This past October we saw one of the biggest game releases of the year. Battlefield 3 has been a huge success for Electronic Arts, selling over 7 million copies in 30 days. After playing the game for almost three months on an array of differently equipped PCs I can safely say that BF3 has already established itself as the go-to multiplayer game for LANs and rainy nights for years to come. But the game is not without its shortcomings, and sadly most of those are linked to EA’s less-than-awesome Origin content delivery system and legendary lackluster user support. Along with a map pack that could leave buyers feeling like they might have drawn the short stick, will it be enough to knock BF3 of its throne? Well, the honeymoon period is over, so let’s find out!
Still Lookin’ Pretty
Since the public beta and my preview in October at GeForceLAN 6 not much has changed about BF3. The graphics still look great, the interface is slick and the Battlelog system (the browser-based matchmaking and server finding system) is innovative, if not a bit tedious on your first try. You may find yourself turning down the detail settings if your rig is more than two years old, but even with a mid range 2009 system, I was able to play at my monitor’s resolution without having to turn off anti-aliasing or particle effects completely.
The game looks absolutely amazing on top tier hardware – the best visual experience to be had on a PC right now. A game like Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim may have great views, but that would be a bit like comparing a leisurely stroll in an alpine meadow with snowboarding off the top of a mountain peak – this game is extreme!
Single Player Action Doesn’t Disappoint
Single player gameplay in BF3 takes a cue from the more dialogue-driven entries in the Battlefield franchise – Bad Company to be specific. Every other Battlefield game has been almost exclusively multiplayer so it’s good to see the innovation at work in a storyline situation. The plot is somewhat predictable – your typical hostage/special ops/rescue kind of idea.
Throughout the game you end up playing a few different characters, something that’s getting a little tired. Let’s see a game that follows one character through a proper plot rather than a chopped up storyline that seeks to take us to five different kinds of locations and battle environments. A progressive, expansive game world like that of Half-Life or Half-Life 2 would be incredible if it were played in the realistic military setting of BF3.
At the end of the day BF3 does deliver some very authentic military combat situations, even if the “Follow” icon slows down the flow of gameplay.
Grab a Friend: Co-Op is Here
I’d be lying if I said that anyone out there was buying BF3 for its single player campaign alone. This game, like its predecessors, is all about multiplayer. And boy does it deliver!
Bridging the gap between single and multiplayer is a co-op mode. Grab a friend online and take part in a campaign of mini-missions that earn you unlocks for multiplayer use. And you’ll need those unlocks to keep up with everyone else. A very well tuned rank and abilities system will keep you playing the game for months. Each class has unlockable weapons, gadgets and more. And when you level up, you’ll unlock more abilities and uniforms than you can imagine.
Battlefield 2 tried (and failed) to implement a usable system like this long before games like Call of Duty made it standard, so I’m glad to see that BF3 was able to pull it off properly.
Multiplayer Madness is Back in a Big Way
There really is nothing like hopping online in to a 64-player map, getting in to the gunner position of a tank, and cruising toward the nearest capture point. Along with the unlocks (which give you some very useful vehicle upgrades, too) the mutiplayer mode of BF3 is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a first-person shooter.
Gameplay is almost identical to previous BF games, but about 1000% cooler – destructible terrain including buildings that fall down and mines that leave craters, jet combat that isn’t impossible, and terrain that looks downright realistic are just some of the things you’ll experience in-game. And yet when you switch away from the more classic Conquest mode to something like Squad Rush, the gameplay changes completely. Without vehicles or huge maps to hide in you can really hone your skills with a rifle or pistol, just make sure you watch those control points!
The Origin of the Species
Outside of gameplay, there’s another part of BF3 on the PC worth talking about. Origin launched this year as a direct competitor to Valve’s Steam and other content delivery systems. Since Electronic Arts is the world’s largest video game publisher, we’re going to have to get used to Origin. In fact, many users were angry that BF3 wasn’t available on Steam.
A very back-handed and passive-agressive note on EA’s forums seems to suggest that Valve is evil and that EA is the only company that knows this (anyone who’s spent any time on Steam, or playing one of Valve’s many awesome titles knows otherwise). Origin is a great system in itself, and our comparison of it and Steam really clears the room of that debate, but I can’t help thinking that EA developed Origin just to spite Valve.
At the end of the day, gamers are caught in the cross-fire and now we have to split our gaming experience across two different content systems – maybe some day this lovers’ quarrel will be over and everything can coexist.
EA’s Pet Project?
I didn’t want to spend two paragraphs writing about Origin, but I’ve had an inordinate amount of trouble with the service so it’s worth talking about it some more.
When I purchased the Back to Karkand expansion (more on that below) there was no indication on my games list that I’d actually purchased it – but my credit card was charged and a receipt appeared in my inbox, so it must have gone through, right? Battlelog allowed me to choose Karkand as an option (as it did before I “purchased” the DLC) but I still wasn’t able to play the game.
EA has also warned owners of the Limited Edition (which includes access to the expansion) that “it is possible to buy Back to Karkand even if you already have access to it via the Limited Edition, so please be careful.” Not very reassuring, to say the least – because Origin updated my BF3 install with a 3.9GB patch last week, I could only assume that I already had the data for the expansion, but with no indication of ownership the system falls short of all expectations (and they are very basic expectations)!
Battlelog
Once you launch the game from Origin you are taken to Battlelog, the web-based system for checking out your friends’ profiles, finding a game to jump in to, or making a party with some buddies and starting a voice chat. The Battlelog system was a bit buggy at first but it seems like most of the bugs have been sorted out.
One neat feature is that the voice chat system doesn’t rely on the game server you join, nor does it rely on the game itself – once you form a party and start voice chat you can keep talking even if you leave the server, close the browser, or (god forbid) the game crashes. Some people have said that Battlelog is why Steam and EA were fighting over multiplayer features, others have said it was about selling DLC in-game instead of on the Steam store, but the irony is that Origin doesn’t work properly with the game, whereas Steam probably would have let you keep your friends and party members in check at the same time
Back to Karkand Map Pack Delivers the Goods
Six weeks seems like a short amount of time between a major release like BF3 and a map pack like Back to Karkand (which hit the market December 13). I can’t remember the last game that released an expansion so soon after launch. Those of us who missed out on pre-ordering the limited edition of the game are stuck shelling out another $15 to add four maps that probably should have come with the game in the first place. Of course they’re very desirable maps – all are BF2 classics.
Strike at Karkand is reborn, along with Wake Island 2011, Sharqui Peninsula and Gulf of Oman. Karkand was one of the more popular infantry/non-air maps of BF2 so its ubiquity at LANs will probably live on for another few years as part of Battlefield 3’s roster
I Love the Sound of Napalm in the Morning
There are many reasons why this game blows you away in the first five minutes of gameplay. Yes, this game is good looking – no doubt about that. But the quality of the sound and music is beyond any game I’ve ever played. Short pieces of grungy, electronically distorted music accompany every victory, and make the single player game a little bit more interesting.
The sound effects and environments are also top quality, right down to hearing your breathing get heavier when pulling a few Gs in the fighter jets. Bullets whiz past your head and explosions leave you almost deaf, and depending on where you are and what you are driving, everything will have a different kind of sound. It’s very realistic and very innovative. One small issue is that engine sounds change strangely as you turn your head in game, which is not quite how it would be in real life.
Still, this is a game that will make you want to upgrade your sound card or headset to something with surround or audiophile-quality output.
Final Thoughts and Conclusions
Battlefield 3 is one of the best looking and most entertaining games of the year. Even if online play is hampered by Origin, once you are in a map everything else just fades away as you are taken in to pure eye-candy combat. Though the single player mode is predictable, it’s also very cinematic and adds value to a game that could have otherwise been strictly multiplayer like its predecessors.
I’m looking forward to future map packs and hopefully even a proper expansion to the single player story along with new co-op missions and bigger and better weapons (though let’s not get carried away like the BF1942 “Secret Weapons of WWII” expansion!) I’d recommend this game for anyone who enjoys a good first-person military game, and if there’s anyone in your friends or family asking for a game that really shows off the new hardware they got for Xmas, this is one of the must have titles.
The best part of this game though is that even after three months, I feel just as strongly about this game as I did the first day I played it after launch. If it wasn’t for Origin and its lack of polish, Battlefield 3 for the PC platform would clearly be an Editors’ Choice. I can only bring myself to recommend it at this time.
Pros
- The best looking game of 2011, maybe even all time
- Combat is well balanced with a good mix of weapons and vehicles
- Large map selection (if you have the Karkand expansion of course)
- Great re-playability across several multiplayer modes and co-op missions
Cons
- Steam would have been a much better platform than Origin
- Major updates are likely to cause problems on launch
- Playable but not breathtaking on mid-range systems
- EA needs to listen to its customers on issues like patching, DLC and even copyright control
Overall Rating 8.5 / 10.0
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