Our flag was comedy: A farewell to Bad Company

Electronic Arts announced this week that they would no longer sell the games “Battlefield: Bad Company”, “Mirror’s Edge” and “Battlefield: Bad Company 2”. Depending on your perspective, you may not remember these games, or you may also be surprised that they’re still for sale, 15 years after release. Forgotten or not, these titles have become part of the pop culture tapestry and their influence can still be recognized.?

A small army of incredibly talented people worked on these games. Among them, I may be the only one currently not bound by NDA’s and other contracts, so I guess it’s up to me to write an eulogy. This is a tribute to the most wonderful group of actors I have ever had the chance to work with, the unsung heroes of an unexpected hit. The voices behind the characters of Bad Company.?

When I started at DICE back in 2006, a lot was at stake for the company. Instead of playing it safe, they bet the farm on something crazy, an adventure story with funny, relatable characters. The Bad Company games eventually sold tons of copies and comedian Adam Sandler even bought the rights to turn it into a television show, but success seemed far away when we started out.?

I was in charge of narrative and cinematics and managed to convince my many bosses at DICE that we should look for an ensemble of actors and record them in the studio at the same time. This was unusual at the time, most actors were recorded alone.???

After intense casting sessions, the actors behind Bad Company were assembled. David Menkin as Marlowe, Bruce Lester-Johnson as Sgt. Redford, Richard Lynson as Sweetwater and Nigel Whitmey as Haggard. Chemistry between actors is something that you hope for as a director, but you can’t really control it. It may or may not happen. From the start, these guys simply had the best chemistry I’ve ever seen.

Together, in the basement of Sound Studio in SoHo, this ensemble was absolutely mindblowing. We had a story, sure, but after recording a feature-length script that was tossed out when the game changed, the real work began. To keep going during game development, I kept writing new material and we kept recording. More often than not, the scenes were created in the studio, with the boys ad-libbing and pushing each other.?

More than half the lines in and most of the great jokes were improv work by the actors. Since the story was about a group of maverick outsiders in a near-future conflict, we didn’t have to pledge allegiance to any real flag or military organization, like other war games did. Our flag was comedy. No single bark or in-game line or cinematic was delivered without energy and personality. David, Bruce, Richard and Nigel were a force of nature. Once they were in the same room, they were absolutely hilarious. The sessions I had with them were the best working hours of my career.?

And Preston, Redford, Sweetwater and Haggard, you will forever be fondly remembered as your ride into the sunset of gaming history. I love you, in a Pluteonic way.??