IGN editors share their thoughts on October's big online battle.
November 17, 2011
by IGN Staff
Battlefield 3's fought through server woes, crashes, and glitches for its first three weeks in the wild. After giving Battlefield 3 a 9 in light of its stellar multiplayer, the servers have now stabilized, and other editors took up the fight and headed out into battle. So what did everyone else think? Read on to check out what the rest of the office thought of the game.
Battlefield 3 Video Review
Walter Lopez
To me, Battlefield 3 exists as two different experiences: the visually-stunning single-player experience and the massive-scale multiplayer. For the long time Battlefield fan, combat on this scale isn't anything too different, but for gamers new to the franchise - welcome to a whole new world of strategy. I honestly can't remember the last time I enjoyed a multiplayer experience to this extent. Shouting out enemy locations and coordinating attacks on a squad level is something unique to the Battlefield franchise and a welcome return to form.
Certain sections of the single player game echo back to my time in the service. Specifically, when the Marines are standing by, overlooking a target building, one radio transmission later and the attack order is acknowledged. Just as quickly as the command is confirmed, gunfire engulfs the advancing Marine element. The scene erupts with clusters of chaotic beauty unlike anything I've seen in a game before. Showcasing such a scene could only be accomplished with the combined efforts of brilliant visuals and sound design. You should be able to distinguish different caliber bullets and whether or not you're the unlucky recipient of a full metal jacket barrage (If you fancy yourself a weapon expert that is). Yes, the single player campaign is a bit over the top but don't let that steer you away from a great ride and one hell of a way to showcase what the Frostbite 2 engine is capable of.
The PC version shines above the rest, but the console versions aren't too far behind. Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the finished product and highly recommend picking it up. Just don't forget to shoot, move, and communicate.
Battlefield 3: How to Fly Jets
Charles Onyett
Battlefield 3, I wanted to enjoy your single-player campaign, I really did. I wasn't playing for review, so I could play at whatever pace I wanted to, and wouldn't have to take notes. I could play without knowing that whatever I thought might delight or enrage millions of readers. I could wage war in peaceful privacy.
But about an hour in, I quit. I didn't encounter any game-breaking bugs. I wasn't put off by the excess of quick-time events, though they were a little irritating. My hardware was close to top of the line, so even at Ultra Battlefield 3 ran very well. But after a few deaths, I shut down the game, skipped right by the co-op missions, and went directly to the multiplayer suite.
In the following two days I put 10 hours into the online modes, and plan on putting in a lot more. The maps are enormous and filled with hiding spots, the sound is absolutely incredible, the visuals are beautiful, the Conquest mode is, as it's always been, a thrill to play. As a fan of Battlefield since the original 1942, I couldn't be more pleased with Battlefield 3 online so far, aside from the stability issues with Battlelog. But a part of me feels ashamed.
As an editor at IGN, someone who gets paid to write about video games, shouldn't I play everything to broaden my perspective about what's out there? In general I'd say yes, I should, but in this case I just couldn't do it. Battlefield to me, and I think to many, is a multiplayer game, just as Quake III, Team Fortress 2 and Unreal Tournament are multiplayer games. Why does it feel like labeling something as multiplayer-only is a bad thing?
These days multiplayer-only shooters tend to be free-to-play. Team Fortress 2 went free, Battlefield: Heroes and Battlefield Play4Free are both running, and other free shooters like Tribes: Ascend and Blacklight: Retribution are on the way. There are exceptions too, like Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad. It's a brilliant multiplayer game, one that communicates the fragility of life in a war zone like no other. For some reason, Red Orchestra 2 also has a single-player mode, and it's terrible. I have to wonder, if Tripwire hadn't bothered with the single-player mode, could the studio have produced a more polished multiplayer suite? Same with Battlefield 3, if the single-player portion and co-op modes were tossed off the production schedule, maybe there'd be three or four more maps at launch? Five? Two? Based on recent comments, getting rid of single-player doesn't sound like something Electronic Arts wants, but as a fan, I'd like to see DICE focus on what it does so brilliantly: the online game.
Stephen Ng
It should to no surprise that BF3's best aspect is to hop into vehicles, roam around, and blast the enemy team. It's a great feeling to take down enemy vehicles, or use a vehicle to dominate the enemy team.
The weakest aspect of BF3 is the campaign. While the story is both solid and somewhat plausible (it unfolds like a Tom Clancy techno-thriller), the various gameplay mechanics (specifically, the ho-hum uncreative tone of everything) makes it a bland experience. There are no massive battles to partake in. There are almost no Hollywood-esque sequences (Semper Fidelis is as close as you're going to get). The cooperative missions seem like an after-thought, and hardly figure into the package.
If I wanted "virtualized realism," I'll re-read Tony Swofford's Jarhead, or a Chinese classic like Outlaws of the Marsh. As it stands, you're better off sticking to the MP aspect of BF3 and loving it.
Tina Palacios
Remember when a lot of people (including our own Peter Eykemans) mentioned how great the multiplayer is? They are correct. Battlefield 3 is all about the multiplayer. Don't mess with the campaign, or co-op; I have yet to find a reason to try them out. Since launch, I've been squading-up with friends and having a great time. Multiplayer still comes with a few gripes, though. For instance, the squad system needs to be improved—I've randomly been dropped from squads I join, and even got separated from friends after joining new matches together. And just so you know, it's an unnecessary pain in the ass to invite people to my friends list in-game for PC, then add them again through Origin. That said, neither of these issues hinder my desire to blow up buildings and attempt to fly jets. Now if only my teammates didn't spawn camp vehicles...
Scott Lowe
It hurts to say it, but Battlefield 3 is the first shooter to shake my undying love for Call of Duty.
I've always held both franchises in high regard, but Call of Duty was always my go-to. Now, with the addictive multiplayer experiences DICE have crafted with Battlefield 3, I've found myself sinking more hours into driving tanks and arming M-COMs than I have popping headshots and manning predator missile strikes.
What it comes down to is team-play and pacing.
There are no lone wolves in Battlefield. Even if you attempt to be one, you're likely to fail. More importantly, DICE has done a great job incentivizing players to work together.
With the scale of the maps and integration of vehicles, there is also a much wider array of gameplay experiences and strategies. And every match feels unique, no matter how many times you've played the map.
I'm also a huge audio/visual nerd, and DICE's Frostbite technology is absolutely stunning. No shooter has ever looked or sounded this good.
And let's be honest, the Call of Duty engine is starting to show its age.
I even disagree with much of the criticism of the campaign and co-op missions. Is the story predictable and are the themes played out? Of course, but that doesn't mean it isn't well executed.
But don't be confused, I'm not turning my back on Call of Duty. They are two very different games that cater to two very different moods. For team play and variety, Battlefield 3 will be my go-to, but for pure, unadulterated shooting fun, Call of Duty will always be there.
Trying to balance my time between two amazing shooters is a great problem to have.
So I am currently installing windows 7 on VMware so I can download the installer for BF3 then move it to a hard drive were I can put it on my cruncher at work. DAMN THIS SUX
