Battlefield 3

JBLivin

Battlefield 3 Mission Briefing

Battlefield 3 has a solid single player experience, and yet, I found it ultimately underwhelming when all was said and done. Battlefield 3 boast perhaps the best online shooter for multiplayer, and the single player falls short compared to campaigns of other shooters such as Battlefield's nemesis Call of Duty Modern Warfare.


While the visuals are spectacular, the missions in the campaign are bland and often times a little boring considering the high-stakes realistic combat that should make the game captivating. But I'll save that for the multiplayer section of this review. In far too many missions, all the player has to do is simply find a good spot and let the enemy line up as they bull-rush you even as the guy in front of them just took a bullet in the head from your rifle. You get the sense of being a sadistic, psycho lunch lady serving the hungry students their daily dose of a belly full of hot lead as you hold down the trigger and lay waste to seven to ten guys as they simply can't think to take cover and try to flank you with their obvious superior numbers. So Call of Duty has the annoying infinite spawning of enemies, but at least they aren't morons half the time.


Battlefield 3 Single Player

Compared to the multi player online experience, the campaign is definitely lacking when it comes to options, variety, and player choice. Throughout the game the player gets to man a tank once or twice and take to the skies in a cool jet fighter as the gunner. But that's about it really as far as variety in the single player is concerned; a massive let-down compared to the immensely satisfying online multiplayer experience. On top of that, the campaign is roughly 4-5 hours long. Woops. There isn't quite as much pulse-pounding energy as some of its competition and acts against the single player experience. However, there are a few stand-out moments. Again, the jet sequence was pretty cool and an interesting take on dogfighting. The clash between American and Russian troops is especially engaging and will have the player rushing to cover, ducking and maneuvering and flanking against huge numbers of enemies.

Battlefield 3 Trailer




Battlefield 3 Frostbite 2 Engine

Battlefield 3 is an immersing experience, one of the best looking games I have ever played in any genre. The Frostbite 2 engine is, arguably, the pinnacle of technology for first person shooters and lays waste to anything Modern Warfare can muster. As far as a war scenario, the story isn't very believable, similar to Call of Duty. BUT, in terms of how realistic the environments are and the little things like dust getting kicked up and making it hard to see, or finding the right angle as the sun is determined to blind you, and just the overall wear and tear brave soldiers must be experiencing in combat is almost eerie in how realistic it looks.

Battlefield 3 Single Player

Battlefield 3 Online

Battlefield 3 is king when it comes to the online experience, and for good reason. There aren't many games out there that give the players so much variety in the expansive, sprawling levels that allow the players to fight on the ground on foot, in tanks and jeeps, and even in the skies in a gunship or jet all at the same time. If your PC can handle it, I recommend that you treat yourself to this game, which allows even bigger matches online than the console versions on 360 and PS3. There are 24 players on the consoles and up to 64, that's right, 64 players on the PC. My mind just blew up.

Battlefield 3 Online Trailer




Battlefiled 3 Online Experience

There are four classes in Battlefield 3 which all work together in supporting and aiding the team, whether it's with supplying your team with ammo, med packs, fixing equipment and vehicles as an engineer, or simply dealing some pain with a more combat-oriented class. Co op missions have great variety, such as enemy ambushes and vehicle missions which forces players to work with their partner in a way that's both realistic, fun, and satisfying. What I like about Battlefield 3 is that there aren't any unbalanced rewards for scoring a few kills. I swear, there were times when Call of Duty feels like it's a race to see who can score the most consecutive kills. The team that can achieve this first will probably control the rest of the battle AND WIN.

JBLivin

Battlefield 3 Online Experience Continued


Battlefield 3 has perks and rewards that will benefit you and your team but not in a way that guarantees victory. The options are endless. The opening minutes of the game are especially fun and exciting and suspenseful as players race for tanks and jets and gunships, and while you're fighting on foot you can hear and see the battles raging around you, whether it's jets dog fighting in the skies above you, or tanks blasting each other into oblivion. Not only that, keep in mind, just because you're on foot doesn't mean you can't try to take down a tank or even a jet. It's been done. I've seen it happen. Foot soldiers nailing jets. Awesome. If you're in a tank and just blew up your adversary into a heaping pile of molten metal and happen to see a grub trying to sneak up on you and blast you with an RPG or something, eliminate him as well with a well-placed shell. You'll spend hours leveling up your class, vehicles, and weapons. Whatever your play style, the options are seemingly endless and part of the fun is optimizing your class, weapons, and vehicles in a way that best works for you.

Battlefield 3 Caspian Border Online

Battlefield 3 Final Verdict

For it's near-perfect online experience but disappointing single player, Battlefield 3 earns an impressive 8 out of 10 and a 9 out of 10 if you're lucky enough to own a PC that can handle it. Buy Battlefield 3, even if you're a Call of Duty fan. That's right, you heard me.