The player is cast in the role of Preston Marlow, the newest recruit to Bad Company. During his inaugural mission, while fighting Russians in a fictional post-glasnost Eastern European country, Marlow stumbles across hired mercenaries and a large cache of gold. This inspires the rag-tag bunch of losers to track down the rest of the loot themselves, in a bid to boost their retirement fund.

The player is accompanied by 3 soldiers, consisting of: Haggard, a redneck with a penchant for demolition; Sweetwater, the stereotypical geek; and Sarge, who plays the Danny Glover/Lethal Weapon character who is close to retirement. While they serve their purpose - especially Haggard, who provides some witty dialogue - the banter becomes slightly tiresome after a while, as the jokes dry up during the course of the 5 missions.

While the game doesn't offer the ability to direct or control any of the squad in the middle of an intense battle, it would be helpful if your squadmates at least attempted to help you with some of the wet work. Much time will be spent in the company of a team member who brandishes a rocket launcher but stubbornly refuses to use it on the tank directly in front of him. The enemy AI has an almost supernatural ability to home-in on the player, even if they are obscured behind a wall, or slowly advancing through a densely populated forest. On the higher difficulty setting, it can make the later missions a real trudge and takes a lot of the fun out of proceedings.

The flip-side to the savage AI, is a distinctly old-school health system, set at 100. When health is running low it can be topped up by using the syringe, which is always at hand - although it must be given a few seconds between uses. The subtle re-adjustment required for this way of dealing with health feels slightly askew in comparison to how it is handled in most other games today, where seeking cover for a few moments is the norm; but it works more or less.

Relatively simple to complete, the different missions encompass a great deal of terrain; but, at all times the player is funnelled down a distinct path with little in the way of freedom to tackle the missions in the manner they see fit. The main selling point of this game is the Frostbite engine that DICE have developed, allowing for literally everything seen on screen to be destroyed. It's a welcome diversion from the usual Unreal 3 engine - universally used in games today - which has lead to a lot of very similar looking games. It provides a welcome distraction from the usual Vaseline-coated wood and overtly shiny surfaces that U3 has become synonymous with.

B:BC is a game that has no problem with flaunting its best assets like Scarlett Johansson at a movie premiere. In fact, when a building or structure cannot be destroyed, it feels strange, as the player is so used to literally making their own path through the game. The only real criticism that could be levelled at the game, is that some of the surroundings end up looking very similar, which is a shame, functional though it is.

To compliment the game, there's a superb selection of weapons and vehicles that can be commandeered in the headlong charge towards the finale. While a tank is a natural and obvious choice in battle, there is something to be said for charging around in a golf buggy, attempting to mow down enemy soldiers as you hare past them at speed. The weapons pack a punch, but unlike other FPSs, they never feel over-powered. It's fair to say that DICE have set out to encourage gamers to experiment with the different weapons and discover their individual sweet spots.

From assault rifles and rocket launchers to laser designators that can call in a player-guided missile strike, DICE have apparently thought of everything to try to keep battlefield's players content. The scope and depth is nothing short of superb and shows how much thought and refinement has been invested. This acts as a good education for the player as the vehicles and weapons from the single-player are exactly the same on the multi-player side of the game, thus ensuring a smooth transition when the time comes to venture online.

As of writing this review, multi-player consists of only one mode: gold rush. This might sound like commercial suicide for a series which has built a substantial reputation over time, but DICE have played a trump card, as this has to be one of the single most addictive and finely tuned game-types ever devised. Two teams are split into attackers and defenders. The attackers must destroy crates of gold which the defenders are trying to keep for themselves. Each time 2 crates are destroyed in an area, the attacking team wins that base from the defenders and forces them into another location. So far it might sound ordinary, but when the player is pitched into a full-scale battle, with helicopters, tanks, jeeps, et al. swirling around them, and sniper fire whizzing past their heads, the thrill is immediate, and sends the pulse racing.

Planning strategies and playing to each others' strengths is the only way to succeed here. Anyone who plans to approach this as a death-match title will soon find that it doesn't quite work that way; leaving many a trigger-happy online gamer scratching their heads in bemusement. The more enlightened player will grasp the concept and love every epic, pulsating moment of victory, and experience the pitiful low of coming close - but not close enough - to win. Hours bleed away in the blink of an eye - which is a high compliment for only one game type.

While not a complete success, Battlefield: Bad Company has many plus points, and provides a limited but fun single-player campaign that, while not wholly original, does have some memorable moments. The real prize is found within the multi-player aspect of the game, which will dominate many players' disc drives for months to come.