WeView Verdict: Battlefield 3

Well, as expected, Battlefield 3 drew a good number of comments this week. Not only did lots of you decide to take part this week, but there seemed to be a good amount of discussion going on in the comments which is always nice to see. As I was reading through your thoughts on the game it did quickly become evident just what the community’s verdict was going to be, but before we get to that it’s time to have a look at your thoughts on the game.

We’ll start by digging into the third page of the comments, and coming back with the opinion of ratkiller75. Their one sentence summary of the game’s single-player was simply “Short and action-packed,” which seems like a pretty on the nose assessment of many FPS titles right now. Whilst ratkiller75 felt that much of the single player was pretty linear and standard, they did highlight the jet and tank missions as stand outs, saying ” The vehicles gave the single-player life whereas the foot soldier sections tended to be standard.”

[drop2]Shifting gears a bit now, lets talk about the game’s multiplayer. For pretty much everyone who commented this was the focus, and MICKY17 was no different. They called the multiplayer “by far the best experience I’ve ever had online,” which is certainly high praise. In particular they really enjoy the game’s class system, stating that it can make every match “different to the last, even if you play the same maps.”

Someone who wasn’t quite as full of praise for the game was Bilbo_bobbins, who seems to have had some problems with the multiplayer. Although they found the game enjoyable, they felt that overall “with so many problems with balancing and technical problems in all its been a let down,” stating that they “haven’t touched it for months now”. The fact that DICE are releasing such huge patches to fix the game’s problems hasn’t gone down well them either, as they called the developer’s approach to the game generally poor.

Something that I’ve yet to touch on is the obvious comparisson that needs to be made with Battlefield 3; just how does it stack up against Call of Duty? Fortunately, Ed the Penguin had that aspect of things well covered for us, saying that they’re “constantly flipping between Call of Duty & Battlefield 3.” When looking at the two together, Ed found Call of Duty to be better for quick games, but they love “spending a good few hours getting engrossed in Battlefield 3,” saying that it gives them “a real sense of achievement that not many other FPS’s” do.

As you’ve probably noted by now, I like to make the last quote I select something that nicely round things up, and it seems that justboy is the perfect candidate this week. Here’s what they had to say:

While the throwaway plot in single player takes the shine off the game as a whole, the great graphics and fun team based multiplayer really makes it stand out in an over crowed genre.

Now, as alluded to at the beginning of the article, it’s time to turn to your verdict of the game. This is a bit of a strange one this week, with a three way tie occurring for last place.

That’s right, Rent It, Bargain Bin It and Avoid It are all sitting on three votes apiece, making Buy It the stand out winner with an overwhelming twenty-five of you picking it. It is worth noting though that many of you said it was only worth buying the game if you were interested in the multiplayer, something that’s certainly worth considering.