Video game:Xbox 360 Battlefield: Bad Company

Battlefield: Bad Company is a first-person shooter available to play on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Developed by DICE and released in 2008, Bad Company offers a unique spin on the traditional Battlefield games.

Significantly, Bad Company became the first story-based game of the Battlefield series. The game also left behind the serious tone of military-conflict for a more light-hearted feel. The story follows protagonist Preston Marlowe and a division of misfit soldiers known as Bad Company, which usually receives the task of clearing out dangerous areas ahead of the main U.S. Army force. A chance for personal gain, however, sends the squad of four off on their own mission. The three computer-controlled members of the squad �� Sarge, Haggard, and Sweetwater �� all possess their own unique personalities and quirks. Sarge represents a more authoritative figure, for example, while Haggard generally serves as the source of comic relief throughout the game. The squad's constant banter throughout firefights tends to dilute the serious nature of conflict.

The main staple of Bad Company's gameplay came in the form of destructible cover. This element, made possible by DICE's Frostbite engine, gave players the new ability of destroying immovable objects such as buildings, sandbags, and other forms of cover with explosive weapons. Firing a grenade or rocket launcher at a wall crumbles it into rubble, and exposes whatever, or whoever, may be inside. While players could run behind cover to heal in previous Battlefield games, this strategy often fails in Bad Company, as the cover protecting the player or any computer-controller character can be destroyed, leaving that person now re-exposed to danger. While this brings a new danger to the player, it also provides a new element of strategy, as enemy gun emplacements can now be destroyed with a well-placed explosive shot. A wide range of vehicles, including hummers, boats, helicopters, and tanks also have the potential to cause significant damage on the battlefield.

Expanding on the game's story campaign, DICE included an online multiplayer, a major feature of the Battlefield series, which supports up to 24 players per game. Players choose from five classes, all of which possess unique sets of weapons and tools. Varying game modes pit players against each other over different objectives. These include Gold Rush, which tasks teams with either defending or destroying crates of gold, and Conquest Mode, which challenges players to dwindle down the enemy's reinforcements by taking strategic flags located throughout the map. As players rank up, different weapons and tools become available for use in each of the classes.