PauseBreak: ‘Bad Company 2’ doesn’t disappoint gamers

War games aren’t anything new.

"Call of Duty," "Medal of Honor" and "Mercenaries" are all franchises that have exploited the genre time and time again, so it’s nice to see "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" can do something new and interesting.

"Bad Company 2" tells two stories: One, in the past where U.S. soldiers encounter a Japanese super weapon, and another is during the present as a group of commandos travel to Russia and Bolivia on covert operations missions.

The player’s squad is an entertaining group, although considering their use of language, it’s no wonder this game is rated M for mature.

Another reason for the mature rating is the amount of blood in this game.

It’s never really overwhelming, but when a bad guy is shot, a believable amount of the red stuff comes out almost as if the blood splattering was influenced by war films like "Saving Private Ryan."

It may be a gory thing to notice, but it is this attention to detail that shows Electronic Arts put a lot of work into this game.

They also put a large amount of work into the game’s surroundings.

The areas look fantastic, especially the jungle levels.

In an early level on a Japanese island, I felt like I was in "Jurassic Park," with lush forests that looked almost breathtaking.

Another interesting aspect of the game’s environment is the buildings can all be destroyed, be it from a rocket propelled grenade to repeatedly firing a shotgun.

This adds an air of danger to the game, as any hiding spot can be decimated in moments by the enemy. They can even drop the building you’re in right on top of you.

This works in a gamer’s favor, too, meaning the soldiers a player faces have to constantly be on the move to survive, leaving themselves open for your bullets.

And gamers have to fire plenty of bullets at the enemy, as if all baddies are cyborgs.

For example, if a player unload their rifle into a bad guy’s leg, he will fall momentarily and get right back up like the bullet wounds are already healed.

It can get pretty frustrating.

The game’s story mode added a neat collectable feature. When the player picks up an enemy’s gun, it’s added to the stockpile, meaning that they can get that gun again later at an ammo drop point.

This is especially helpful when the weapon needed to do a job right simply isn’t available in the current level.

The multiplayer game modes featured are fun, as well.

It includes the old standbys like Deathmatch, or a modified version of King of the Hill called Conquest Mode, as well as Rush.

In Rush, players must defend or destroy M-COM stations, and it gets pretty intense.

For those bored with "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," perhaps it’s time to give something else a try. "Bad Company 2" won’t disappoint.

"Battlefield: Bad Company 2" is available for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Grade: B+