My thoughts on the Battlefield 3 BETA
By AhmadMetallic 80 Comments
Several factors caused this confusion, the most significant of which are the EA CEO's comments about BF3 being designed to "take down COD", the developer's comments about creating a "game for everyone" and that they are " lowering the complexity threshold" and going with a "play it your own way" motto, not to mention the fact that the most streamlined of all the BF titles, the console spin-off sequel, Bad Company 2, made crazy bank, and we all know what cash does to a developer's style.
To make a long story short, there was a lot of worrying, a lot of anticipation, I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know whether in the next few years I will be once again having the best multiplayer experience of my life (by having BF3 be truly similar to BF2, not identical, but similar as a sequel should be), or whether I was gonna be playing Bad Company 2.5.
After playing the BETA for a few days, the highlight of which was 5 full rounds of the conquest 64 map Caspian Border, and of course a dozen of Operation Corridor, ahem, Metro, rounds, I've grown even more confused.
Battlefield 3 is extremely beautiful and genuine and mindblowing and amazing, but at the same damned time it is extremely broken and riddled with bad design choices and poor execution.
I'll start with the good, then deal with the bad. I'll be focusing more on Conquest, because I simply do not care for Rush.
What makes Battlefield 3 the game I have awaited for years
I am pleased to witness for myself that Battlefield 3 does not borrow anything from anyone. It is its own game, has its own aesthetics, the sounds and the graphics, the art and the map design, the gun feel and handling and recoil, the bullet drop and velocity, the soldier movement, the game's pacing whether it's a conflict over MCOMS and advancing against the enemy, or a conflict over control points (flags) and the better team coming out on top conquering and victorious.
Battlefield 3 is its own game and I found that to be an outstanding way to start the game. By feeling like I've never played it before.
2. Innovation. DICE were hell-bent on innovating in this new Battlefield. You can just sense it as you play the game, that this developer did not want to settle for the same old gameplay features.. They added a suppression system that blurs your vision and weakens your aim (when you get suppressed - shot at). That system needs its own special class that is best at suppressive fire, so now the Support class using LMGs has a higher purpose than just spraying bullets. Suppressive fire is a task that you do on the battlefield, and thus a new XP score is born, Suppression Assist. See how beautiful DICE's development strategy is? They know how to throw something in the air and just make a rainbow out of it. They know how to connect the dots and make all the different aspects in the game have an interrelated connection that influences gameplay.
Other great innovations:
- Sniper glint- Being a sniper is not something easy. And it is extremely deadly. If you want to snipe, you must have the skill and patience and persistence of a sniper.. Bad Company 2 proved that not giving the sniper something to worry about, turned sniper into a big fat dick shoved deep up the game flow's ass. Now I do agree that the glint is excessive and exposed snipers way too often, but if they tone it down and tweak it just right, it will teach snipers to keep moving thus making them more beneficial for their teams (spotting, etc..). That glint, along with the fact that the only one-shot-kill a sniper could get is a headshot, will teach the kids not to waste their times wanting to "snipe noobs" because its beyond their attention span
- Flashlights and laser attachments: A beautiful addition to the guns, those two add-ons have very tactical advantages yet may expose you or have you blind your enemies.. Learning to use your flashlight, when to turn it off or on, and when to blind your enemy with your laser attachment and when to keep it off in order to stay stealthy, is going to be a difficult lesson and a challenge I look forward to
- Dynamic lighting: You can shoot out any lamp/light in the world. Enough said! This could change firefights as we know them, creating darkness around you will help you be undetected, and shooting out your enemy's lights and using their flashlight to know where they are is a smart move I'm sure we're gonna be seeing a lot.
- Vehicle disablement
- Revive opt-out
- Several new toys like the EOD bot, MAV, laser designator for jets, spawn beacon, etc..
- A lot more!
