Battlefield 3 review
We take our time pushing through Battlefield 3 on the PC and Xbox 360 to give our final word on the recently launched title from developer DICE.
Unlike the control felt in Bad Company 2, damage in Battlefield 3 is largely scripted.
[This Battlefield 3 review is based on the PC version of the game purchased by the reviewer and the Xbox 360 version of the game, rented by the reviewer. EA's Online Pass was purchased by the reviewer for the Xbox 360. Specs for the PC used in this review can be found here.]
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Shacknews
replyXav de Matos posted a new article, Battlefield 3 review.
We take our time pushing through Battlefield 3 on the PC and Xbox 360 to give our final word on the recently launched title from developer DICE.-
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Except it's true.
I am thoroughly enjoying my playtime in Multiplayer. It is, by far, the best Battlefield game yet for me (coming damned close to Desert Combat).
But, I played the Single Player...it's basically one giant quick time event, with nearly everything scripted. It even has the infamous infinite respawning whack-a-mole gameplay has the worst of the CoD and MoH games.
The single player is boring and not enjoyable. But the multiplayer is awesome.
Although like any true Battlefield game, there are some bugs (although no game breaking ones now).-
I played the Single Player...it's basically one giant quick time event
You've just described every FPS that's been released in the last 5+ years.-
Ah, come on now. Modern military FPS, maybe. But there's lots of other fish in the sea.
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No, no there aren't. Maybe Serious Sam 3 BFE and Rage right now, but it's "the rush to be Call of Duty". Additionally, we have Bioshock Infinite, which is going to be a handholdy "Press X to trigger scripted cover" fest; XCOM, which will be squad-based RPG-element-laden FPS action (hi, TF2!), and of course the inevitable Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, and Battlefield sequels.
Years ago, FPS game developers took the classic deathmatch shooter and single-player campaign shooter, shouted, "YOU ARE DEAD TO ME!", slammed the door in their faces, and threw away the key. What we have left is what I highlighted above. That sucks; a genre I grew up with in the Doom, Quake, and Half-Life 1 era is strangling itself to death.-
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That's still only one FPS. An awesome FPS but still only one. And even then it doesn't really do anything new, it's just really refreshing because we haven't had a FPS like it since the original Deus Ex.
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Amnesia?
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It really would; I last left it at the beginning of the China level, and that was... September 28. Haven't played it since. I'm really conflicted about playing DX:HR because I always feel like I'm being fenced out of specific campaign choices, and/or don't have enough ammo, or upgraded the wrong augs. And those stupid boss fights are looming.
The other thing about DX:HR is that it demands a big block of uninterrupted playtime, about 2 hours max. I'm not that lucky, especially when work keeps calling and interrupting.-
sounds like a personal problem
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I'm ok with FPS not being like Quake and Doom because the genre needs to evolve. But it hasn't, almost every FPS is trying to be like CoD and it really sucks. I think Red Orchestra 2 is the only recent FPS that has tried to be different at all, which is funny considering it's a WW2 shooter.
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Serious Sam? Are you serious? It's the opposite over over-scripting and is mindless run and gun.
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Also, I've said this before and I'll say it again. As much as I have fond memories of Doom and Quake going back and playing takes a lot of shine off. They are bog simple key hunts with monster closets. Half Life is the only game in the group that you mentioned that stands up and it has a ton of scripting like the kind you bitch about.
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Some days I need "mindless run and gun" to offset the dialogue system in DX:HR, or the overdone scripted events in Rage. What you call "key hunts", I call "flow control". I started Doom 2 up through MAP06, and had a blast.
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To each their own, but don't bitch about a car with ABS and traction control just because you like to drive something from the 70s.
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"5+ years" covers everything back through 2006 and even earlier.
That's the entire STALKER series, for one thing. Halo 3, ODST, Reach. Both BioShock games, a whole raft of Valve FPSs, Borderlands, the Crysis series, Rage, Zeno Clash, Brink, Cryostasis, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Quake Wars, Dark Messiah, Mirror's Edge, UT3, Stranger's Wrath, Prey. Perhaps Fallout 3 and New Vegas depending on how you bin FPSs. into 2005 there's Prey, Quake 4, Sniper Elite... Etc. etc. yada yada. I'm probably forgetting several, and I'm sure there's lots I haven't played that qualify (Wolfenstein, various PS3 shooters, Hard Reset, whatever).
General quality aside -- although most are pretty damn good -- none of these have any notable reliance on QTEs, much less being "one giant quick time event".
Of course, your complaints are veering off in a different direction from MagicWishMonkey's, but you're still overlooking a lot.-
I just said "years"; the real bad turn started about 3 years ago. I remember 2008 as the year I didn't buy any FPSes; I only got Fallout 3. The big QTE-fests are FEAR 2, CoD:WaW, MW2, and CoD:BLOPS. There was this, the focus on 360-first development, the "death" of mods (by developers not allowing them to be made), and so on.
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No, I haven't. There HAS been a drivel of highly QTE games, cover systems and linear corridor shooters. But there have been some real gems as well (as described below).
The game is VERY pretty. But just didn't have any excitement or interest. Which is odd, since it's there in the multiplayer. It didn't even have a sense of "adventure" that some games have.
In short, the single player is just bad. It runs more like a 3DMark demo than a game.-
I'm enjoying it quite a bit more than the last few CoD games, I guess MW was a bit better I'm having more fun playing BF3 than I did MW2 and Blops. At least there's a cogent story so far.
To each his own, I suppose.
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The single player game is so full of retard I am not sure if I'm even going to bother finishing it.
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They really need to fix those squad (especially voice chat) and UI issues. Why the hell can you not update your loadout between rounds?
So utterly stupid.-
Yeah, the UI is my biggest beef with the game so far. Also, not being able to hit 'start' to quit and go back to menus at the end of a match to open up a player spot before the next map loads bothers me to no end.
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Also, that's for the 360 version.
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I fear it's the Battlelog leaving PC users with a lack of VOIP.
Battlelog uses Sonar to allow the only form of VOIP, when in a party, through the browser.
It's when you have to talk to everyone else that becomes an overlapping mess. Do they get rid of Sonar and put everything inside the client? Or do they make something incredibly complex on the browser side?
My thoughts, and this would simply cater to replacing Team Speak to cater to the Shack, is to create a large VOIP "party" within a Platoon that people could leave and join. Further, it could have the option to automatically move you around into appropriate attack/defend, US/RU channels and, if setup so, could move you around in the appropriate squad. I guess this could also be done to the server, and not just the platoon, hmm.
Oh well, not my problem.
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Been playing since unlocking it with a Asian VPN early and not a single multiplayer/connection issue then or now/
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Well considering the review is based on a combined total of 8 hours (5 on PC and 3 on xbox) it's pretty disheartening and obvious that not that much time was devoted specifically to either the SP or the MP.
Basically enough time to get the gist, experience all of the problems, and none of the time to enjoy the game to the point that they will vastly outshine whatever launch problems he experienced.-
That said, Xav is likely pandering to the Gamefly visitors that come through looking for titles to rent, and I bet GF gets a lot of traffic of people investigating the quality of the SP side of things, so it's probably important that this aspect is covered. I would agree 100% that BF3's single player is average at best, boring to terrible at worst.
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I'd really hope that reviews aren't being written to appeal to Gamefly users. I highly doubt it since they're still covering PC games.
I still don't understand why the review barely covered the multiplayer in a series that's known for its multiplayer though.-
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And even that campaign wasn't that good. So it's totally believable when Xav says the single player in BF3 is shit as well, I just don't get why you'd focus on it.
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Yeah, I thought it was garbage aside from the destructibility of certain areas, but there are a few fans of BC2's campaign around here.
I'm playing through BF3 right now and it's not bad, but it's not good either. I dug the tank mission I just finished even though it was ridiculously easy. So far it's the only mission that felt like it belonged in a Battlefield game. The rest is super linear and feels very much like Call of Duty with prettier effects.
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That's pretty much the state of game reviews as a whole nowadays isn't it? Singleplayer gets the majority of the focus, whatever co-op modes the reviewer has played with other reviewers get a mention, and the rest of the the multiplayer gets a footnote at the end of the review. The only time you typically see anything written about multiplayer is if the reviewer themselves is part of the multiplayer scene for that game (ie. Leahy and starcraft).
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Yup me too
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Yeah, that part of the review is a giant wtf.
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I had tons of trouble keeping connected to a match earlier during launch week, but they rolled out some fixes that took care of everything. No connection complaints since.
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Make sure you check your server filter and find one with the best ping. I seem to get the best pings from South servers, even though I should be East.
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Crippled might be strong, but the first load of a MP server never works for me. "BF3.exe has stopped working." But after that it works fine. Mostly. Had a black screen for the first time last night. And getting COOP to work isn't a slam dunk but it does work. Mostly.
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Multiplayer's awesome, singleplayer sucks, wtf else do you want.
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No multiplayer issues here. The occasional server problem in the beginning and nothing recently. 15 hours of multiplayer so far and I consider it the best MP experience of any online shooter to date. Each to his own I guess.
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I can't comment on single player because I haven't played it, but in regards to server problems weeks after launch: I can't think of a problem that hasn't been fixed since. Rubber banding was a big deal, but it's gone completely now. The only server problems at the moment is that admins keep Metro in 64 conquest rotation, that' needs to be fixed :p
I'm not sure I understand what's inconsistent. Would consistency be getting one shot by quick scoping snipers in a tiny ridiculous multiplayer map? Would consistency be saving the world from the villain and almost dying in the process for 4 games in a row? Or consistency is releasing the same every year in November?
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Battlefield 3 is the best military-based online shooter I've played this year. How dare Xav like BF3.
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No, Garnett took the helicopter to the review event resort this year.
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I'd prefer if they focused on MW3 single-player. Talking about the multiplayer before the game releases is disingenuous, since they've usually only been able to play on 360 against other journalists with the press copy. That's not the same as going out on release and playing with other consumers. For this, I applaud Xav for getting real-world experience with BF3 multiplayer, and not just rushing to pump out a story at the 'bargo.
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"While DICE's experience in producing compelling squad-based multiplayer is unmatched, many of DICE's other efforts fall flat. Should you be willing to pay full price for that inconsistency?"
I think this is the key question. $60 bucks. The Single Player and Coop in BF3 are not very strong. I can respect all the work and polish that went into them. But they fall flat... I had the exact same knife issue as Xav. Other issues as well... where I would just fail a mission, or it wouldn't be clear exactly what I had to do next. The coop missions were fun, but what ruins it for me is, the fact that you have to grind them to get unlocks. They DON'T have a lot of replayability, and you probably have to play them all (in total) 30 or 40 times to unlock everything, unless you exploit the respawning bugs.
The multiplayer IS fantastic. But only when it works. I've had consistent Party issues, voice chat issues, server join issues, and map loading issues every time I've played. Sometimes a party doesn't show your friend online, even though you are chatting with them over the battlelog voice system. Other times they won't get the party invite even though they are online, or, even if they do get into you party, they won't get server invites.
When it works, its great. And it works most of the time... but it needs some of the wrinkles ironed out. -
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Amazon has digital download for $51.
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I got it from them, no issues.
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Bought a serial on CJS for $40 and worked out (surprisingly) great:
http://www.cjs-cdkeys.com/
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That's because you aren't playing Multiplayer with us. Get drunk on Thursday and join up
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^^^ 1000% this ^^^ Xav, I don't disagree with your opinion of BF3, and I think it's actually very measured and probably the right review for an average PC or console gamer. However, you really owe it to yourself to witness the majesty of a Shacker-filled server. It's very impressive how much this game has taken hold of the Shack. The most recent comparable game was Minecraft, and I don't think it even drew quite so many Shackers to it.
At any rate, when you get the whole raucous crew in Teamspeak, whether it's a Thursday night drunken Shackbattle (which can be best described as "hilarious chaos") or one of the SRS BSNS Shackbattles where each team organizes in separate Teamspeak channels and works together for objectives, these games are a glorious thing. I've played a time or two on random public servers and frankly it just doesn't compare. Occasionally it's the skill that's lacking, or maybe the teamwork isn't what it should be, or sometimes it's just the lack of camaraderie. Anyway, don't miss this one, it's something special. If the only measure of a game was the number of hours played and the amount of attention the game gets among Shackers, this game would already be far and away the game of the year for the Shack.
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I have played with Shackers; however, not on the password protected server.
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Yeah man, stop by on a Thursday night, just make sure you have a few drinks.
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Yeah, if you're stupid and fat and gay.
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Eyefinity HUD/IFF Tag Fix
Fix I just did for getting the HUD and Player tag/overlay working in my Eyefinity set up:
1. disable your eyefinity display group.
2. Disable 1 of your monitors in catalyst (not the center one).
3. Extend the 2 monitors to the disabled monitor.
4. Setup a new eyefinity group with the secondary monitor (number 2).
5. When this is all done and arranged en bezel compensated you should see that it is numbered 2 instead of 1.
6. Set your preferred monitor to your center monitor.
Then:
Go to \My Documents\Battlefield 3\Settings
Copy and save the file "PROF_SAVE_profile" somewhere else in case you need to redo your settings
Then open the file
"PROF_SAVE_profile" with word pad or whatever editor you like
Locate the line that reads
GstRender.ScreenSafeAreaWidth and set it to a setting that is good for you mine is set at
GstRender.ScreenSafeAreaWidth 0.300000
I see that Hafen Toni is at 0.600000
default is 0.950000
Which ever you like to get the hud to display more to the center for you
Then Save the file.
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i notice a lot of battlefield reviews are like, "here's the single player! here's why it sucks! here's the co-op! it's okay! also there is a great multiplayer mode if you're into that, i guess. 7/10."
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I swear to fuck, people commenting on the single player for BF3 fucking SLAY me.
This is the kind of stupid shit you would expect someone like me to whine about "but they INCLUDED IT so it's their responsibility to make it good!!!" only even I'm not fucking stupid enough to expect ANYTHING from the single player, how god - fucking - damned - stupid do you have to be?
Techreport which was also stupid enough to whine about single player, actually worse so than this subthread and review - they had a made a point of an entire article dedicated to the SP.
My comment there.
"This is MADNESS!
This is the second time I've seen people whine about single player for BF3, what is going on? Do I go out and buy Heavy Rain for the MP? You should know what you're buying the game for, if you want a compelling SP experience buy a single player game, Rage, BioShock, Uncharted, heck even Gears of War (for some) - Killzone even, but Battlefield? Battlefield? What is going on here.
"Hi sir, I purchased this tractor and it's terrible at the 1/4 mile!!!"
I'm seriously baffled by this."
Seriously,... seriously - maybe I'm in the minority here but WHO FUCKING CARES about the single playr? and I'm almost exclusively a single player gamer! Seriously, BF has ALWAYS been an MP series and critisizing such an excellent MP game (and it takes a lot to fucking impress me in general, let alone for an MP game) is utter, utter stupidity.
In conclusion, maximum derp, engaged.
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The issue is they advertised BF3 as a legitimate SP game. Their previous Battlefield game Bad Company 2 itself turned out to be a legitimate SP game, despite being bundled with their MP component. By your logic that kind of coupling is just impossible, despite obviously already being disproven.
They did months of PR on BF3's SP and created a strong expectation of quality and it turned out it's kinda crappy.
Your argument "Well, of course it's shit - DICE has and will always be SP shit and if you bought the game expecting good SP you well deserve every dollar lost on it." is wrong at the core.-
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I get where you are coming from, but yes, people care about the SP. and I saw a lot of marketing on TV and in the stores (Gamestop and BB) about the campaign. I know the hardcores like us could care, but they dont put all the money into the SP just to be a throw away.
BF3 was created to go head to head with the CoD series - and specifically MW3. The publisher, studio, and the marketing all made this clear. They want to take the crown away. And to do that, they have to have an over the top SP event to do that.
This is like when games added SP to the Doom and Quake model that was very different to the MP flow for me. I could have cared less back then. MP maps without monsters on them? WTF was that ... time moves on and moves past all of us. -
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Even the multiplayer isn't rocking my world. It's okay, but even when I've played extended sessions I don't et the rush I used to get from BF2.
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I liked the BF3 SP game. It's pretty much exactly like the CoD single player formula, except it looked better and was appropriately challenging.
The only downside is the QTEs. I'm not anti QTE at all, I just think they need to be a little more engaging or just abandon them for in-game cut scenes. Pressing B one time for a 15 second event is not enough to make it feel like I had anything to do with the outcome. If my guy had to make 3 punches and a choke, give me 4 things to do.
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All I know is that this game lets me shoot at a guy's SPAA tank to scare him out of it and then kill him. Then I fix his SPAA tank and take it back to my team. Denying them of AAA and making life for their Aircraft terrible.
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Is is review for real? Feels like random thoughts, without an meaningful comments on much of anything, and from what I can tell very premature if it's supposed to be even partly a commentary on the game's multiplayer after only a handful of hours. I am 12 hours in and wouldn't feel comfortable reviewing the game yet, having barely played all maps / classes / modes. Sigh. Anyways, for me so far the game is fantastic, no more server or battle log issues either.
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First and foremost for disclaimer, I have to say I work at Raven Software/MW3... and I really tend to be not biased
As a person who plays lots and lots of single player shooters, I had such high hopes for Battlefield3, but in the end I was really disappointed and let down... As soon as I saw the first completely out of the context QTE I was just pulling my hair (QTE vs. a rat??!!! Are you serious? Are you gonna die out of a rat bite? rabies?)
I personally loved last years Medal of Honor and its ending was one of the boldest finales in any form of entertainment last year. But now, it's such a step back! Yes the visual fidelity of the game is stunning... but that's pretty much its all going for it
(I really feel bad for Crysis 2, since comes end of year time, just because of release date, nobody is gonna put them in any GOTY categories... hell, even as bad as the shooting mechanics were on Homefront, that game had so many high points in its narrative structure that still resonates with me)
This might be a really minor thing and might get flak for it, but coming from Iran (and being able to differentiate between Arabic and Farsi) I can't believe neither DICE or EA LA could not find a single person to translate the signs all over the game... Just look at the bottom of the review...
(I kid you not there was a sign for "child care" and next to it the translation is the dirtiest word we use for "penis") -
guys... guys,.. Xav just wanted to rush out a review based on the 1/3 of the game's weakest points before playing every map from both sides and playing all the vehicles and unlocks etc. he wanted to pass judgment on it.. just not from any accurate fundamental experience.
there. i cleared it up.
lets go back to our game, guys.
gg
next time maybe do what shack does best with their reviews, actually go into detail and give a balance and flow.. not random excerpts that spring into your head whilst ignoring major portions of the experience. k thx. -
I'm not going to chime in about how bad or shameless i think posting a review like this is, esp 2 weeks after the games release and the day before its rival game is released(which got a release day review), However i will say this, Dear Shacknews ...please, PLEASE, stop writing reviews, please. If you could just stick to press release material and previews, it would be greatly appreciated...but please, never a review on anything ever again. thank you.
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No mention in the review that Origin is spyware that can (and does) send info about what software you use to EA at any time. That was the reason I didn't buy the game, and although I'm a bit sad to miss out on the multiplayer, I'm glad happy to hear I'm not missing out on anything but eye candy in single player.
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I've owned 1942/BF2/BC2 and liked them all, but I don't like anything about BF3. The SP is as bad as BC2's, and the MP isn't very fun for me. Maybe it's the maps, but I have no urge to play it any more.
And with the PC version coupled with Origin/Battlelog, it's truly an awful experience.
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