A lot of people have been asking me what the BFBC2 Beta is like, so I thought I would save myself some time from answering all your individual IM's and post my experiences here:

The Beta download experience

Awesome.

As many of you who have friended me on Steam have noticed, I pre-bought the game a little while ago. I really did not think the Beta download off Steam would work too well, given how the Valve/DICE deal was such a last-minute affair.

I was wrong to think so.

The 1.3 Gb Beta download was smooth as silk. It rocketed into my gaming rig at a blistering 1.2 Mb/s rate. That translated to about three-quarters of an hour download time. The install was flawless. I was really impressed by this and I must give big props to Steam and DICE's engineers.

As of a few minutes ago there were only 6000+ gamers on Steam playing the Beta...but it's still early.

While I had a great install, others like my buddy PST*Joker had a nightmarish experience downloading the game (from a provider that shall not be named). For him, it was like sucking the ocean through a straw...34 kb/s.

Others were getting a tad higher (600-700 kb/s) on fileplanet. For most...it was a great experience.

The BFBC2 Browser

The PC version of the browser has a few issues.

If you try to use the Server Browser menu to pick a server, the game crashes to desktop. DICE is fully aware of this and in fact, the developer has added the following words in a scroll at the bottom of the Main menu splash screen:

"We are aware of an (sic) number of crashes when using the in game server browser. Please use the PLAY NOW button instead of the browser and help us pinpoint the cause."

I was quite impressed by this news scroll feature, which warned me of the issue right in the game and didn't require that I go to the official forums to search for the reason for the crash.

Lag issues

Players are reporting that there is some in-game lag on BFBC2 servers. I have experienced this lag. It's sporadic and not too annoying. DICE has added the following to the news scroll:

"We're fully aware of the current lag issues and are going to work non stop until the issues are resolved"

Wow. That's commitment. Some companies (you know who you are...) go off on vacation after game release, while others...like DICE...put it into another gear and simply try to provide their customers with an amazing experience.

While the lag didn't bother me, I did have some problems actually logging on to a server. I kept getting a "...connection to gameserver has been lost" message. Many folks have been getting the latter issue. I would suggest perseverance. There are many folks trying to get on to these servers and you're probably just getting bounced.

Sound

OMG.

DICE's Dolby Digital audio has created the best sound of any game I've ever played. The experience is deeply immersive. The "thud" from the big guns on the MBT's is so loud that it'll rupture your spleen and the "thwack" from the LMG's resonate in your chest. The A10's and Apaches rip the air. It's all pretty amazing stuff.

Sadly, the great sound comes at a price as much of the processing is done by your CPU. If you don't have a multi-core, you will suffer frame rate issues.

The in-game chatter was exceptional. Good voice-over acting does make a difference! 

Graphics

MP Game

The beta comes with only one map, Port Valdez, set in Alaska, the game pits American against Russian forces against each other in a Rush gametype.

The attacking forces in Rush must advance through the enemy's defensive lines and destroy pairs of M-COM stations. Once the pair is destroyed, the offense moves forward into a new part of the map. The defending team must hold the stations until the attackers run out of reinforcements (i.e. "tickets", or lives). The defenders have unlimited lives.

The gametype is objective based and focuses on team-work, rather than individual play.

Avatar feel

Coming off four years of non-stop CoD play, the last two months of which spent on MW2...my first impressions was that the BFBC2 avatars were a bit more sluggish than those in CoD...but remember, my judgment is clouded by the fact that I have been playing the ultra-quick MW2. Having said that, some of the sluggishness could actually come from the somewhat clunky user interface.

For example, I like the "Aim-down-sight" feature in CoD. This allows me to aim down the sight only if I'm holding down my ADS button. If I release the button...it unscopes. In BFBC2, you have to toggle the button (press it twice) to unscope. So, if you are scoped-in and get into a situation where you have to move fast, you have to remember to descope if you want to move quickly. CoD gives you the option to toggle or not.

Another issue is the crouch button, which has to be held down when you want to kneel. Ditto for sprint.

I am positive that CoD players would love to see DICE change these functions to a "Aim-down-sight" and toggle crouch, sprint option.

In general, the avatars don't move as smoothly as CoD characters.

As well, I found that the absence of prone to be irritating. Though proning was removed in BFBC2 to prevent excessive camping, I really don't think prone campers would gain any additional benefits from being on their stomachs. The maps are huge, with many nooks and crannies to hide kneelers just as well as proners.  For the run'n'gunners though, it takes the "dolphin-dive" away from our arsenal.

Gameplay 

First off, I should point out I have never played a Battlefield game before, so the game and the game mechanics were completely new to me.

Not surprisingly, I spent the first 20 minutes totally spazzed and running around in circles. I quickly reconfigured my keyboard binds (I despise the W-A-S-D default setting) and once I figured out how to sprint...things got much better.

Setting binds is quite easy, ESC-Options-Settings. There are three modes in that menu: Foot, In-vehicle and as pilot. I just set my infantry binds (Foot) and away I went.

Speed

The foot-speed is faster than CoD2 and about that of CoD4, but much less than MW2. You're not going to outrun a sniper's bullet, like you can in the latter title.

As for vehicle velocities, the ATV's in-game really burn rubber and in some instances I saw them warping in-game, a sure sign of too much speed coupled with someone's bad upload bandwidth. The tanks and chopper speeds in-game seemed to be going at just the right clip.

Squads

Clans/teams will love the squad feature in the game. You can select to spawn on a teammate using this option. Given the size of the map, I thought it would take me minutes to get into the action after spawning...not so. By going into a squad, you spawn right into the thick of the action.

Classes

Combined arms is what BFBC2 is all about. Thanks to BC gamer Whiskey for pressing this concept home to me tonight. I think that BFBC2 comes into its own when you work with your teammates. If you don't work together, you will fall separately...usually as a result of fire from armored units.

The four main classes are similar to what I have been used to in CoD. There are some unique differences. BFBC2 Engineers can effect repairs on equipment and the Medics can repair personnel.

You can rank up and get different weapons, depending on the class. The early weapons are horribly ineffective. As a CoD player, I was upset at just how many rounds I had to pump into someone with an Aek971 to bring them down. When I progressed to an Xm8, things got a bit better. As a CoD hardcore mode fan...the need to dump a mag into someone to frag them will take some getting used to.

Weapons

Weapons look awesome in third-person mode, but they look weird in first-person mode, looking down the barrel. The guns feel too light and don't have that weighty feel that the guns in MW2 have. This is very much in evidence when you view the reload cinematic.

Also...and I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I miss the click "feedback" sound of hitting enemies that CoD has. Though CoD does not need that sound due to the "feel" of its weapons, BFBC2 weapons would really benefit from it.

Assault (similar to CoD's assault class)

Aek971 - very ineffective weapon and caused me much early frustration
Xm8
F2000
Aug
An94
M416
M16

Engineer Class (similar to SMG's in CoD)

9a91
Scar
Xm8c
Aks74u
Uzi
Pp2000
Ump45

Medic (somwhat similar to the LMG class in CoD)

Pkm
M249
Qjy88
M60
Xm8lmg
Mg36
Mg3

Recon (similar to CoD's sniper class)

M24
Qby88
Sv98
Svu
Gol
Vss
M95

Map 

Port Valdez is a large snowy map. The snow creates high contrast and makes spotting the enemy challenging. There are plenty of trees and enemy snipers can hide very easily...making it a big favorite with the scope class, but it's balanced with many choke points where infantry can infiltrate and cause serious havoc. Overall it appears to be multi-faceted and I like it.

Summary

To really appreciate BFBC2 you will need to eliminate CoD's effect on your muscle-memory. I tried judging it well before I really understood its own subtle mechanics.

BFBC2 does not really try to be anything but what it is...a Battlefield game. It is not a wannabe-CoD game at all and if you judge it that way you will be disappointed. I think you have to bend to its will...not the other way round.

I am not going to rate this Beta as by definition it is a work in progress...however:

- it's got great sound
- steep graphics requirements and lowish framerate
- solid gameplay
- a somewhat clunky, but fixable interface
- a good assortment of weapons (could be more satisfying to fire)
- requires team play and stratting to win

- DICE needs to fix the lag issues and broken browser

Once the server lag and connectivity issues are fixed with the servers, this game should really come into its own. I think that it will give clans and teams a reason to exist once again. I look forward to exploring its subtleties.