So after a few weeks of picking more niche titles, it seems like it’s time to come back with a big hitter, and they don’t get much bigger than EA’s Battlefield 3. The amount of exposure and advertising the game was given last year was absolutely incredible, outweighing pretty much every other title. The big release finally came after months of hype in October, and we actually got to see what all the earthquakes in the trailers were about.
Personally I felt the game’s single player started well, but when it turned to the early night-time section I got frustrated and then bored. Ultimately I gave up and haven’t returned to the title since. Fortunately, Alex is a bit more patient than I and managed to finish the single player for our review.
We’ll get to the multiplayer in a moment, but whilst Alex found a number of issues with the game, in particular the fact that it can’t stick to its own rules, he was pleased to call the campaign “surprisingly good”. Rating the single player at 7/10 he had this to say about the game in conclusion:
You can’t blame DICE and EA for the direction Battlefield 3 has taken. There’s a decent game here, but it’s nothing – beyond the special effects and presentation – that we’ve not played before. The AI might be smart and your squad at least can fire for themselves, but when it’s the same thing each time, ad verbatim, you can’t help but wish for something a little bit more freeform, dynamic and tactical rather than a roller coaster ride through the Middle East.
Switching gears to the multiplayer now, it was Matt who looked at that aspect of the game. Whilst I’m not all that interested in the multiplayer content of most games, although I’m not above a bit of Gears of War co-op, it certainly seems to have come to the forefront of many console titles this generation. Many of the complaints with the game’s multiplayer were technical, talking about server issues and alike. Hopefully you can tell us to what extent these have now been resolved, but for now here’s a quick extract from what Matt had to say:
Once we made it on to a server and in to a properly running game, we found Battlefield 3 to be one of the most intense and enjoyable multiplayer experiences we’ve ever had. Unfortunately, technical issues absolutely devastated the launch of this game and have likely left a very deep scar on the Battlefield community. Any fan of the franchise or modern shooters in general should definitely give Battlefield 3’s multiplayer a shot, but at least for the moment, be prepared to fight through some mean bush to reach the good stuff.
With all of that said, it’s time to ask you for your opinions of the game. Did you think EA’s gamble in putting so much into the title paid off, or does it fail in comparison to its peers? Did DICE manage to pull off a technical tour-de-force, or did it not leave up to the high expectations it had? Even if it was technically impressive, was the gameplay lacking? Of course maybe you just think the game is without fault, and you can’t get enough of it.
Wherever you fall on the scale of opinions it’s time to make your voice heard. All you need to do to take part is drop a comment below with you opinon. Remember that your comment needs to include a final verdict of the game on the Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It or Avoid It scale. Just select one of those four categories and make sure you include it somewhere in your comment.
Finally, you need to make sure you have your comment in by Sunday afternoon, as at that point I’ll have started to write Monday’s verdict post.
stanley1664
SP I didn’t think was actually that bad really 8/10 for me.
MP is by far the best gaming experience I have ever had to date.. It still blows me away now, every battle is unique.. Don`t even get me started how awesome flying the helicopter’s and jets are & im no maverick or goose I can assure you…The maps are masssssive never seen such huge vast landscapes like this in a FPS.. So many ways to take the fight to your opponent and so very different outcomes..with the the new DLC on its way I dont think im going to get bored of this any time in the near future… If anybody knocks the MP aspect of this game you need to go to the hospital NOW you are seriously not well… BUY this or forever hold your head in shame for not giving it a try…
stanley1664
this game should come with a government warning as it is highly addictive for users
MadBoJangles
BUY IT..as the multiplayer is freaking amazing.
ratkiller75
I bought BF3 quickly after its release, I had never played BAttlefield before except for the Bad Comapny series which were slightly different. However overall I found the game, while exciting, it was as if I’d been playing a massive expansion pack of some generic FPS.
The single-player was everything that could be expected. Short and action-packed. While that much was like other games and it was very linear, feeling like the world had been built by your foes to channel you through them. This was frustrating but several moments stood out from the crowd of generic: The jet mission, the start was lacklustre and the water disappointing in comparison to the rest of the graphics but when flying, the language and gameplay felt immersive and exhilarating. Sounds sad but it was great. The tank missions as well. They tended to give a feel of openness and realism. The vehicles gave the single-player life whereas the foot soldier sections tended to be standard.
The multi-player is great. Exciting and long-lasting there is variety and interest. There are a lot of guns, not all of the later unlocks are better, just different and several vehicles that tend to influence but not dominate te game. There are exceptions, but I’ll get onto that.
Graphically and audially the game is amazing, everything seems sharp and clear, sound comes from the right direction and you find yourself snapping to the source from the actual feeling of having had that near you. Tank shells show this best (scary and make you go deaf in online).
Problems:
When it comes down to it the game-world in SP is too linear and that in MP well-thought out but sometimes unbalanced for modes that are meant to be balanced. Grand Bazaar allows the US to attack down the centre with the LAV-25 straight away but that can’t be done for the Russian side. It is impossible for the US to get the central flag in Operation Metro before the Russians, making them fight tooth and nail for the stairs, then the flag. The Helicopters and mobile AA can tear infantry up, them having no hope of survival. Some of this is fixed in patches which are few and far between. Jets rarely influence the ground game and tanks are now pretty much cannon fodder for engineers, jets anything.
While it is a great game, most isn’t anything we really haven’t seen before and so I say BUY IT, if you haven’t been in the Battlefield series before. They also are now charging a fortune for DLC which while is good, isn’t ground-breaking and is overpriced and slightly disappointing.
david24
for me the single player really wasn’t that bad, I’ve now played through it 3 times (ps3/PC and the other for trophies) and not once has it felt like a grind. its certainly not the best single player out there but there’s plenty of breath taking moments on the PC version. overall my opinion would echo Alex’s of “surprisingly good”.
again i found the co-op to be quite good fun despite the weak storyline and i think it was all supposed to link together?. it’s still worth playing through just for the huge variety in locations and gameplay ranging from a sniping sequence to heli’s and stealth levels.
the multiplayers certainly where it shines the most though, it’s as near to perfect as any games got when everyone works as a team, and with the superb server browser its not hard to find a new one when everyone’s not. the unlock systems fantastic too, I’ve put nearly two hundred hours into the game and still not finished unlocking everything. although you don’t need to put anymore then 5 hours in per class to get a competitive load out good enough for mvp. most of my real complaints have been patched out now and only leave me with the lack of some of the best pc features that should of really been included with console like the comma rose and global, team and squad chat that lets you co-ordinate attacks, ask for ammo/health and most importantly lets you apologise. other then that i’d of liked to of seen a higher player count at the expensive of graphics. maybe they could of included two versions of conquest like on PC, standard conquest with 24 players and current graphics and conquest large with 32 players and scaled back graphics.
along with gt5 its my personal favorite game this gen and an easy buy it for anyone with even a passing interest in the fps genre.
tonycawley
I bought this for the mp, as with any fps I buy, though I will always play through the sp once. The sp campaign was completely and utterly unremarkable in every single sense other than the graphics and sound. To be fair though, I’m not really sure what fps games can do any more other than what they’re already doing. Solid sp campaign then, just nothing to write home about.
I haven’t touched the coop yet so unfortunately can’t comment on that, but nobody’s going to buy this for the sp or coop anyway right? This game is about the mp, the main focus of the title.
Online this game isn’t without its issues, quite often servers have connection issues which result in lag or frozen characters. When you get into a game with good connection and a few mates though this game really stands out. Teamwork is massively rewarded, stick together and you can achieve so much, especially with a medic on your team.
Matches typically last 30 minutes or more (especially now with the custom server settings) so not a game to have a quick go of, but if I’ve got a couple of hours spare there’s not many things I enjoy as much as bf3 multiplayer, especially when squadded up with fellow Tsa peeps.
BUY IT, and come join us on the battlefield.
Severn2j
If you like multiplayer, modern day, military man-shooters, then this is your game. Much bigger scale than CoD in my opinion and a more thoughtful approach is required. The single player campaign is terrible, of course, but nobody in their right mind will buy it for that, Battlefield always has been a MP series and always be, I think. The only problem I have with it, is that I’ve become tired of the genre, but thats my issue, not the games..
So, as long as you’re not sick to death of military shooters, Buy It.
elpablo79
As gideon 1451 says “never had so many wow moments online”. This game is fantastic as a multiplayer experience. The single player is normally my main draw in a game, atlhough that part of the game just hasn’t hooked me. However, playing online, either competitively or co-op, is a fantastic experience. That’s the big hook of the game. Once you get online, that is where the game truly excels. Matches can become confusing, chaotic and immense through the many ways the game can be approached, and I still find a good level of teamwork. Graphics, sound design, well thought out maps. If you want just Single Player, Rent It. Multiplayer? BUY IT!!!
Death_In_Flamez
Battlefield 3 was one of those games which had a lot of hype to live up to, and boy I was hyped! However, as soon as I entered the Beta I knew it was not to be the best game even in the series itself. Constant connection issues and poor balancing issues leave this installment trailing behind the far superior Bad Company 2. That said though, go and Buy It. Great game, just a disappoint for major fans like myself.
wick15
Battlefield 3 is a fantastic game. The SP is pretty dull, but it’s multiplayer is what makes it stand out. I love the multiplayer in Battlefield 3. Intense battles on very large maps. So far I have clocked in 117 hours worth of multiplayer play time and I don’t see myself stopping any time soon.
I play it on PC and I think that’s the reason I play it so much. I used to have Bad Company 2 on my PS3, but later bought it for my PC. As the PC supported servers that could have up to 32 players in it, I found that games felt more intense and more natural with 32 players on the field. I always found the PS3 games a bit empty and no one worked properly as a squad. The thing about Battlefield 3 is the maps are designed for big games, like 64 player conquest. Squad play is encouraged a lot more on the PC as well. Every game I go into in Battlefield 3 has people who are always working together in squads. The in game text chat is great for this.
My only problem with Battlefield 3 on the PC is that not enough of my friends have it. Most of the time I have to play with random people. That’s the advantage I see the consoles having. I reckon BF3 would be far more fun with friends.
For me it’s a Buy It. It’s a fantastic game and has given me hours of fun.