It wasn't too bad, for a start it had the best music of any game I have played, the engine was rather ropey and the feel of the guns wasn't right but the same was true of 1942 and they had fixed it in BF2. The only really sucky thing about the original was the maps. But even though it was a little disappointing, I don't see why it has any bearing upon the quality of a sequel.
As far as not hearing about it goes, if I remember rightly when they released the original BF:V there was only major coverage of it a month or two before the release, prior to that there were only a couple of tidbits of official info.
Also in a recent interview with EDGE magazine, one of the senior programmers at DICE said he wasn't sure if a PC port of Bad Company would be completed, but they 'had a surprise up their sleeve for PC gamers.'
If anybody has a copy of the magazine it is the Nintendo special from a month or two ago with a golden Wiimote on the cover.