate is a waste of time. If you’re on defense, saving those crates is your prime directive.

Why This is Effective: The entire game is based around destroying or saving crates. Destroy all the crates as the attacking team and you win. Prevent the attacking team from destroying your crates and you win. It’s as simple as that. Winning has nothing to do with how many players you kill, unless you are on defense, where every kill will slowly bring you towards victory, but not at the expense of losing crates.

2. Hey Rambo, Join a Squad!

I was hoping that DICE, the designers of BC2, would make joining a squad mandatory in their latest version of the game, but my hopes and dreams didn’t pan out. It’s too bad, as compulsory squad enlistment would go a long way in forcing players to play properly. As it stands, you have the option to either join a squad or go it alone when loading up a new map.

There is zero reason not to join a squad, nor is there a single benefit to playing solo.

Why This is Effective: Joining a squad allows you to spawn with any living squad-mate currently playing on the map. If you have squadie who has already penetrated enemy lines then you can select him and spawn right next to his location, giving him a much-needed hand. This saves you a ton of time by not forcing you to run or drive from the initial base all the way to the objective. With a full squad of four guys, you’ll usually have three good spawning options, allowing you to appear closer to the action. This ensures you keep the pressure on the opposing team. If you elect to not join a squad, then you will always spawn at a base, costing you valuable time.

Additionally, joining a squad opens up a ton of extra scoring modifiers that will greatly increase your point total.

3. Proper Spawning

A lot of people just button-mash the spawn button until they return to action, giving little thought about where they are appearing or why. If you’re in a squad then you have a lot of options. You can either spawn with a teammate or at your base, depending upon your current needs.

When you die and the time to spawn arrives, analyze the map and see what assets you have available in the form of vehicles or aircraft.  If there is an unused tank at your main base then you should spawn there and use the asset. If the base is empty of assets, then spawn with a member of your squad.

Why This is Effective: One sure way for a team to lose a round of BC2 is by not using all available assets. If your team is not using available tanks, helicopters or UAV, then your team is going to lose. Nothing is more depressing than watching your entire team just go running by all the heavy equipment as they make their long journey towards an enemy position.

If you have a squad-mate in a tank or copter then you can spawn within his vehicle, assuming a position is free. You’ll wrack up extra points working as a unit, plus you’ll be using available assets at their maximum efficiency.

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Ahhh, midnight madness, wherein Gamestop opens their doors at midnight and throngs of sweat-stained geeks clamor for an early copy of a game, giving them an 8-hour head-start in leveling up their soldiers. If you’re one of those people who simply cannot wait for Bad Company 2 then you’ll be pleased to hear that Gamestop will be hosting Midnight Madness parties at 1,300 stores, allowing you to acquire a copy at midnight on March 1st (Monday).

GameStop, the world’s largest video game and entertainment software retailer, today announced it is hosting midnight launch events for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on Monday, March 1, at more than 1,300 stores nationwide. Event-goers will get the chance to test their combat skills with a tank building challenge, commando dress up contest and soldier skill challenge.

Most participating GameStop locations will open at 10 p.m. local time; however, customers are asked to contact their local store to confirm the exact time of the event. Events may vary by location.

You can find a participating store near you by clicking this link.