EA and DICE sure got a lot of flack for Battlefield: Bad Company pricing policy… but then again, you probably heard the uproar shaking the internet. When people downloaded the multiplayer Beta of the game they noticed that certain weapons were blacked out, and apparently only available to people who bought the “Gold edition” of the game (ie, the 70 buck collector’s edition) or paid extra money to download it. Locking out guns that should have been in the game to begin with didn’t rest easy on many gamers’ shoulders. Thankfully someone realized what a stupid idea it was and did the right thing by letting everyone who buys the game get the chance to unlock the same stuff.

Their new promotional campaign entitled Find All Five has just kicked off, and it’s a little bit of a online treasure hunt. Completing it that will give you access to some weapons before anyone else. How’s that? If you want to get these games without doing this, you’ll have to level your online soldier up to rank 25, which is the highest in the game. The producers tell us that this could take a good month of gaming. So while you’re working towards getting those, why not get five more early?

Here’s how you can do it, with some bonus videos that I don’t believe you can see anywhere else just yet. Keen-eyed viewers will note that there’s a new level being shown here… In any case, the five methods-

– Pre-order the game. Reserving the game will get you a dvd case containing a key chain and unlock code for a sniper rifle.

 

– Signing up to the Battlefield newsletter will get you a new machine gun for the Support class.

 
– Battlefield veterans can register their soldier name to get a machinegun for the Assault class.

– Download and play the demo to unlock a submachinegun.

 
– And the easiest- simply check your online stats at launch to unlock a shotgun.

All of this is for both Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. One thing the guys in DICE have been very quick to point out is that no gun is better than any other, and during our playtime with the game (expect an article about this experience next Friday!), this soon became evident. Even the guns that you will unlock in the later ranks have downsides- a slower reload time to more damage, for example.
 
I can’t speak about the game just yet, but anyone who’s playing the Beta knows just how good it is. And let’s just say- consider the Beta a rough draft of what to expect in the final. It’s good, guys. Real good.