Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Onslaught Review

This new Battlefield Onslaught mode lets you play in four person teams where you must take and hold points on maps. The maps are new in that they are condensed versions of stuff you’ve seen before, but the open space is a bit tighter so they feel different.There is only one new vehicle called the Mark V Patrol Boat, but otherwise you'll be carrying the same weapons and dealing with the same vehicles.

What sets the Onslaught mode apart is that your enemy is AI controlled. You play with other real players, but you’ll always be playing against the computer. The main reason I play first person shooters is because I like to play online against other people. I have yet to find an AI system that can be as clever as a human player, so the experience isn’t quite the same when playing against the computer. To me, that made Onslaught somewhat of a letdown.

The points you earn in these matches don’t count toward your overall Multiplayer mode score, so it won’t help you to unlock new weapons or gadgets any more quickly. You can still use whatever you've already unlocked, though. I wish they had integrated this into the Multiplayer gameplay mode instead of making it a separate co-op mode. The only bragging rights you get from Onslaught is a leaderboard.

What this new Battlefield Onslaught mode does is force players to use teamwork, and that’s a good thing. Instead of everybody going Rambo and taking off by themselves across the map, you have to stick together. You can respawn behind a teammate, just like in the regular game, but the catch here is that the game ends when all four of you are dead at once. This means that if you are the last man standing, you need to find cover and wait for backup to arrive.

I see it as a pro more than a con that Onslaught makes players use teamwork, because if you learn to work with other players in this mode, then you’ll do much better in the Multiplayer modes. One really good player can do well by themselves, but two mediocre players who back each other up can dominate every mission with just a little bit of teamwork.

Overall, I think the new Onslaught mode is kind of neat and does help give the game a little more life if you are one of the many who has already unlocked everything. It’s worth checking out if you are a big fan of the game, but I still think the regular Multiplayer mode is more fun in Battlefield: Bad Company 2.