As a fan of the Battlefield franchise, Battlefield 3 has essentially delivered in every way I hoped it would.
It’s a massive, beautiful, solid and deep online shooter that requires tactical deliberation, strategic planning, and teamwork. In order to succeed players need to play to the strengths of whichever class they happen to be playing with at a given time, and fully maximise the advantages provided by their vehicle load out.
The beta, while being ultimately rather impressive, had me a little worried going into Battlefield 3. Fortunately the various technical niggles that were present have been squashed, and some subtle gameplay nuances have been tweaked. The result is that Battlefield 3 feels remarkably well balanced and solid in its current state.
It’s not all sunshine and butterflies though. The one and only serious criticism I have is the browser based launcher. While it’s admittedly not as bad as I thought it would be, the launcher is ultimately held back by the technical limitations of a web browser. The game is also a little buggy still, and prone to crashing every so often.
The first thing that every person I’ve shown Battlefield 3 notices is the absolutely breath taking visuals. Quite frankly, it is probably the most visually impressive game I’ve laid eyes on, at least from a technical perspective.
The sheer ocular spectacle is ridiculous, and at times borders on being distracting. With a quad-core CPU, 8GB of RAM and a Radeon HD 6970, I am able to run the game on high settings and maintain an extremely smooth frame rate.
If you are lucky enough to see the game running at its best, then you are in for a real treat. Lighting effects are jaw dropping, explosives are dynamic and powerful, and the environment details and character models are simply stunning.
It’s not only a treat for the eyes though, and coupled with a decent sound card and speakers, Battlefield 3 is one of the best sounding games I’ve ever heard. The surround sound is as good as it gets, and the sound effects in general are powerful and detailed.
In terms of its overall game design philosophy, Battlefield 3 is thankfully very much a Battlefield game at heart. Despite the fact that Activision has built Call of Duty into the world’s biggest video game franchise, DICE and EA have resisted the urge to create something completely similar.
Battlefield 3 sticks to the franchise’s core principles, making itself relevant and more important than ever. Having said that, in my experience the game operates more fluidly than previous titles in the franchise such as Bad Company 2.
The pacing is just a little bit more intense, and in that regard Battlefield 3 seems to have taken a few notes from the Call of Duty series. Battlefield purists might bemoan this shift, but as a fan of both the Battlefield and Call of Duty franchises, the new tweaked design appeals to my own personal preferences.
Fortunately, the hit detection is pretty much spot on, and other core online FPS principles have been adhered to. Class-based combat is the name of the game, and players will have to adjust their approach depending on the situation, and their role within it.
Unlike titles such as Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops – games in which it is relatively easy to succeed by simply keeping mobile, knowing the map pretty well and having sharp reflexes – Battlefield 3 calls for a far more cerebral and tactical approach.
Vehicles provide various tactical advantages, and if used effectively, can easily shift the balance, and the maps are so massive that controlling and capturing victory locations requires co-ordination, timing and teamwork.
Piloting vehicles is easily one of the most exciting things about Battlefield 3. A wide assortment of tanks, jeeps, light armoured vehicles, helicopters and jets are available to operate. I found the jets surprisingly easy to get the hang of, although those new to the series will struggle as much as ever trying to get the hang of helicopters.
Tanks are best used strategically, and like all the vehicles in Battlefield 3, it is best to use them tactically and make sure you are always supported by team mates.
The maps are another highlight for me. For the most part they are well designed, and most notably, epic in scope. DICE has gone bigger than ever with Battlefield 3, and it can take a number of hours to get your head around some of the sprawling land masses that you will be fighting across.
The sheer scope of these maps gives Battlefield 3 its trademark epic scale, especially on some of the larger maps when there are as many as 64 players running around, piloting an array of vehicles, many of which are flying overhead.
Finally, there is the unlock system. This is essentially what gives Battlefield 3 is longevity. In each match you will earn points for performing various different activities, from killing enemies, to capturing victory points, planting explosives and destroying vehicles. Furthermore you will earn points for accomplishing certain achievements, such as getting a certain number of kills with a specific weapon in a round.
All these points are tallied at the end of each map, and like an RPG, they contribute to levelling up your soldier. Each time you level up, you unlock a new item, and on top of that, you level up each class by playing with them, further unlocking additional class specific items and weapons. There is a massive degree of variety when it comes to customizing your soldier, and the desire to unlock new items is quite tangible when you get into the swing of things.
Overall, Battlefield 3 is a remarkable online shooter. Unparalleled production values coupled with epic battlefields, deep strategic gameplay, a wide variety of unlocks and magnificent vehicle based combat all come together to deliver what is easily the most impressive online shooter I have played in a very long time.
Battlefield 3 multiplayer review (PC) << Comments and views
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