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Battlefield 3 Review
Battlefield 3 is going to be a big game. That goes without question. I could give this game a 0/10 and it would still sell millions upon millions of copies. Luckily, BF3 is a great game with some of the best graphics you will ever see with some intense action scattered throughout the entire experience.
The story aspect of the game is very reminiscent of another recent first person shooter (Black Ops) in that it starts out in a flash forward interrogation. US Marine Sergeant Blackburn recalls missions against the PLR. So, in true fashion, you go and play through everything he recalls (even moments he wasn’t there for) leading up to his capture.
One downside to this type of storytelling is that where other games would give you brilliant cinematics showing tons of destruction and really cool action effects, you just get told of things that happened by Blackburn. It definitely hurt the overall story of the game but luckily, that isn’t why you play a Battlefield game. You play it for the instense action and the feeling of truly being a soldier.
We’ll get to the action in a minute but first off, the game is stunning. While the game does prompt you to download up to 2 GB of HD-content, it is a must. That Texture Pack turns the game from a great looking game to an amazing looking game. Basically, Battlefield’s HD-pack works similar to what RAGE had done with big installs but big pay-off.
Now, you will notice some hallways that are just not up to snuff compared to the rest of the game. Lucky for us, these moments are infrequent but still a little annoying. Otherwise, the guns look beautiful and the character models themselves are some of the best I have ever seen. The models are especially shown when you are doing a close up quick time event to kill the enemy.
Overall, the single player campaign is a great experience. Anyone familiar with the franchise, or anyone who played the beta, will feel at home with the way the game handles. It feels and controls just how you want from a first person shooter and the intense action packed sequences that you experience throughout the game keep you playing all the way through.
The majority of the missions are played out as part of a military squad going through various battlefields and cities that will all have signs of damage once you have left. I even found the squad based parts to e very humanizing. Injuries become very apparent at the beginning of the game and carry on throughout. You really do get attached to all of the characters you take control of.
The different characters all have different outcomes to their stories. I won’t give away much but if you played the very first Modern Warfare, you know how one of people will die. As for the other guys, you’ll just have to play the game to see what happens to them.
What really differentiates Battlefield from Call of Duty are the inclusion of vehicles… and less zombies. If it weren’t for those vehicles, the game wouldn’t achieve as high level of awesome as it does.
You will get to take control of tanks to complete destroy your enemies which makes you feel extremely powerful. Others have you in control of jets and while not as great as the air combat from the most recent Ace Combat, are better than I was expecting from a game that doesn’t really focus on it.
There are also lots of breathtaking moments that you’ll experience throughout. When you encounter the T-90 tank and all seems lost when the building collapses, is just video gaming at its best. Mix that with earthquakes happening all around and helicopters crashing into buildings and you will be visually stimulated all the way through.
At the end of the single player campaign, you are left satisfied. While it is nothing ground breaking, you will enjoy it and want to replay it on a harder difficulty after you tackle the enormous multiplayer offerings. Sadly, you won’t get to replay it for a while because the multiplayer will have you playing for hundreds of hours.
As with all first person shooters, the bread and butter is the multiplayer. While a lot of people were disappointed by the beta, the final product is a huge improvement. I could easily find myself playing this game for months to come and it may even let me skip over Modern Warfare 3.
Being in the gunner seat for a tank or a jet in multiplayer is just pure fun. While other FPS’s don’t let you get into vehicles, Battlefield 3 wants you to jump into a vehicle and go and raise hell. DICE just really knows how to make an online multiplayer game fun.
As opposed to the single player where nearly everything is scripted so you don’t get that true so of scope, it completely changes in multiplayer. While you are running between a friendly tank and an enemy tank, you have no idea if that enemy tank is going to fire on you or destroy your tank in a huge blast. Couple that with seeing jets dog-fighting in the skies above you as you are just trying to kill someone with a machine gun and you really get the sense that you are part of a larger battle.
For the smaller portions of the MP, when you are in the middle of a huge battle and have to run and heal a teammate, your heart will race. Similarly, capturing certain objective points is just as fun as ever.
Since the game isn’t officially released yet, the servers do reset after a few matches. While annoying, it does keep people on an even playing field when the offical release happens on Tuesday.
Essentially, Battlefield 3 is an amazing game. It has a great single player experience mixed with a perfect online multiplayer experience. People have been wondering if Battlefield 3 was rushed to beat the release date for Modern Warfare 3 but this is a complete game and could end up setting a new standard for graphics on the consoles.
The Good: Amazing graphics, great single player, even better multiplayer.
The Bad: Rare low-res textures, nothing groundbreaking (but it’s still extremely fun and polished)
Score: 9.5/10
This review was based on a full retail copy purchased by the reviewer on Xbox 360. This review was submitted by freelance writer Cooper Bockus so look for a full review from a Trendy Gamers staff member in the next week. That review will also include in depth details of the expansive co-op mode.
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