Battlefield Bad Company 2 doesn't reinvent anything, but it doesn't really need to either.
Earlier this month I had a chance to sit in on an 12-on-12 multiplayer match of the game in the spacious and snowpacked Snowbound level.
The game's essentially a sleeker, more nuanced version of the original Battlefield Bad Company. You can still blow buildings and scenery apart. You can still hop into different positions of a vehicle, from tanks to armored personnel carriers. And the controls are as tight as ever.
There are some subtle differences in the DICE-created shooter. Medics now use portable defibrillators to shock a downed player back to life, a nice touch.
The map we played on featured an expanse of snow dotted with buildings and bases. There were plenty of places to snipe from, routes to scurry behind the constantly moving enemy lines and ways to surprise teams of enemy players.
This certainly wasn't the best way for me to get a deep sense of the changes coming to the franchise, but what I saw and played, I loved.
I look forward to seeing more about the game at E3 in the coming weeks.