The ebb and flow of combat in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, currently in beta test for PlayStation 3, feels immediately familiar.

That's because Electronic Arts' DICE studio has been tweaking, polishing and reworking its formula for goal-oriented, first-person combat since 2002. Just this summer, Battlefield 1943 re-familiarized us with this particular brand of brawl, where vehicles, air strikes and stationary weapons help create a heightened sense of chaos.

Bad Company 2 doesn't feel quite as harried. The fights are slightly less gonzo. Maybe that's because were no manned aircraft in the one level being tested in the beta. The air combat in 1943 made the game incredibly unpredictable. One second, you'd be creeping up on an enemy encampment, the next you'd be pulverized by a kamikaze pilot. I'm sure choppers, which will be included in the final version of Bad Company, will bring back some of that craziness.

Arica Harbour is a linear battleground that sprawls from a high desert encampment down through an abandoned village and across a bridge to a train depot. Americans have four positions to attack and destroy. Russian defenders must resist the push.

I found myself sticking to the Engineer class, sneaking up behind enemy tanks to take them out with a rocket-propelled grenade. As I played, I unlocked better weapons and a few character upgrades, like the ability to carry more ammo. If you've even touched Modern Warfare, the upgrades will feel instantly familiar.

There's a little less going on here – Bad Company 2 (at this point, at least) doesn't have any of the purely aesthetic rewards that Modern Warfare 2 does. But while the rewards are fewer and farther between, they still compel you to keep going. I played the same map over and over again, hoping to power up my Engineer's tank-busting power. Finally, I earned the right to lay down anti-tank mines.

For my first couple of spawns as a defender, I chose the mines as my kit loadout. I spent a life or two setting up a deadly nest of explosives anywhere an enemy tank would enter our perimeter. Then on my next spawn I switched from mines to the standard rocket-propelled grenade.

My worst enemies were snipers, guys in ghillie suits who picked at me from positions on the outskirts of the maps. Die enough at some jerk's hands and they'll become your "Nemesis." Seek them out and take revenge and the experience reward for the kill will be greater.

I used the word "linear" earlier when describing the Arica Harbour map. Don't take that as an insult. I like the way the corridor of playable real-estate forces players to create a line, a distinct front where a good part of the battle takes place. Flanking feels more meaningful when you can tell exactly where the enemy is or wants to be. Storming a position feels that much better when you do it with four or five allies at your side.

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta test is currently open to those who pre-order the game. The retail version of the game is due in March 2010.

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