Battlefield 3 released a few weeks ago and boy am I in trouble. This game has blown my socks off. I knew it was coming, I hoped it was coming, and man o man did DICE deliver the best FPS multiplayer experience I have ever had. This game is so amazing it really brings back the excitement I used to get as a child for a favorite new toy. I've had things I looked forward to and really liked, but this game just influenced me to cancel the rest of my seasonal pre-orders as I know I will be playing this game almost solely for the next few months if not the year.
I write this blog post on the day that MW3 has launched and so far that game has had solid reviews by critics and users alike. The two games are of the same genre, but in terms of play they are VERY different. I won't spend any time on that, but I will re-iterate what others have pointed out between the two games. MW3 plays in an 'arcade' fashion. You drop players into a small sized map and they create tons of fast action with multi killing streaks. Battlefield games bring you into larger maps and you really have to be tactical in everything you do if you want to contribute to your team and your own gamer stats.
Previous to BF3's release I had become a hardcore player in Bad Company 2 and put most of my time on the conquest maps. Rush in BC2 to me had been whittled down to the veterans and it became a series of dead heat games. Conquest always allowed me to change things up. If something my team, my squad, or just me alone could not handle, you can usually just change focus and move on to something else. With BF3 out, I've played both Rush and Conquest and I love them both. Having new maps to play and an enormous uptick in player count has added a lot of variety to the game. Its fresh in many aspects w/ this in mind. I do still prefer conquest, but my reasons now are for more vehicles and you usually can get 2-3x higher scores in conquest due to all the activity going on.
Beta vs Retail release
Coming from the beta, this retail release is WAAAAY better. It feels much more to my expectations as a BF vet and the other maps included in the game compared to operation metro are a gold mine to me. Of course, some maps feel like they play better in rush mode vs conquest, but that is my personal opinion. I’ve had maps go from hate to love though with extended gameplay, so opinions can, and will change. First of all the conquest games are amazing. These maps can be open intense vehicle storms or they can be CQB 'hallway' combat. I do not think I can emphasize enough how intensely amazing the effects this game has through its sounds and visuals. Operation metro on conquest is one of the craziest things I have ever played and it gives me chills at times when stand offs occur and persist through an entire match. This map on conquest is a testament to DICE’s efforts. The majority of the map is contained in the subway section and with the use of both open space and small access tunnels, two teams can stand off at a distance and take pot shots all day long. This may sound basic, but in practice its mind blowing. You have got to play this game w/ the best HD tv and audio system you can get, otherwise you’re missing out on a lot. The reason I bring up conquest for this type of action is that w/o the "Rush" of Rush, teams can take their time to figure out how to push forward w/o the fear of losing the match quickly. This helps the continuance of the standoff firefights
There are a few other infantry focused maps similar to operation metro and they also play well to the tight CQB fighting. For players who really crave this game type, DICE has done well to offer up options on this front. You can play all maps in “infantry” only mode. This will just give 1 or 2 light vehicles, but otherwise the whole fight takes place on foot. Team deathmatch, I’ve yet to play, but I assume can be just as exciting to play in this format, just add a bit more chaos.
Vehicles – Air focus
As for the real, and initial appeal, of BF3 to me, are the options of all the vehicles. Rush maps will offer a variety of each type of vehicle, but there are less of them as they are not the focus in this game type. Conquest is where you get the full gambit to achieve your flag captures anyway possible. I think its safe to say w/ the new design of the choppers, there should not be any more circle strafing in game. Yes, the controls are changed up so much they are quite difficult to use, and I’ve killed myself more than I’m happy to report, but wow, once you get into it…it’s such an awesome feeling to fly. I do panic at times though and it seems the game is less forgiving in pilot mistakes no matter how small. Sorry teammates!! I burned everyone alive w/ a bad chopper time to time. Jets are fantastic! However, there is a small struggle that I’m sure people will find for any flying vehicle. Noob pilots are given 0 help in the defense department against stronger foes or anti air. You have to earn the ability to ward off homing rockets, and this can be a long painful process. It took me two weeks to finally unlock my flares on the jet. Prior to that, other jets had leveled up enough to earn heat seekers, of which I have no chance to outrun and the same goes for engineers on the ground who easily unlock their anti air rockets. Some players actually seem to sit at opposing spawn points and rocket pilots as they are prepping to take off. Effective, yes, but not all that good sporting in behavior. Of course if you stand there all day, yes, I will come find you and take your tags! Don’t be a greedy noob. The air vehicles are fun to fly though, for sure. You will need practice so take your time and try not to hurt anyone else on your team. Everyone is suspect of the new guy flying!!
Vehicles - Ground / Water
There is a nice variety for ground attack vehicles. You have you standard light armor such as the humvee and Russian equivalent. You have heavy and light tanks, and the there are some odds and ends such as the fast moving jeeps, mobile and stationary AA guns and then a pontoon boat and 1 or 2 amphibious type vehicles. The variety of perks you can unlock to use on some of these are great and really encourage players to level up each vehicle type since the features are vehicle class specific. I'm still new to the game, so not all expectations for what a vehicle can do have been met. Example, in the Russian armored car, equivalent to a humvee I drove over a 'hot' grenade, and when it blew, it killed me out of the driver seat, yet the car sat there, slightly damaged. Heavy tanks as strong as they are will not go down w/ 1 or 2 AT mines or C4. You gotta pile it up and hope for a massive kill at once, but you live and learn. A nice surprise I found in my tank is that I can now have a variety of 2ndary guns to use when I'm the main driver. This is great for when no one wants to be your gunner, which sadly is quite often.
Specializations (infantry and vehicle):
I love the new loadout scheme for your vehicles. In BC2 we had 1 perk specialization. Now you can load up to 3 at a time per vehicle. This adds a lot and makes it a ton of fun. While I have this in mind, I had also noticed that between vehicles and guns….DICE has removed the ability to upgrade your damage factor on enemies. DICE found that BC2 players were loading up on the strongest features they could in order to kill faster and would often bypass useful but less powerful add ons. BF3 has touched this up such that almost everything has equal strength and the add ons are for variety and preference but will not necessarily guarantee you the upper hand.
A few things I've noticed that are not great, but not terrible either are that...the maps for console are pretty much the same size as they are for PC. They do not feel scaled down at all. I can see from video play online that PC games w/ higher player counts have more checkpoints, but the maps are the same. The only drawback for console players is that you have so much more open space to utilize that may not result in any enemy confrontations. A fully loaded conquest map may end up having 80% of players in vehicles and in combat, leaving less than a full squad on foot to take and hold capture points.
I've really only played conquest and rush. They are my staples. I do have interest in the Team deathmatch since I've found some of infantry only modes on small maps can be a lot of fun. It seems that all maps work in all modes, so that is good. The trailer for the Back to Karkand pack has been released and has some good things to highlight. Besides these maps already being fan favorites, the addition of a game mode called Conquest assault, sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to its release in December.
I'm really not going to comment on the single player campaign as I've only played half way through it. It is really just like any other major FPS campaign but w/ the additional visual animations and sound quality you would expect. It is fun and I'm enjoying it, but BF games are made for online play. The coop missions are actually quite tough. I've tried them numerous times, and have only completed 3 of the 6 and those were on easy.
In the end, if you like, or love FPS games, you must try this out. If you're new and curious, oh boy, you're in for a treat. This game is worth it's full priced retail value. So pick up a copy! For anyone reading who has concerns, or questions about the game, hit up the EA forums, or ask on here in the comments. There is a lot to this game and it will own my free time for a LONG time.
