No Prone, No Problem

Your boss probably doesn't like you laying down on the job...and either does Bad Company 2 (BC2). I say this because BC2 does not have the ability to go prone.

Prone, or going prone, is the ability to lay belly-down on the ground, and is a very popular tactic used in first-person shooters (FPS) such as Modern Warfare 2, Ghost Recon, Socom, and older Battlefield titles. But it won't be found in Battlefield Bad Company 2, and for good reason.

Gamers will, and have, cried about the lack of prone in the Bad Company series, claiming it's not realistic and is essential to a military FPS. Realism? Really? When was the last time realism was fun? Have you tried playing Microsoft's Flight Simulator?

Not Fun

Question: What is the single most complaint in a FPS?

Answer: El Campo

Question: What is El Campo's favorite position?

Answer: El Prone

Don't worry, you can still camp in BC2, but taking out prone is a good thing. It forces players to engage in the game. And believe me, destructive environments and no prone will have your ass moving, and moving your ass is fun.

Taking out the prone position is a risk taken by DICE and EA, and it's really paying off in BC2. The game may have lost some supporters because of the decision, but ultimately it should create more fans then lost due to the heightened game play.

Going prone used to be a fundamental component in military shooters, but BC2 has changed that. Maybe developers will reevaluate dated game play to see what can be changed to enhance the fun factor, regardless of how frightening change can be.

(6)

59583_467229896345_615671345_7027350_950079_n

Michael Rousseau

February 28, 2010

They took it out of console Battlefields because of Dolphin Diving, specifically. It's that technique that people use where they see another player and go flat right away before shooting. Makes the game quite lame.

Nick Giunta

March 01, 2010

Ya it does, dolphin diving is the worst. Glad it's gone.

Demian Linn

March 04, 2010

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree. There are plenty of ways to design around the cheesy ways that players have used the prone position in the past. Going prone should take some time, for example, and cost you a valuable second or two to get your weapon back in firing position. And if sniping is the problem, design your levels accordingly. If you're giving players access to a flat roof, but a 1ft ridge around it so that a prone player wouldn't be able to target enemies below. Etc.

Moeez Siddiqui

March 13, 2010

Never liked prone, even in BF 2. It's just too easy to exploit. It goes against the design of Bad Company: teamwork, not about K/D ratios, and moving your ass all the time because of Destruction 2.0.

Ed Grabowski

March 14, 2010

The only people upset about not having a prone position are the pathetic and juvenile campers who planned on finding good hiding spaces, manipulating the game, and camping out while hiding. It is impossible for them to play the game the way it was meant to.

The maps are just too big, and instead of screwing with the formula DICE just removed something that most people honestly do not care about. In a given game there are only one or two snipers and the rest play as assault or medic classes anyway.

Now that prone has been removed Snipers HAVE to be out in the open, unless they find a cheat somewhere, as the often do, and cheat their way to victory like a pathetic tool instead of actually playing the game properly.

March 15, 2010

I think it's something that a lot of gamers and fans of the series at first were disappointed with but once playing and seeing the positives the change made have grown to like it, or at least not care as much.

At the end of the day isn't a game meant to be fun, and if changing prone makes a game more fun?...

Plus I think there are other games with prone and sniping people can play.