Battlefield 3
DICE
_ With two big releases in the FPS genre this winter it was always going to
be a tough call as for which would be better. The Battlefield series has built
up a reputation as being one of the most balanced all round war games ever
created. There are very few weapons or in game features which seem over powered
and the game allows for a variety of skill levels. This is still true for the
latest release in the series 'Battlefield 3'.
One important change is that it seems there has been an increase in the focus on multiplayer. This is evident from the short, around six hour, and very linear single player campaign. Whilst visually stunning and is a massive step up with well-polished graphics, it follows the tried and tested storyline of the character trying to remember what happened through gameplay whilst parts of an interrogation of the player fill in the gaps. This will seem extremely familiar to players of the last 'Call of Duty' game which is a massive downer for Battlefield. Disappointingly the missions tend to be long winded and verge on becoming dull. One mission in particular takes around five minutes of watching and listening to another character before any gameplay which then just involves picking out targets and firing guided missiles. Unfortunately for the casual gamer who doesn't like multiplayer this game is not for you. Co-op play does extend the life span of the game but the missions are lengthy and again verge on being dull. Luckily the multiplayer is a huge success and well worth the cost of the game. And if you are not into FPS multiplayer then there is no better game to get into it than Battlefield.
What makes Battlefield as a franchise stand out is the emphasis on team play. The idea is to have a balanced squad where players can choose from one of four classes. If every player in a squad/team is a sniper then the objectives will never be taken. Likewise, a good tank commander won't stand a chance unless they have an engineer to back them up. The whole concept of squads within teams helps to balance the game out. Ultimately this encourages players not to play selfishly as this will cause the team to lose. This is why I was worried about the addition of a team deathmatch game mode for 'Battlefield 3' as this tends to bring the focus back on to a “who can get the highest kill to death ratio” which I unashamedly would usually do. Battlefield is the only FPS game where this doesn't matter to me as much and this is why I personally will steer clear of team deathmatch.
Some problems that I pointed out in the Beta have been fixed and some are still a little irritating. The ability to go prone whilst useful can be infuriating. It is extremely irritating when you run through a choke point only to get gunned down by a player in prone with a bipod. Even worse when you are against a team that have got all the choke points lined up and there is no way to break through. Usually driving a tank around the back would suffice but there are no vehicles on some maps (particularly in team deathmatch!). The addition of flash lights hasn't been as big a problem as I thought it may be from what I saw in the Beta. Although you do come across players who think it’s funny to get their team killed by blinding them, this seems to be rare. Players that use this attachment tend to give away their position which actually makes it near useless. The knifing system seems to have been adjusted and runs much better than in the Beta too. Although when you come across a group of enemies all oblivious then the first knife kill is easy enough but the second will often not connect. The only way I have found to remedy this is to switch to your main gun and then try knifing again. This all takes time and before you know it one of their squad mates has spawned on them and knifes you!
Of course Battlefield veterans will remember the dog tag system where knifing enemies give the player a little memento to remember your fallen enemy by. Unfortunately I think pervious versions of the system were better. For example, there is no way to see if you have knifed one enemy multiple times. The whole dog tag system has been developed and is no longer exclusive to knifing/being knifed. Players can give themselves custom dog tags that show off their in game feats which stems from the ribbon and medal awards. During each game players can earn ribbons for various activities. For example an assault ribbon will be awarded for getting seven kills in one round with an assault rifle. Ten assault ribbons will give the player a left hand dog tag to show off this achievement. Fifty ribbons over an online career will give the player a medal which gives the player a right hand dog tag to show off that achievement. There are other ways to earn some dog tags such as spending time in a certain vehicle. A player can then set themselves custom dog tags showing what they have achieved. When a player is knifed the killer gets the dog tags. When scrolling through all the dog tags it now just shows the last victim to be knifed who was wearing that particular dog tag. It also shows how many players you have knifed who were wearing that dog tag. So when you have forty people knifed with that dog tag you don't get to see who they were. I always found it amusing when you would play with friends to get their dog tags and have their name in your list of victims as it was in 'Battlefield: Bad Company 2'. That gave the player bragging rights and added to the competition. That has sort of been lost as I know to put on low level and easy to earn dog tags that everyone uses so that my friends, if they do knife me, will lose my name in the last victim section when they knife another holder of that dog tag. Problem solved, but the adrenaline rush is lost!
The air warfare has been ramped up with the addition of jets. These are extremely difficult to pilot and even harder when the enemy has an experienced pilot. Persevere with it though and it becomes an incredibly fun part of the game. What I don't like about it is that when a player starts off for the first time in the jet they only have machine guns available. It is incredibly difficult to shoot an opponent on the ground so that limits it to helicopters and other jets. If the enemy pilot has unlocked heat seeking missiles then the nooby pilot has no chance!
For the best multiplayer experience I strongly recommend getting in a squad with people you know. Failing that get with people you can communicate with. It adds to the fun of the game as a squad that works well together tends to get the most points and take out the most enemies. For ‘Call of Duty’ players who fancy something a little different then this really is something special. There are aspects that are similar to Call of Duty but this really raises the stakes (again).
Battlefield 3 is a visually stunning and high adrenaline game. Some may argue that it is too slow paced. These will tend to be the Call of Duty players. Battlefield can be slow and fast paced. It all depends on your style of playing. If you want it to be more fast paced then there are ways of playing that will increase that. There is nothing that is ground breaking in terms of gameplay compared to previous Battlefield games and other FPS. Also the campaign mode feels like it has been neglected. Barring these small problems this is a game worth getting and sinking many hours into. This game is no giant killer and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will no doubt be the best selling game of all time this year, just like all its predecessors, but Battlefield offers a more interesting, intelligent, balanced, team based game.
8/10
‘RazorRich’ for mlm
One important change is that it seems there has been an increase in the focus on multiplayer. This is evident from the short, around six hour, and very linear single player campaign. Whilst visually stunning and is a massive step up with well-polished graphics, it follows the tried and tested storyline of the character trying to remember what happened through gameplay whilst parts of an interrogation of the player fill in the gaps. This will seem extremely familiar to players of the last 'Call of Duty' game which is a massive downer for Battlefield. Disappointingly the missions tend to be long winded and verge on becoming dull. One mission in particular takes around five minutes of watching and listening to another character before any gameplay which then just involves picking out targets and firing guided missiles. Unfortunately for the casual gamer who doesn't like multiplayer this game is not for you. Co-op play does extend the life span of the game but the missions are lengthy and again verge on being dull. Luckily the multiplayer is a huge success and well worth the cost of the game. And if you are not into FPS multiplayer then there is no better game to get into it than Battlefield.
What makes Battlefield as a franchise stand out is the emphasis on team play. The idea is to have a balanced squad where players can choose from one of four classes. If every player in a squad/team is a sniper then the objectives will never be taken. Likewise, a good tank commander won't stand a chance unless they have an engineer to back them up. The whole concept of squads within teams helps to balance the game out. Ultimately this encourages players not to play selfishly as this will cause the team to lose. This is why I was worried about the addition of a team deathmatch game mode for 'Battlefield 3' as this tends to bring the focus back on to a “who can get the highest kill to death ratio” which I unashamedly would usually do. Battlefield is the only FPS game where this doesn't matter to me as much and this is why I personally will steer clear of team deathmatch.
Some problems that I pointed out in the Beta have been fixed and some are still a little irritating. The ability to go prone whilst useful can be infuriating. It is extremely irritating when you run through a choke point only to get gunned down by a player in prone with a bipod. Even worse when you are against a team that have got all the choke points lined up and there is no way to break through. Usually driving a tank around the back would suffice but there are no vehicles on some maps (particularly in team deathmatch!). The addition of flash lights hasn't been as big a problem as I thought it may be from what I saw in the Beta. Although you do come across players who think it’s funny to get their team killed by blinding them, this seems to be rare. Players that use this attachment tend to give away their position which actually makes it near useless. The knifing system seems to have been adjusted and runs much better than in the Beta too. Although when you come across a group of enemies all oblivious then the first knife kill is easy enough but the second will often not connect. The only way I have found to remedy this is to switch to your main gun and then try knifing again. This all takes time and before you know it one of their squad mates has spawned on them and knifes you!
Of course Battlefield veterans will remember the dog tag system where knifing enemies give the player a little memento to remember your fallen enemy by. Unfortunately I think pervious versions of the system were better. For example, there is no way to see if you have knifed one enemy multiple times. The whole dog tag system has been developed and is no longer exclusive to knifing/being knifed. Players can give themselves custom dog tags that show off their in game feats which stems from the ribbon and medal awards. During each game players can earn ribbons for various activities. For example an assault ribbon will be awarded for getting seven kills in one round with an assault rifle. Ten assault ribbons will give the player a left hand dog tag to show off this achievement. Fifty ribbons over an online career will give the player a medal which gives the player a right hand dog tag to show off that achievement. There are other ways to earn some dog tags such as spending time in a certain vehicle. A player can then set themselves custom dog tags showing what they have achieved. When a player is knifed the killer gets the dog tags. When scrolling through all the dog tags it now just shows the last victim to be knifed who was wearing that particular dog tag. It also shows how many players you have knifed who were wearing that dog tag. So when you have forty people knifed with that dog tag you don't get to see who they were. I always found it amusing when you would play with friends to get their dog tags and have their name in your list of victims as it was in 'Battlefield: Bad Company 2'. That gave the player bragging rights and added to the competition. That has sort of been lost as I know to put on low level and easy to earn dog tags that everyone uses so that my friends, if they do knife me, will lose my name in the last victim section when they knife another holder of that dog tag. Problem solved, but the adrenaline rush is lost!
The air warfare has been ramped up with the addition of jets. These are extremely difficult to pilot and even harder when the enemy has an experienced pilot. Persevere with it though and it becomes an incredibly fun part of the game. What I don't like about it is that when a player starts off for the first time in the jet they only have machine guns available. It is incredibly difficult to shoot an opponent on the ground so that limits it to helicopters and other jets. If the enemy pilot has unlocked heat seeking missiles then the nooby pilot has no chance!
For the best multiplayer experience I strongly recommend getting in a squad with people you know. Failing that get with people you can communicate with. It adds to the fun of the game as a squad that works well together tends to get the most points and take out the most enemies. For ‘Call of Duty’ players who fancy something a little different then this really is something special. There are aspects that are similar to Call of Duty but this really raises the stakes (again).
Battlefield 3 is a visually stunning and high adrenaline game. Some may argue that it is too slow paced. These will tend to be the Call of Duty players. Battlefield can be slow and fast paced. It all depends on your style of playing. If you want it to be more fast paced then there are ways of playing that will increase that. There is nothing that is ground breaking in terms of gameplay compared to previous Battlefield games and other FPS. Also the campaign mode feels like it has been neglected. Barring these small problems this is a game worth getting and sinking many hours into. This game is no giant killer and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will no doubt be the best selling game of all time this year, just like all its predecessors, but Battlefield offers a more interesting, intelligent, balanced, team based game.
8/10
‘RazorRich’ for mlm