Highlights

  • The Battlefield franchise is facing challenges and needs to change direction, which could result in a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 remake
  • The Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam DLC was highly acclaimed and a significant expansion for the game.
  • A remake of Bad Company 2 could include the Vietnam DLC in the base game, improving the DLC's original maps and adding even more equipment for players to use.

The Battlefield franchise is in a bit of a tough spot right now. The trouble really began back in 2018, with the pre-release marketing and subsequent launch of Battlefield V, a game that made a few major missteps both up to launch and after it. Then came Battlefield 2042, a game that was intended to be the course correction that the series needed, but one that failed disastrously to be so. It's clear that the Battlefield franchise needs to pivot to a new direction. For once, it might be best to take a page out of Call of Duty's playbook and lean all the way into nostalgia by finally delivering that Battlefield Bad Company 2 remake that fans have been asking for.

For years now, fans have wanted a return to the Battlefield Bad Company series. Beginning in 2008 and lasting just two years and two entries, Battlefield Bad Company sees a team of misfit modern-day soldiers band together to take out the enemy in their own unique, unorthodox ways. While the real draw of the Bad Company series was its destruction physics, witty writing, and carefully constructed level design, its multiplayer was also a big leap forward for the franchise at the time, with both entries predating Battlefield 3. While a full sequel to Bad Company probably isn't on the table, a remake could be, and a Battlefield Bad Company 2 remake would come with one big hidden benefit.

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A Remake of Battlefield Bad Company 2 Could Come with its Vietnam DLC

Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam Is One of the Best DLCs in Franchise History

If EA was to ever remake Battlefield Bad Company 2, then its acclaimed Vietnam DLC would have to come packaged in. Released in December 2010, just nine months after the base game, Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam was a large-scale DLC expansion for Bad Company 2 that added a handful of new maps, new weapons, and new vehicles to the game, all themed around the Vietnam War. Not just an average DLC pack, Bad Company 2: Vietnam stood out at the time for being surprisingly expansive. In an era where mediocre DLC was available for every game, regardless of whether it made sense, Bad Company 2: Vietnam was a surprising beacon of quality.

Currently sitting at an 88 on Metacritic, which is coincidentally the same score as the base game, Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam was a pretty big critical hit back in 2010, with many outlets praising the game's overhauled visuals and impressive atmosphere. With much smaller and more densely decorated maps, Bad Company 2: Vietnam was designed to offer a much more intense, claustrophobic gameplay experience than its base game, and that unique approach to map design is what's kept Vietnam so memorable well over a decade later, delivering a Battlefield experience that's still wholly unique.

How EA Could Make Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam Even Better

While Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam was an excellent expansion, it wasn't perfect. A full-scale remake of the base game would allow EA to really go above and beyond, and add even more content to Vietnam. Originally, Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam only shipped with a total of five maps. While all of these maps bar one were completely original and tailor-made for Bad Company 2: Vietnam's specific gameplay style, some of them do tend to blur into one in the minds of fans, with many sharing similar architecture and a similar color palette.

If EA didn't want to add new maps to a Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam remake, then it would be nice if it could at least shake these five maps up a little, giving them some more unique points of interest and helping them stand out with some different weather effects or other forms of visual variety. While EA's at it, it'd be great to see some more vehicles, weapons, and gadgets get added to the game, making it more of a full-scale Battlefield experience.