With near-relentless destruction existing as Bad Company's most integral gameplay mechanic, the player is also given widespread access to some seriously fearsome weaponry and vehicular firepower, which, when used in conjunction with explosive secondary objects, combine to deliver a convincing barrage of instant environmental deconstruction that rivals the likes of Black and John Woo's Stranglehold while rising above both in terms of sheer intensity and scale. Indeed, while other shooters use vehicles as little more than shoehorned segues taking the player from one confined level to the next, Bad Company's collection of jeeps, trucks, armoured cars, tanks, helicopters... and electric golf carts, provide a varied and expeditious means to cover ground quickly while always providing more well-received opportunities to dole out further punishment (not in the case of the golf carts, of course).

Split across seven sprawling mission maps, all of which offer the challenge of multiple objectives, manages to shrug off the cloying linearity that plagues most releases by allowing the player to feel very much like a disposable participant in a much bigger, all-encompassing conflict. Sadly that mixture of freedom and vulnerability is sullied somewhat by the single-player campaign's reliance on a spawning feature and an instant healing system. The former allows the player back into the at the nearest checkpoint without re-spawning any of the defeated foes killed prior to his/her demise, and the latter provides unlimited health replenishment courtesy of a self-administered injection that the player never has to earn or locate.

Favourable player longevity aside, getting swiftly back into the action is of paramount importance in Bad Company, as is remaining an able-bodied killing machine... because buildings and vehicles certainly won't blow themselves up without player input. You see, Bad Company is able to divert attention away from its many inadequacies because its greatest achievement is that it addresses the single most annoying failure of every that has come before it: in real war, cover cannot withstand a direct or closely-situated explosion.

What unrivalled joy it is to select an assault rifle's underslung grenade launcher and send an entrenched enemy to meet their maker by blowing out the concrete wall they're hiding behind. What absolute bliss it is to call down a mortar strike on a distant roof-bound sniper and watch as the entire building is stripped to all-but its steel foundations. What ceaseless ecstasy it is to mark an enemy tank for attack with a laser designator and then guide the incoming missile to its target via a CNN-style aerial cut away. You won't care about Bad Company's repetitively generic building designs, its lack of interior detailing, the unerring accuracy of its A.I. enemies (especially on Hard), the oddly immortal squad members, or the rather underwhelming final showdown, because you'll be experiencing far too much near-sexual enjoyment from blowing the holy hell out of almost everything in sight.

It also helps that Bad Company emerges as an extremely pretty shooter thanks to its believable (if somewhat clichéd) squad characters, excellent attention to detail across its expansive arsenal of weapons, and the wide open outdoor environments that offer rolling hills, mountains and rivers to complement the close-knit towns, villages and settlements unwittingly awaiting the player's carefully applied gameplay touch.

And, not to be outdone by the impressive visuals, Bad Company's soundtrack and in-game sound are also notably strong, with the soundtrack betraying an almost tongue-in-cheek yet strangely fitting jazz and funk flavour (which is carried over into in-vehicle radio stations), while audio effects are positively exquisite when channeled through a worthy sound system. Without overcooking the appraisal grenade regarding the sound, firing each and every weapon in the game (there are around 30 not including those on fixed positions) is something the player will actively want to do because the resulting reverb is perhaps better than anything the genre has to offer, while explosions are a close second thanks to their always ear-shattering impact.

Factor in the fun-filled single-player campaign alongside the quality component that the series is synonymous with, and Battlefield: Bad Company emerges as a super entrant to the bulging first-person shooter genre that successfully blasts through its periodic glitches by remaining focused on delivering nothing but a thrill ride of environmental obliteration and heart-pumping, bullet-fuelled action. Quite simply, it's easily the best shooter of the year thus far.

87%

By Stevie Mostyn