Game Info
GAME NAME: Battlefield 3
DEVELOPER(S): DICE (Digital Illusions CE)
PUBLISHER(S): Electronic Arts
PLATFORM(S): Xbox 360, PS3, PC
GENRE(S): FPS Shooter
RELEASE DATE(S): October 25, 2011
Boom goes the dynamite; get ready for this!
Battlefield 3 is finally out! For those of you familiar with the Battlefield franchise this is exciting because there are many new features and much-improved gameplay. For those of you that participated in the Beta, you may have waited to see this review before purchasing due to the server and balance issues on the beta servers.
Battlefield 3 plays like two completely separate games. The single player feels just plain different compared to the multiplayer game. For those Battlefield purists, you may not enjoy single player and will most likely complain about how unmemorable the storyline is. I however, made my way through the entire single player campaign and spent countless hours in multiplayer maps, and overall, the experience was pure awesome. Let me further elaborate, I am a Battlefield noob, this was my first experience with the series, it is however my favorite genre. I was extremely apprehensive about joining the online servers due to the fact that people flame you out every minute if you are new. After getting through the single player campaign it gave me enough confidence and experience to hop online. If I had just jumped online to rate that gameplay, I would have rage quit in five minutes due to the “awesomely” skilled players who camp spawn points and the extremely rude 10 year olds that are littered throughout the servers. Either way both the single player and multiplayer modes are great depending on what type of gamer you are and how social and competitive you feel.
From the Kharg islands to the hills of Damavand peak, Battlefield 3’s multiplayer maps give you a sense of depth and sheer scale. You definitely need to be creative to succeed in this game, it is a raw free for all. Feel free to pop a squat and snipe some noobs, hop in an assault helicopter and blast away at some flags, or sneakily shank some snipers unaware of their surrounding and steal their dogtags. With the different multiplayer modes in Battlefield 3, the choice is up to you. There are also tons of character, weapon, and vehicle customizations you can spend hours tinkering with every available option. The best part of all is leveling up your characters with better weapon and weapon accessory unlocks. You can literally unlock a huge arsenal of goodies to slaughter your opponents to give you a bleeding edge over the competition.
One of the best things about the Battlefield 3 maps is that you if you play different multiplayer modes like “Rush” you will only see such a short span of the map, which gives you tons of replay value as you explore the other side of the map as you make your way through each round and enter different modes like “Conquest”. This isn’t a game that you want to find a place and sit there waiting for people, the maps are so expansive it forces you to go beyond and expect the unexpected giving you a real life battle experience. The in-game browser for multiplayer is pretty great as well, letting you filter maps, servers, gameplay, you can quickly hop into a match you want to play in.
Now, for those of you who want to know about balance since the beta was hugely adjusted, its subjective and I’m sure it will keep being tweaked throughout the launch of the game. Its pretty hard to define because there are so many personal preferences in gameplay style and weaponry its hard to button down. I know snipers that are good can take on everyone in a map if they find good spots and have unlocked a lot of perks. The one thing that bothered me starting off is people with strobe light attachments, they are so damn blinding that it feels like they receive an instant kill. I’m sure that will be tweaked and balanced since its crazy. Once, I unlocked mine I got a good taste of payback. If you aren’t able to fly helicopters and jets well, there are tons of class tactics that expand gameplay and technique. All classes are streamlined well; Soldier, Engineer, Assault, and Recon. Each has their own level of difficulty when unlocking the goodies but each offer a unique edge that keep things fresh and always evolving. However, mastering each class is a must if you want to achieve high scores and sit near or on top with highest kills.
Battlefield 3’s rewards and progression is what keeps you addicted to the killing mayhem. From adding strobe light attachments, heat-seeking missiles, to an Anti- Aircraft tank to the simplest thing like camouflage swap outs there is always something there to peak your interest to unlock, they just dangle that “unlock this next” encouragement after every online session. You can even get points for healing your buddies, to repairing tanks, supplying friends with ammo to killing enemies with mines, the different facets will keep you creative in the ways you kill.
Battlefield 3’s Frostbite 2 engine delivers amazing visuals. It’s not ground breaking by any means but it is darn pretty. From explosions, to smoke, clouds, and sunlight the textures, sounds, shading and lighting add real dynamic to this game to keep you fully immersed and really realistic. Now, like all things, it’s not perfect, I noticed the occasional character arm/leg clipping especially in prone position on mountains and odd debris. These little things are annoying but don’t derail you from the game by any means.
Onto the campaign and co-op modes, which cannot be ignored. These two experiences were pretty refreshing for me. The storyline in Battlefield 3, is a pretty serious one, with some mysteries and twists that will keep you on edge. It’s pretty much a tale of global security threats and all these things thrown into a nice stew and brewed around for a bit. Are there Russians? Yep, Nukes? Yep, Middle Eastern maps? Yep. All that aside, the variety of maps, stories and characters you play as all add up to an intense experience. These things are brewed together to give you a great mix of tension, mystery, suspense and yes, feelings.
The awesome part about co-op mode is that if you don’t have any friends to play with, there’s an online browse menu that lets you join other players online in a co-op form of playing. This is great as co-op mode lets you experience some different story while letting you unlock weapons for multiplayer play! This is a great ramp up into multiplayer gameplay. You get great practice with teamwork in run and gun missions, team aircraft practice and the AI is extremely good!
Overall, if you’ve been hiding under a rock and have never experienced this series, Battlefield 3 is definitely worth checking out! DICE did a great job and their expertise was definitely noted and appreciated your respect is deserved. Even with the few minor glitches in single player, Battlefield 3 leaves you with an unforgettable experience and its multiplayer is so amazing, you won’t pick up anther game for a while!
