Impressions: Battlefield 3

Let me make this as clear as possible before I continue: Battlefield is not Call of Duty. Anyone who has played both will gladly testify to that. Now, with that out of the way, let's talk about what you came here to read: Battlefield 3.

Campaign

In Battlefield 3, you (primarily) play as Sergeant Blackburn, a marine who is being interrogated about missing nuclear warheads. The story unfolds through flashbacks, though not the entire story plays out this way. By the end, you will have played through a tense sniping portion, shot down enemy fighter jets, and raced against the clock in order to prevent a nuclear explosion. You will also have played as several characters in different areas around the world (sound familiar, yet?)

Let me get this out of the way: if you bought Battlefield 3 expecting a great single player campaign, look somewhere else. What's available on the disc isn't terrible, by any stretch of the imagination. The main problem is that we've already seen this before, even in DICE's own Battlefield: Bad Company games! Nuclear threat? Check. Russian villain that becomes the main target? Check. It's all run-of-the-mill, standard affair. This would be more bearable if the single-player campaign delivered edge-of-seat thrills and memorable setpieces. It doesn't. Regardless, the campaign does deliver some exciting setpieces which will want you playing through them to see what happens in the end.

Oh, don't mind me. I'm just a heavily-scripted setpiece.

In addition, everything just feels heavily scripted. There are segments where you even see the script with your own eyes. For example, in Operation Swordbreaker, you are given an AT4 in order to take out a sniper from a building parallel to your location. The game literally tells you when to shoot, and where exactly to shoot. Give us the option to take him out before that point! It doesn't sound like much, but when heavily-scripted actions occur several more times over any given time span, it gets boring. Oh, and let me not forget those stupid quick-time events that feel unnecessary and tacked on.

The campaign attempts to break up any monotony by putting you inside of a fighter jet, as well as driving a tank. When in the fighter jet, you feel exhilarated as final checks are made. Adrenaline is pumping through your veins as the jet powers on...until you realize that you don't actually fly the damn thing! This would have been a perfect opportunity to introduce flying mechanics, so when the player makes the jump to multiplayer, they will have gotten the basics down, but nope. DICE only gives you the options to shoot a turret or missiles. Weak. Still, admittedly, this was an exciting setpiece, with several dispersed throughout the 6-8 hour campaign.

As for co-op, well it's pretty disappointing. In my opinion, it is uninspired, with no real added benefit. If you die, you will start from the beginning of that level. It's that fucked up. Co-op just feels like two people going through a map, instead of one person doing one person, and another person doing something else, while communicating with each other and devising tactics. In short, co-op is nothing to write home about.

Am I saying the campaign is terrible? No, I am definitely not. What I am saying is that we've already seen this done before, and better. You might be saying to yourself, "Call of Duty is scripted, too!" That is definitely true, but the difference is that Call of Duty constantly delivers on the excitement factor. This is, funny enough, balanced by the relatively boring Battlefield 3 campaign. It might feel boring because it delivers more on realism than does Call of Duty's campaign. Be honest: Call of Duty's campaign can be over-the-top sometimes, and you don't get that feeling with Battlefield 3's campaign. Still, Battlefield 3's campaign delivers tight gunplay, along with some exciting setpieces and a focused narrative, although everything about it is run-of-the-mill and derivative.

Multiplayer

Sign up only if you're truly dedicated. There is no such thing as instant gratification when it comes to Battlefield 3's multiplayer. You better be prepared to play if you launch Battlefield 3's multiplayer suite, and damn what a package. Multiplayer is DICE's bread and butter, and Battlefield 3 is no different. Be warned, however, that console matches are limited to 24 players at a time, as opposed to 64 players on the PC version. Regardless of the limit for console players, Battlefield 3 multiplayer is still a shitload of fun.

Players can choose from four classes: Assault, Support, Engineer, and Recon. The multiplayer modes are Rush, Conquest, Team Deathmatch, and all squad variants. From the get-go, you can play each map in any mode. Speaking of maps, Battlefield 3 ships with a total of nine maps, with four re-imagined maps. Needless to say, every single one of the nine maps are fantastic, with vehicles only adding to the frenzy. Thanks to DICE's addition of tanks, jets, jeeps, and helicopters, as well as on-foot soldiers, multiplayer feels like you are fighting a war.

Unlike the PC version, you do not need to exit the game in order to launch a multiplayer game from a browser. Everything is seamless, with chat options, server lists, and stats all streamlined for consoles, though some matches might result in some lag. The same occurred with some of my matches, though I don't know if it's more of a widespread problem.

Overall

Absolutely gorgeous.

The game looks mighty fine, though 360 owners will be doing themselves a favor if they make the 2 GB sacrifice in making the game look better. I assure you, it will be one of the smartest things you will ever do. There are some framerate issues with the console versions, though, as well as instances of textures popping into view. On occasion, the framerate would drop below 30 FPS, but only when there a lot of concentrated fighting, as well as vehicles showing up at the same time. Other than that, animations look impressive, with realistic and smooth animations. Guns and explosions feel like they have weight to them, with the environment getting realistically torn apart because of gunfire and explosions. If you have a surround sound system, then Battlefield 3 will be your show-off game whenever people come over. It truly takes advantage of that system, rocking your senses to the core.

Though Battlefield 3 delivers the best campaign in franchise history, it is derivative and run-of-the-mill, with setpieces dispersed evenly throughout the 6-8 hour campaign. The multiplayer easily makes up for the flawed campaign, maintaining the high bar that DICE always sets for Battlefield games. Newcomers and seasoned veterans alike will find much to love about Battlefield 3. However, you have been warned. If you're getting Battlefield 3 solely for the campaign, prepare to be disappointed. If you're getting Battlefield 3 for the total package, then gear up and be prepared for the best DICE has to offer.

Battlefield 3

If there was ever a time when I thought a game company was making a bad choice, now is not one of those times. Electronic Arts, a game company well known for the Battlefield and Medal of Honor series, believes it can match up with the big leagues this year by releasing Battlefield 3 a month before highly anticipated titles such as, Call of Duty: MW3, The Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim, and Saints Row the Third. By doing this Electronic Arts must have a lot of faith with all the programming and production of the newly developed and enhanced Frostbite 2.0 engine. What is the Frostbite 2.0 engine? Believe it or not, Frostbite 2.0 is a well-defined graphical engine, and a newly tested physics engine, that Dice had been working on since the Bad Company series. Let’s go through a rundown on what will make this game more unique and possibly ready to take on the big leagues.

From what most people were able to figure out with the Battlefield 3 Open Beta, the gameplay seemed to be standard. But there were some added features. Instead of having all of your guns set for the standard fully or semi-automatic modes you were now able to switch between the two firing modes. This would make things a lot simpler if you are looking for an accurate shot or a higher firing rate to insure your hit is marked. Another new feature that was brought back is the ability to go prone. Before in games such as the Bad Company series, you were only able to crouch. The ability to go prone makes being a sniper more fun and challenging for the other players.  Throwing a grenade is a little more complicated this time around with this game. Instead of being able to hold it and aim, you now let go of it as soon as you pull the pin. A perfect example of how this works is throwing a grenade in halo. Another feature added to the game is being able to run and slide to cover. You can also dive and go prone. The only problem with this feature I have is what people would call “Drop Shots”. If you play Call of Duty I am sure you are well aware of what a drop shot is. For those who are not aware of what it is, to put simply it is a player who is running then sees and enemy, he then drops to the ground shooting at the enemy. It is not easy but it is possible in Battlefield 3. The only reason this is annoying is making your mark is harder than usual. But past the annoyances, it is a clever but cheap tactic. Overall, the gameplay seemed to work really well. I hope the ability to hold your grenade for a longer period of time will be added.

One thing the graphics and the controls have in common, they are both really nice and smooth. The one thing that makes me happy about the graphics is how colorful and well detailed they are. The lighting changes at the right time and situation, like if you are in the metro station it will be lighten up by the fire and the ceiling lights (What is left of them anyway) and would have shadows in the right spots. Now the controls are very simple and easy to remember. Your knife button is the Right bumper on the Xbox 360 and R1 on the PS3. There is one reason why I personally like this. If you are in a rush and you look around with the right stick, you are not wanting to knife at the wrong time. For example,  I am not the only one who accidently mashes in the right joystick in the rush of running when I am trying to shoot at someone. So that’s a good thing to have.  The right joystick is still crouch so it can be a life saver. If you have played Bad Company 2, then you will have no problems with the controls for they are the same with added features. 

I would love to comment on the multiplayer experience, but to be honest it is really hard. But let me explain something’s about the multiplayer I think you might enjoy. A game online doesn’t end in a short period of time. Normally a match can last as long as forty minutes or longer depending on whom is on your team and what is going on. Sometimes a match can end really fast, but it is rare to happen. Another thing is, team work is needed. You can’t just have one person running around and gunning everyone down. In fact, team work is needed to the point there is no free for all or lone wolf matches. Now some people find it annoying and rather play by themselves, in which its understandable. But if that’s what you like, then the multiplayer is not for you.

In the long run, I believe Battlefield 3 does have a big chance this year. Now one thing that will cause a small percentage in sale prices is the Call of Duty fan base. This isn’t a bad thing. But there is a larger number of people who would buy Call of Duty in a heartbeat. But aside all of that, I believe that this game will change the way first person shooters are played.  So as gamers all around ponder who would win between Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefield 3, I say it’s going to be a hard choice. By sales one will when, by gameplay… That will be decided when the time comes.