With a lousy base salary, poor health benefits and a working environment that rewards its employees with post-traumatic stress disorder more often than it does medals, the life of a soldier isn't always as glorious as Rambo makes it out to be. So, if you happen to find an abandoned enemy outpost with a few crates of gold, why shouldn't you and your comrades grab a few bars for your next R&R? With a defense budget larger than the next nine countries combined, does Uncle Sam really need the extra scratch? Your squad mates in "B Company" don't think so.

Comprised of typical squad stereotypes, the members of "B Company" include the tough-as-nails commander, the nerdy support guy and the standard issue demolitions expert. Your company's quest for a payday is only part of the single-player experience; the team also has to complete military assignments like taking down supply lines or infiltrating enemy bases. If you happen to find some gold bricks during a mission, you can tuck it away for the early retirement fund.

The action takes place in a sandbox world that allows players to choose how they will attack their objective, and is broken up via small set-piece skirmishes. Your team is also prone to the occasional ambush. "Bad Company's" gameplay is classic "Battlefield"; the guns shoot fast and accurately with fluid movement between your standard aim and your sights, and vehicles like humvees, tanks and speedboats are littered throughout the environments. Though there isn't a true cover system, finding a rock or wall to hide behind while engaging enemies is as important to surviving the battles as having a steady shot. When you do take damage, you can heal yourself with an injection straight to the heart, and if you die you will respawn in a location away from the firefight.

The proprietary Frostbite engine developed by DICE looks great in action. The most impressive feature is undoubtedly the destructible environments, which immediately become a part of your war strategy. You can destroy enemy cover like fences and barricades, blow holes into building walls to expose snipers or provide new points of entry for base attacks. The havoc this creates on the battlefield encourages players to use their grenade and rocket launchers much more frequently, which is never a bad thing.

The multiplayer strays slightly from the traditional "Battlefield" concept. Instead of taking flags, one team must find and secure the gold from stash houses while the other team defends. The multiplayer mode also features weapon classes, ranking progression, unlockables and rewards your battlefield actions with trophies and patches. With this much depth online and a single-player mode that finally seems to be worth a look, "Bad Company" has jumped high up our summer wish list.