No Split-Screen Co-op in Battlefield 3

Blair Inglis 48 Comments

Those of you looking forward to sitting down with a friend and playing co-op in Battlefield will be disappointed: DICE have confirmed that there won’t be any split-screen available in the co-op mode, and their statement of “you have to be online to do it” could be taken as a sign of no LAN co-op play either.

The co-op levels themselves will take between 20 and 45 minutes to complete depending on factors such as difficulty and which level you choose.

There will be six levels at launch, which involve ‘random factors’ so they won’t get too repetitive. These levels will be separate from the main campaign and you’ll be able to compare scores and times competitively. It sounds like a good mode, then, just not for those split-screen aficionados.

DICE demonstrated the co-op during Gamescom, a video of which can be found below.

Source: GamingLives, via Eurogamer

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48 Comments

  1. Online coop is good though, I prefer having a full screen to myself

  2. I blame Online Pass =P
    Well I am going to have a friend over, he just have to bring in his own PS3 and the T.V lol oh and of course Battlefield 3!
    I don’t mind really as I like Singlplayer myself and there’s mutliplayer so it’s all good for me really.
    looking forward to try out online co-op =D

    • If you have picture in picture on your TV he’ll only need his PS3, HDMI cable and BF3 :) Though one of you might get a slightly bigger screen (just like this video starts off with) depending on your type of TV and how it displays PAP.

      • PiP is awesome

      • Yeah but the problem is I only have one HDMi input at the back of the telly so he’ll have to bring it up but don’t worry been doing it for 3 years and it always is a blast. =D
        I used PiP on PS3 and 360 (played Gears of War 2 Multiplayer with Gran Turismo 5 running on the bottom of the screen right corner just to keep an eye on it)

  3. Well this is highly disappointing. :(

    • At least the shadow on the far side of a stone you don’t even notice in the heat of battle looks pretty, that’s the important thing.

      • Absolutely. That’s absolutely vital to the fun being had in my living room.

      • lol, a little bitter CC?

      • Can you blame him? Why is it so damn hard to implement campaign coop in a game? Lazyness and the sick compulsion to make everything of a game about the online experience? This just tipped Battlefield 3 in the direction of a bargain bin purchase for me.

      • Hmm… perhaps the fact that the story might not work with two players? I mean, just look at MW2, BF3’s closest competitor apart from MW3. That game didn’t have campaign co-op either, but that alone doesnt make the developers lazy. It’s a shame that there isn’t split-screen co-op in BF3, but atleast there is coop.

  4. Shame, my sons just getting to the age where he could play a bit of split-screen co-op.

    • Isn’t this likely to be an 18 anyway, or at least 15.

      • It will be an 18 I would of thought, like MoH was.

  5. Blegh! That’s a shame. My wife and I were planning on playing through this together. It won’t stop me buying it don’t get me wrong, but its a shame devs just don’t seem to care about split screen anymore, despite it definatley being my favourite multiplayer format.

    • Lots of devs are actually adding it in, or back in, to their games. Dirt 3 has split screen and F1 2011 will too, UC3 will have split screen, Resistance has always had is, etc. etc.

      Here’s the thing, though. To get split screen, you basically need to be able to push 60Hz in SP, and that’s coming back into play much quicker, thanks to it being necessary for 3D gaming, which Sony is pushing hard. Obviously there’s still some further picture quality reductions that get added on, but that’s the general gist.

      Battlefield 3, though, is firmly entrenched at 30Hz on consoles, has no 3D on consoles, and as such it would be a trek quite a way off the beaten path for them to add split screen play. It’s a shame, but it’s understandable.

      • Ahhh ok, that makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up :)
        Never thought of it like that.

  6. For me it is all about online co-op anyway so I’m glad that is in there. Not a fan of sharing my screen, no matter how big the screen is.

    • Exactly, I completely agree!

    • I’ve never liked sharing my screen with anybody either so not such a huge loss for me

    • Halo would not have been the same without split screen coop. It’s a real shame people don’t realize that it’s actually more fun to play with a friend by your side than to team up with a complete stranger over the internet.

      • Who said anything about strangers, I play with my mates online…much easier than getting them to come over in the same room and sharing the screen. You don’t need them physically there to have that same fun, it’s a shame people don’t realise that.

      • I was going to exclude that since it’s not the way me and my friends play games. It’s split screen party all the way but I still fell like an idiot when I’m talking to someone over the internet.
        I just wish they would include both possibilities but this way people like me are left out in the cold. It’s a real shame.

      • Agreed there, both would be preferable.

  7. I hate this new trend of online-only multiplayer. As fun as it is, it will never be the same as sitting around with friends, chatting and enjoying it together. I loved the Spec Ops missions on MW2, partly because they were well designed, but mainly because I could experience it with a friend next to me.

  8. that’s stupid, really dissapointed by that

    • tbh i was half way through writing an article (which i hope i can push to become a guest article on TSA) about the decline of offline coop. This has just hit the nail of the head for me

      • As I said above, offline co-op (or at least local split screen) is actually on something of an upswing of late. Most 1st and 2nd party games for the PS3 now feature it, lots of racing games are bringing it back, now that their engines are better optimised, etc. etc.

      • I’d be interested to read that article because I don’t like this trend of split screen coop fading out of the picture.

      • work in progress

  9. THats a shame, cooperative for me has been a very important part of a game as I share a console with my brother, and although I won’t be anymore come September (where i leave him console-less, hehehe) I would still miss this mode.

  10. I love split screen co-op. I have a good friend who only has a Xbox360. He and I tend to share the cost of games like this by buying different ones and then doing co-op together.
    I love the banter and social aspect of having someone actually there, with you.

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