History VideoGame / BattlefieldBadCompany

Of course, this still being ''Battlefield'', both games feature a hefty multiplayer component. Multiplayer in both games is on a somewhat smaller (though still large) scale than the main Battlefield games, with a somewhat reduced vehicle focus (no jets being one large change). This, combined with some other changes such as RegeneratingHealth and [[CrouchAndProne no prone]] have lead to accusations by some of the series's more hardcore fans that DICE was [[UsefulNotes/PCVsConsole pandering to console gamers]]. Still, critical response has generally been good and ''Bad Company 2'' still has a thriving community even after [=GameSpy's=] servers, which handled the multiplayer of every ''Battlefield'' game up to this one, were shut down. Oh, and destruction physics extend to the multiplayer of both games, leading to a very dynamic battlefield.

* CoolGuns: ''Bad Company 2'' eschews a realistic armament for the American and Russian troops in favour of allowing players to shoot as many cool guns as possible, amongst others including the F2000 assault rifle, the [=MG3=] and WWII-era ''Thompson [=SMGs=] and M1 Garands''.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The first ''Bad Company'' game was a fairly light romp through Central Asia with a bunch of comedic misfits fighting for gold and going through everybody - the Russians, the Serdaristanis, and the Legionnaire's private army - who happened to be in the way. The second one was an outright fight for survival against a nigh-endless storm of the Russians and their allies that threatened to wipe all opposition off the face of the Earth with a group of comedic misfits whose antics helped keep the game from becoming grimdark and you from realizing just how bad the situation really is. This is also reflected in the games' [[UsefulNotes/EntertainmentSoftwareRatingsBoard ESRB ratings]], with the first game being rated Teen and the sequel rated Mature.

* MakeTheBearAngryAgain: Though exactly what angered the bear in the first place is never explained.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The Japanese really did have an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_4_rifle M1 Garand knockoff]]. It just wasn't actually issued in any capacity; the wartime Japanese industry was too damaged by how badly the war was going for them to iron out the many, many issues. It also didn't load with en bloc clips like the regular Garand, since the en bloc clip design flatly refused to work with their standard rifle cartridge.

* RightHandedLeftHandedGuns: Inconsistently applied, resulting in stuff like the [=HK416=] and [=M16A4=] with right handed controls and left-side ejection ports to properly-modeled AK's and belt-fed light machine guns.

* AffectionateParody: ''Bad Company'' had trailers whose point were to make video game references. They were titled [[VideoGame/GearsOfWar Bad World]], [[VideoGame/RainbowSix Rainbow Sprinkles]], and [[VideoGame/MetalGear Snake Eyes]].
* BattleTrophy: As in ''VideoGame/Battlefield2142'' before it, the game rewards a player successful in assassinating an enemy in online multiplayer with the knife with their dog tags.

* SeinfeldianConversation: Often occurs during the single player campaigns.

** There are similar conversations that the squad has in all the levels from "Upriver" to "Zero Dark Thirty". Most of them aren't nearly as serious, and are actually really easy to miss (you have to meander around a bit after completing certain objectives, or at the start of a mission); the only reason most people know about the one in "Zero Dark Thirty" is because it is the only one that is guaranteed to trigger, and is located right after a checkpoint just in case you miss it the first time.

** ''Bad Company 2'' doesn't explain the tracers darts at all, which allows a rocket launcher to home in on the tagged target after aiming at the target's indicator for a few seconds, even if not being pointed directly at it when fired. This lead to players firing their rockets right after aiming at the planted vehicle, as they did in the first ''Bad Company'', resulting in confusion when the rocket would not home in to the vehicle.

* AwesomeButImpractical: The UAV can be equipped with a heavy machine gun that does good damage to infantry and light vehicles and never runs out of ammo. The problem is that a low-flying UAV with a huge muzzle flash and very visible tracers quickly gets the attention of the entire enemy team and gets shot down in no time. Therefore it's [[BoringButPractical far more practical]] to stay at a high altitude, just spotting targets and calling in the occasional Hellfire missile - it's ''still'' vulnerable way up there, but it's at least not constantly and actively calling attention to itself. The machine gun damage also isn't ''that'' good anyway. Unlike other machine guns in the game, you really have to focus on a target at full health, making it only really useful against weakened targets, and like stated above, at closer ranges.

* DarkerAndEdgier: The first ''Bad Company'' game was a fairly light romp through Central Asia with a bunch of comedic misfits fighting for gold and going through everybody - the Russians, the Serdaristanis, and the Legionnaire's private army - who happened to be in the way. The second one was an outright fight for survival against a nigh-endless storm of the Russians and their allies that threatened to wipe all opposition off the face of the Earth with a group of comedic misfits whose antics helped keep the game from becoming grimdark and you from realizing just how bad the situation really is.

* HiddenDepths: Haggard has read Literature/TheIliad and thinks it's a good book. He can also recite [[Theatre/{{Macbeth}} The Scottish Play]], even avoiding mentioning the actual title, and also has an impressive amount of technical data memorized regarding the Antonov An-225 (albeit which is brought up for a plane that is actually the An-124).