Battlefield 3 Review

The market for first person shooters is never ending; it’s a genre that has pretty much taken over the gaming industry and we are practically forced to put up with this unimaginative and stale genre. Especially when we consider the military shooter, and when I say ‘the military shooter’ we all know which one I’m talking about. So when we do bring ourselves round to play something that only adds to this crowded market it really has to be unique, interesting and impressive. Inevitably we must compare it to the aforementioned ‘military shooter’ (I dare not say its name in case I incur the wrath of fan boys, so from now on I shall refer to it as Salmon: Modern Fishing 3) and with this in mind it’s possible to say that Battlefield may have just blown it out of the water.

Paradoxically to this Battlefield’s story is a complete flop; you have your typical Russian terrorist plot to destroy western civilisation and urgh, BORING. I simply long for a game that will depict the true threat to the world, forget Russians, forget Muslim extremists, in fact a man standing directly in front of you with a serrated knife is less of a threat than this menace. So who is it? Greggs of course and their pastry filled world domination. They are intent on bankrupting and destroying the economy by charging extra for a little plastic bag! Such evil will not go unpunished... Anyway this is beside the point; Battlefield’s story should have been fantastic what with Andy McNab writing it. Unfortunately however, it fails to portray any emotion or drama. Venture into the levels and you’ll find that the AI is clumsy but somehow incredibly accurate when firing weapons. In one level you find yourself atop a roof, its night time and you’re about 250 meters away from the nearest enemy so there is very little chance of getting spotted, or so you would think. Firing one round suddenly alerts everyone to your position and you find yourself constantly hiding behind cover because every time you pop your head over the wall you end up looking like Swiss cheese, suffice to say it wasn’t an enjoyable game play experience. Considering this there are one or two stand out moments that will cause your heart to beat a tad faster, driving a tank across the desert is a moment that stuck out, hence why EA decided to use this part in the E3 demo last year. In all, the single player mode should be considered as a training ground for the bigger picture which is of course the multiplayer.

Some major renovations have been to the already stellar multiplayer that we experienced in earlier renditions of Battlefield (The Bad Company series). No matter what you do in the game you will be rewarded, so if you are the person that simply enjoys providing support you will be rewarded for it, if you are a reconnaissance/sniper lover then you’ll find it more than suitable, if you want to go all in guns blazing then you will be rewarded handsomely for that too. One little game play element I’ve found enjoyable is suppressing fire, if bullets are being fired towards you, your screen will go blurry and aiming is made a lot harder. This makes LMG’s particularly joyful to use as their large ammo boxes allow you to suppress an enemy for extended periods of time. Parts can also be connected to almost any gun, the laser sight and flashlight both act as disorientations and are a welcome addition to the already bursting arsenal. Of course you have your typical selection of sights, bipods and grips to attach too but consider that there are more than 50 guns in the game and it really allows for some deep customisation, making no two players completely similar. In some aspects Battlefield has borrowed some mechanics from the ‘Salmon’ franchise. This can be seen with their perk system which allows a variety of abilities from sprinting faster to carrying more ammunition or in regards to vehicles it’ll allow different machine guns to be fitted to your tank to heat seeking missile deterrents on your helicopter of jet. To further this, once you have achieved a certain level, you gain the ability to share these perks with your squad members, allowing others to benefit from your awesomeness. The selection of game modes are small but suitable, you have your typical team death match mode which is quite fun but it’s most likely you’ll be playing the other more exciting game modes consisting of ‘conquest’ which requires you to capture multiple flags in order to dominate the enemy and secondly there is ‘rush’ which will have you capturing two com’ stations at a time, once they are destroyed you move on to the next pair and so on. What makes these game modes so enjoyable is the option to use vehicles in multiplayer, an aspect that few console gamers have really experienced (bar Halo and other Battlefield games). Tanks, 4x4’s and boats are all reasonably easy to handle however aircraft have a bit of a learning curve; this is good however as it encourages players to grow in skill and dexterity. Obviously it would be useless having such vehicles on a small map, so there are at least three very large maps where vehicles are available, it’s just a matter of first come first serve so you’d better get to them quick! To sum it up the multiplayer will most definitely have you hooked and it’s a long time since I’ve been able to say that.

Sound wise Battlefield really puts you into the centre of the action, footsteps and shouts echo when inside a building, engines roar and guns feel like they pack some real power. I recommend using some good quality headphones when playing this game as it greatly helps in pin pointing the locations of enemies, so you will be able to hear someone sneaking up on you.

Graphics are another great aspect of the game, there is little to no frame rate drop, lighting is superb (look into the sun and you’ll get a nice glare effect). Characters have good animations especially when you consider the knife assassinations, although it must be said using a knife isn’t particularly useful and it’s a little clumsy, you’re better off just using your gun in a close combat situation. What I have found incredibly disappointing however is the lack of destruction compared to previous instalments. Very few buildings fall to the floor even after taking a terrible beating and some walls are virtually impenetrable. Saying this though, ‘Salmon: Modern Fishing 3’ couldn’t even hope to replicate the destruction already in this game so it still stays on the positive side of the list so to speak.

To summarise the single player gets a thumb down from me, it’s an uninteresting storyline and generally uninspired, ‘been there done that’ springs to mind. Multiplayer however gets a massive thumbs up, it’s thrilling, challenging, addictive and quite simply brilliant. It makes it an even better buy when you consider the recently released DLC that updates the maps from Battlefield’s exclusively PC gaming days. Battlefield 3 may just be another FPS but it’s one that has the credentials to keep you playing it.

Written by Alex Foster

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