DICE redefine the Battlefield series and FPS war games with their latest title release; Battlefield: Bad Company. With a bona fide single player campaign mode and no place to hide this is one of the most engaging shooters released in 2008. Yes the graphics are a bit grainy and the banter from your squad mates is a bit cheesy but as Private Preston Marlowe you’ll get to blow the… drive the… and shoot the hell out of a war zone that is almost completely destructible.

The single player campaign mode starts off like any other with a number of objectives to complete and goodies to unlock while killing hundreds-upon-thousands of Russians, with very little help for your squad we might add. Things then take a twist; you go AWOL in favour of soldier-of-fortune status and hunt for mercenary gold. The story line is enjoyable if somewhat tongue-in-cheek so all we’ll say is that it involves a gold chopper and an insane dictator. Oh… and as long as you keep topping-up with your ‘health injector’ you don’t die.

As Marlowe you’ll be a bit of an all-rounder having the ability to shoot any weapon, drive any car, fly any aircraft and blow up everything (barring a few stubborn crates; weird). This makes for good fun and variety in game play. The best aspects of the game are definitely its sound effect, innovation and true to Battlefield form its multiplayer mode.

Having enjoyed the campaign mode do not bury the game in your cupboard. With 24 player support, huge maps and tones of gadgets Battlefield’s Gold Rush requires you call up your mates and go online. The objective is to defend or blow-up crates of gold, pretty much an offence/defence scenario. Note though, you will need to specialise- no all-rounder’s here- as standard multi-player conventions apply. The maps are well balanced meaning battles can go down to the wire.

This is one addictive FPS, the best since Call of Duty 4, and is absolutely awesome on the Xbox360 platform.