Combat

While moving about the battlefield is a major part of gameplay, the sole purpose of movement is to place you in a position where you can use your weapons to engage and eliminate the enemy.

As a member of Bad Company, you have access to different types of weapons. However, the controls for using these weapons are fairly common. For specifics, see the Weapons chapter, which covers this topic in greater detail.

Weapons

As mentioned earlier, the reticle in the center of the screen is your aiming point for using weapons. Most of the weapons you use are direct fire, meaning that the projectile you fire travels in a basically straight line from your weapon to the target. Using these weapons is simple.

Place the reticle directly over the target and then press the fire button. For semi-automatic or single-shot weapons such as pistols, shotguns, and sniper rifles, each time you press the fire button, you fire a single round.

However, for automatic weapons such as submachine guns, assault rifles, and light machine guns, they will continue to shoot as you hold down the fire button until they are empty.

Iron Sights and Scopes

When you fire a weapon using the reticle to aim, you are essentially firing from the hip, with the butt of your weapon in the crook of your arm.

This is not very accurate and should only be used at close range. To increase your accuracy, press the zoom button. This will bring up the iron sight view, where you are actually looking through the weapon’s sight to aim.

The butt of the weapon is brought up to your shoulder giving you greater accuracy. If your weapon is equipped with a scope, the zoom button will provide a view through the scope rather than iron sight

Grenades and Grenade Launchers

Grenades require a bit more skill to use effectively, since they are either thrown or launched. Unlike a bullet or rocket, which travels in a straight line for the purpose of gameplay, grenades travel in a parabolic arc due to their lower speed and the effect of gravity.

In the case of a grenade launcher, the farther away you are from the target, the higher you need to aim. That is why the reticle for a grenade launcher has several horizontal line aiming points.

For a short-range shot, use the top line. The farther away your target, use the lower lines. By using a lower aiming point, you are essentially aiming the weapon up higher to lob the grenade towards the target.

Hand grenades work a bit differently. They are thrown rather than launched and you don’t get a reticle for aiming. Instead, the longer you hold down the fire button, the farther you throw.

A quick press of the fire button will toss the grenade right in front of you, while a long hold on the fire button before release will send it flying some distance. The farther your target, the higher you should aim your throw.