It was only a matter of time until things like story and characters poked their noses into the free-form Battlefield universe. Today, publisher Electronic Arts announced Battlefield: Bad Company, which ditches the team-based action for a single-player game that follows "a squad of renegade soldiers who risk it all on a personal quest for gold and revenge."
From the one screenshot that's been released, we'd guess Bad Company is a spinoff of Battlefield 2 (rather than Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Vietnam or the upcoming Battlefield 2142). More importantly, it promises to preserve the sandbox-style gameplay from the other Battlefield games, with players able to go anywhere and hijack any vehicle. Bad Company will also make about 90 percent of the environment destructible, so add "blow up anything" to that list.
If it sounds lonely, don't worry; Bad Company will also feature the same multiplayer options that have made the Battlefield series a hit. Expect this one to bomb its way onto the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime next year.
August 21, 2006
