Battlefield 3



Battlefield 3 PC Cover

Here I am again this month writing another review for a massive title in “Battlefield 3”.

With this came the “midnight launch”, which, Yes! I did go to, it was my first ever one and I thoroughly enjoyed it, got to meet some really funny people and some really weird at the same time, the most hilarious moment was queuing up at HMV with about 5 people in front and 2 behind and then looking across to GAME at my local high street and a queue of about 50 standing there, then HMV told us they were selling it for £37.99, normal edition and special edition with a steel tin. I almost burst out laughing when GAME customers had to pay a £5 deposit for them then to have to pay £42.99 for the special edition.

So I came away with a cheaper (more expensive) version of the game, from a place I have never bought a game from and managed to get points on my HMV loyalty card, so that was a great start even though at that point I hadn’t played the game.

So the next morning when I opened the packaging, I was “chuffed” to see that I had plenty of free stuff I.E New Gun (M1911) and Back to Markand DLC.

The first thing you will get to see is that amazing piece of industrial music playing with a soldier coming to the front of the “Press Start Screen”. (Good 2 second introduction, good start).

Battlefield 3's Realistic Graphics

Then you hit a pretty basic menu system, with everything you need to………..

”oh wait, what’s this” (reads down screen)

“DO YOU WANT TO INSTALL HD CONTENT”

“What the…………”

(Presses Install Button)

“1.5GB”

So on the above conversation, you have probably just realised that yes, EA ask you to install the HD Content for the game. This is slightly disappointing as I would have expected them to put this in the game any, why you have to install I do not know, however just to pre-warn you that there are also 2 discs for this game:

Disc 1: Multiplayer/HD Content

Disc 2: Single Player

Maybe the single player campaign took up too much space but it is kinda disappointing.

So after this installation, I could finally move onto the campaign. I don’t know if any of you saw the faultline trailer but it was basically a 10 minute showing of what the first level was all about.

Sergeant Blackburn (Main Character)

The story starts on a level called “Flash-Forward”, whether or not a reference or Easter egg to the book and TV series or just explaining the circumstances in which the level is taking place. You’re playing as Sergeant Blackburn, but in this level he has hand cuffs on and is running away from the police before the cinematic version of you decides to jump on a train covered with “bogeys” and bombs. It’s a pretty good tutorial for the game and sets up the rest of the exciting campaign. (Especially in the next level it opens up to Johnny Cash music, Awesooooome!!!)

Just to give you a brief sketch of the campaign (I don’t want to give away too much as usual, plus I have only player the first 8 levels because I had annoying message telling me that my save game was corrupt and couldn’t carry on, so I had to start from scratch, on hard, again, how annoying that was). Like I said earlier you play Sergeant Blackburn and a couple of other characters but mainly Blackburn, throughout, all you know from the beginning is, there is a terror plot from the organisation that the Americans have gone to war with called the PLR, who are planning to bomb New York and Paris, along with what seems like a tyrannical dictator, using portable nuclear bombs.

Throughout the game, you can see your character being interrogated by 2 other Americans which I believe are representing the equivalent of the FBI or Internal Affairs, for some reason they are accusing Sergeant Blackburn of treason and the like.

So that is the basic storyline.

Gameplay.

The graphics are excellent, extremely realistic, the sounds are even better, after all they are using “Dolby Digital Surround Sound” so you can hear bullets “wisping” past your virtual ears, the gun sounds are perfect and each gun has a different a realistic sound to the particular model being used (Fired) at the time.

One of the greatest additions to the series to date is that of the “prone” position, “Thank God” rang out of my mouth when I saw I could do that. Seems something so small but it really isn’t, it’s a massive addition to the game and completely changes the dynamic of the tactics you choose when playing online or on hard in campaign mode (definitely on hard).

"Destruction 2.0" in Action

They have also brought back with destructive environments, if you havent seen it before then its basically what it says on the tin, you hit a building with an RPG its walls will blow up, except this time around, the buildings will collapse when they dont have enough foundations to keep themselves up, this is what they call "Destruction 2.0". It makes the gameplay so much more realistic rather than hitting a building with a RPG and nothing happening, some people just play online just to play with this part of the game, and believe me I know people personally that actually do that. 

The good thing about this game is that they have kept the core parts and changed the parts that made it such a great series in the first place, especially as the last 2 games in the Bad Company series were excellent and really helped the franchise to what it is today.

So now onto the online mode, like the campaign they have kept the essentials of the mode, the same 4 attacking options, Assault, Medic, Support, Scout (Sniper). However they have greatly increased the amount of modifications that you can use such as:

ACOG scope.

-          Sights

o   Red Dot

o   ACOG

o   Reflex

o   Etc.

-          Underslung Rail (this helps to attach shotguns to your rifle)

-          Bullets

o   Flechette

o   Slug

o   Smoke

-          Tactical Torch (Blinds your enemies in close quarters, but gives away your sniping position)

There are many, many more options to modify the guns that you choose to use; each set of guns differs for what side of the world you play as I.E PLR or Americans

PLR = AK47u

American = M16

The maps are excellently designed with an equal emphasis on sniping and close quarters combat, which allows players of any type can play this game, the first thing you will notice is that it is extremely easy to kill someone if you are a veteran of the Battlefield series and Call of Duty Series, it is much more realistic being able to kill someone with a handgun just as easy as mowing someone down with an LMG obviously in the right places. Headshots are a one shot kill as per usual.
The player community is a very wide ranged one, very competitive but very team based unlike other shooters, without using any names or recently award winning titles.

Another addition to the series is that of the “Battlelog”, where you can see what your friends are doing within the game and what they are unlocking when they level up, it’s basically the same as the “Autolog” in the “Need for Speed” series.

So to summarise “Battlefield 3”, it is an absolutely brilliant addition to the series, unfortunately it will soon be over shadowed by the likes of “Call of Duty MW 3” just based on its reputation, however I believe that this holds all the keys to the future of FPS’s, hopefully people will see the truth about Call of Duty and how they just keep churning out the same game each year, I will probably end up buying “Modern Warfare 3” but I doubt very much that I will stop playing this, I am a bit of an achievement hoar but I haven’t even finished the last 2 games of “COD” on the campaign simply because I got bored of the mundane storyline, however Battlefield has bought a fresh face along in the genre of army shooters.

I strongly recommend this game and without doubt it is one of the best FPS’s to be released in the last 10 years or in the Next generation consoles.

Graphics: 9.5/10
Gameplay: 9/10
Storyline: 9/10
Soundtrack: 8/10
Online: 9/10

Overall: 9/10