Yeah. Itʼs been quite a while since I posted… again. But, this time Iʼm truly sorry and I will try my best to keep you people informed with reviews whenever I find a game worth reviewing. Anyways, Iʼd just like to quickly put out of the way that this blog is now one year old, with almost 5,000 views. Iʼm not sure if thatʼs good or bad, but for me 5k views it pretty good in one year, though for some of you it may not be. Anyways, today Iʼm bringing you my view of Battlefield 3. Let me go ahead and clear the campaign and co-op out of the way, and then move on to the main experience- multiplayer.
The campaign places you in the shoes of Sgt. Henry Blackburn, a soldier who is being interrogated due to false accusations, while trying to prove his innocence. The interrogators ask him a question, and he answers it through his point of view. Sometimes, it swaps around and the interrogators are the ones telling the story.
Impressive destruction.
The campaign.. was very unexciting and stale. Not only was it short, but it wasnʼt very fun either. The story, first of all, wasnʼt even terribly exciting nor entertaining. While playing, I didnʼt really care for the main plot until the last mission, which is the only mission where something that makes the plot interesting happens. This may have also been affected by the fact that there wasnʼt too much variation in the missions. Sure, you got to drive a tank once or twice, and be the gunner of a helicopter, but most of the time you were on foot just killing enemies, mostly in urban areas. Which brings me to another point- even though this is a battlefield, the only vehicle you actually get to drive is a tank in single player; unlike Bad Company 2 which had you driving several vehicles. Not even a four wheeler. The effects were great and there were many explosions, but not very many sad emotional moments that Battlefield should have. This isnʼt a hollywood movie; itʼs a game from a great series. The story could have been a lot better. So if youʼre getting the game for the campaign then you will be very disappointed. The crude humor in Bad Company 2 and variation in vehicles, objectives and missions completely defeated this game in its campaign. Letʼs move on to co-op.
Battlefield 3 co-op.
Co-op is a new edition in Battlefield. Itʼs a few extra missions with their own modified storyline that can be played solo or with a friend online. Additional weapons for multi player can be unlocked through playing co-op as well. Co-op is nothing too memorable. It can be a good experience with a friend, but there isnʼt really much teamwork. Itʼs just missions based of the campaign that vary, and you do get to pilot a helicopter in one but other than that youʼre mainly doing the same thing you did in the campaign, except with a friend and an even less appealing story.
Now, let me cover the biggest feature in this game: the online experience. Battlefield 3 is a very visually appealing game, which you can see from the picture provided. This added to its beautiful destruction makes it even better. The new upgraded Frostbite 2.0 game engine created better sound, graphics, and destruction than Bad Company 2. Also, PC players get even sweeter graphics and a whopping 32 vs. 32 player lobbies… Consoles only get 12 vs. 12 which isnʼt too shabby but nonetheless Battlefield 3 wins in PC. To support this, the maps are also larger now. And thereʼs more of them. Rush and Conquest are better than ever with the new huge maps and added vehicles. However, Battlefield 3 created some maps and placed them on objective based game modes and they just donʼt fit for these type of game modes … Battlefield rush and conquest should be played on huge maps, with many vehicles. Maps such as Grand Bazaar are tight, and thereʼs very little ways to leave spawn and push out for attackers, thus giving defenders an easy way to spawn kill. And thereʼs only one vehicle: a tank. Which brings me to my next point: Spawn killing is much worse than Bad Company 2. Many maps allow people to enter your spawn, and camping with a tank right in the enemyʼs spawn is usually effective. But, when this doesnʼt happen then the game is quite enjoyable. I love playing on huge maps with a squad with people that play their class. Which, takes me to the next thing I want to talk about.
Hooah!
The classes are more tactical and team-based than ever. Recons get spawn devices as well as gadgets that engineers can use to lock on vehicles. The Support class gets machine guns with ammo boxes, like classic Battlefield. Medics get assault rifles now, and engineers still use submachine guns. This just creates a game that even adds more teamwork and tactical gameplay, and if you have a good team that communicates with people that play their part, then this game can be amazing! Whenever you need something you can go over to someone with the right class and ask them for ammo using an in-game feature. You can also spot enemies and vehicles, allowing your team mates to help you take them down. However… If youʼre not playing with people you know then most idiots will never help you. Just in example, Iʼm a colonel (Reached level 45) and I only recall about getting ammo from supports about ten times. The game suffers when this happens, but if you play with mature trustworthy people then this can easily be avoided. Oh yes, bigger and better destruction/maps means more vehicles. Additional vehicles have been added, such as jets (yes, jets!) more tanks, and more transport vehicles. Apart from that, vehicles can receive unlock able stat upgrades. Driving/piloting mechanics are a bit more challenging now, but this is better because it makes a more challenging game.
A jet in action.
The last thing Iʼd like to mention is thereʼs more guns than ever. Not only do you unlock guns by leveling up your player or class, you can also unlock guns by completing separate assignments. Thereʼs dozens of attachments for each weapon and on many the firing mode can be changed (semi-auto, automatic, burst). To sum it all up, Battlefield 3 is strong in its multi player. My experience on it so far has been mixed. While rush and conquest were great playing with people I knew, with strangers it usually isnʼt as good as it could be. Anyways, I had and still do have loads of fun while playing multi player. The huge maps with several vehicles, epic destruction and tactical team-based gameplay is just the perfect combination for a good game. Itʼs very fun to play games while unlocking new things to push your game up to the limit. It fails in the campaign and co-op isnʼt too great either but overall itʼs worth it. I just donʼt like how you need to buy the game new or else youʼll need to pay for an online pass. Here’s some multi-player gameplay I captured straight from my new capture card.
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