Battlefield Bad Company 2 on a MacBook


So I got access to the open beta yesterday. Bad Company 2 is one of the more highly anticipated multiplayer games, supposedly a “Modern Warfare 2 killer.” I was able to get my first impressions out and have successfully installed it on my VAIO CW gaming laptop. However I also took the liberty of seeing how Bad Company 2 runs on a Macbook and the results were surprising.

I’m talking about 2GB (DDR3) of stock RAM and a NVIDIA 9400M with 256MB of video running on Windows 7 Ultimate. So we’re looking at the Core 2 Duo 1067MHz line of MacBooks.

The short of it — it runs. At highest resolution, the game runs but as a shooter, you won’t be able to get decent work done. Your best best is playing at low resolution at 1024 x768, which is so 2006 if you ask me. But guess what? You will still barely get things done as well. Running around especially looks rather choppy and you will most probably get shot first if you’re on a standoff.

For comparison’s sake, the same specs run Modern Warfare 2 very decently, although we really can’t go on comparing both games as the engines are different. Not only are the maps bigger, but you have so much going on in Bad Company 2, I’m not surprised it chops. Falling trees, buildings getting obliterated .. you get the drift. None of these happen in MW2.

The short of it: So yes, it will run, but too choppy to seriously enjoy.

A caveat: we’re talking about running Bad Company 2 on its beta version so things might change when the actual retail copy comes out.


Kokou Adzo

Kokou Adzo is a stalwart in the tech journalism community, has been chronicling the ever-evolving world of Apple products and innovations for over a decade. As a Senior Author at Apple Gazette, Kokou combines a deep passion for technology with an innate ability to translate complex tech jargon into relatable insights for everyday users.

3 Comments

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  1. Could you try this and see how it runs then on low quality?

    ————-
    This has been posted all over the internet but just in case…

    /BFBC2Beta/settings.ini

    In there, if you change:

    DxVersion=auto

    to

    DxVersion=9

    The game will use Direct X 9 instead of defaulting to 10. This has given me a 100% performance increase. I put all of my settings on max and I get 70+ FPS.

    Also I haven’t tested but I have seen if you set

    bloom=true

    to

    bloom=false

    You get a performance increase too but not nearly as much as the direct x 9.

  2. Hi.
    Actually i have the same Mb than U.. With a C2D @ 2.26GHZ, 2GB Ram DD3 1066 mhz, and Nvidia 9400M..
    Can U describe what settings Did u used at highest Res? And what about the FPS?
    And wich settings did u used at 1004×768 ??
    I can´t Wait to put my hands in that Game!!! =D =D

    Pd: Sorry for my english.. XD