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.

Apple - the trend-setter

We all know that Apple has great style, just look at Mac OS X for proof, but are they the industry standard for design nowadays? When Apple unveiled Coverflow the world gasped - and we can see why, one of the coolest things since free delivery for pizza! Just months after its introduction, multiple companies followed suite, and created a multitude of Coverflow-style apps. The web found itself revealing in them all, and now even software for Windows offers the feature.

So is it this, the trend-setting aspect of Apple, that keeps them on their toes? For avid fans such as myself I won't ever forget who came up with the design first, but those for those out there who don't know anything about it, they may be forgiven for not even knowing the word 'Coverflow', but who can easily recognise the loveliness of that new web-app of theirs that uses the same design.

Personally I really do think that it is this that forces them to change first in the ever-changing industry. And who can blame them, if your design had spread, wouldn't you want a new one? I belive that it is an important lesson for us all. If you want to get noticed, then be different, and kepp changing - no one likes to wear the same jumper everyday!