Battlefield
3 is serious fun. DICE have contrived to create the most unforgiving
and challenging, yet engaging and enabling, on line first person
shooter experience on consoles to date. If you want to do it the hard
way, and reap the rewards thereafter, then “It's on you Marines”.
Battlefield
3 is a game of two parts, one forgettable, the other a work of
exquisite design.
Battlefield
3's single player campaign is far removed from that of it's close
cousin, Bad Company 2. Upon release, BFBC2 was lauded for it's not
too serious, camaraderie oriented, vernacular. Likeable characters
would exchange 'Tet a tet' to lighten the gloom, the emphasis laid
square on the shoulders of 'team' and the collective, rather than
that of the the lone wolf. BF3 makes no such commitment to character
or story.
You'll
play as Sergeant Henry Blackburn, a decorated U.S. Marine. Returning
from recent overseas operations, he has become aware of an impending
terrorist threat to New York City.
The
blot on BF3's copy book is the limp single player campaign, easily
completable in a not so terrible eight hours. This would be
dramatically reduced if cut scene usage were minimised. In an ironic
twist, the cut scenes themselves, at least from a technical
standpoint, could be considered the most impressive pocket of BF3's
campaign coating. The voice acting therein, and the facial animations
in particular are perfectly done. Amid the dank and drawn office
backdrop, Blackburn, who dominates most of the campaign play through,
is temporarily retired from duty as he answers some taxing questions
following his squad's recent operations in the middle east.
The
opening frame, in which you hurl yourself through a subway train
carriage window and drop kick your balaclava clad foes to the floor,
before equipping and making your way forward, begins proceedings. The
train, plagued with post mortals, slumped in their seats, permeated
with bullet holes, is an eerie but enjoyable start.
It is
a real shame that the BF3 campaign has so few moments of such
excitement. There are shocking moments however. While BF3's single
player is much like an overly milky cup of tea, at points the
caffeine kicks right in. The ultimate fate of one or two soldiers in
the story is adequately reminiscent of the true nature of war. The
key failing of the narrative is that it doesn't deliver any
connection beyond simply fighting a war, for the sake of winning a
war. When these impactful happenings occur, there is never any reason
to care. Battlefield 3 does little at all to make it's central
characters either memorable or likeable, and when your squadies are
consumed by the fog of war, it feels like no more than the
unavoidable statistical inevitability that is war in the modern age.
DICE
shouldn't be faulted for their humble attempts at creating a varied
campaign. Use of no less than four separate protagonists on foot, in
tanks and by air, across the middle east, Paris and New York all
sound good around the brainstorming table. On paper, it also sounds
good to include quick time events and levels with varying content to
break up the rote nature of extended first person play. It is in the
execution of these fine ideas that BF3's biggest failings are
exposed. Paris and New York are visited, but for one notably brief
foray each. The time lapse directive throughout the story adds no
drama or suspense. The quick time events are overly straight forward,
sparsely used and uninteresting.
Some
of the variety DICE attempts, for example, a stealth mission under
the cover of night, through down town Tehran, feels like a watered
down silhouette of some of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's stand-out
moments. 'Night Shift' in particular radiates emotionless, tick box
grinding. Told to take cover before being hit by the swelling glare
of enemy vehicular head lights, seems to be a suggestion, rather than
an imperative. Further on, you will be instructed to sneak up and
complete a stealthy knife kill on a stationary insurgent, a trying
test of patience and a shattering slice of broken gameplay. As you
reach a certain point, a few feet behind him, whether or not you are
spotted, you will trigger automatic insta-death. Keeling over and
submissively adopting the foetal position without being shot is one
thing, doing it without even being looked at is another, but doing it
four or five times (especially with BF3's not particularly swift
loading times) before you get it right, serves only to sabotage any
feelings of suspense you may have had. Dwelling in Battlefield 3's
attempts at variety, you will catch yourself wistfully recalling the
halcyon days of Modern Warfare's outstanding, suspenseful Chernobyl
missions. Moments that, unlike in Battlefield 3, will live with you
forever, at least for the right reasons.
Beyond
the bright but poorly executed ideas, lie some flaws worthy of rather
more vehement criticism. Battlefield 3 has a malnourished narrative,
it's sobering weaponry and gratifying gun play serve to fatten up
single player, but the lack of technical coherence, and in truth
shoddy workmanship, do more than enough to render these qualities
mute. You might well gaze upon the plethora of BF3's single player
bugs and glitches, with wide eyed, slack jawed abandon as other
worldly failings punctuate the campaign. Moments like when your squad
should kick down a door and
move forward to cover, before taking on the encroaching enemy forces.
Instead, running straight through the unopened door, they leave you
behind. A few seconds pass, before of it's own volition, the door
pops open, complete with the sound of it being kicked by a size 16
military boot. Already acquainted with the outdoors, the friendly AI,
confused as to where they should be, rush headlong in to the sights
of the enemy before changing tact from outright suicide and adopt a
rather more reserved approach, returning to their cosy doorway where
they re enact their manoeuvre as originally intended. That kind of
military set play is quite likely to leave you flailing on the floor,
covered in your own blood, picking bullets out of your face. Either
in game, or at home if you have quick access to a loaded gun. These
bugs should prove laughable, but in a game built upon the foundation
of EA studios' financial sinew, more often they deliver a frustrating
single player experience. Every time you are engaged, there is a
reason to disengage, every maniacal smile you dare to let creep
across your features, will be antidoted with a confused frown, as
story is reduced to incoherent babble.
Even
when the friendly AI does what it is supposed to do, sometimes it
isn't all that helpful. At one point, bogged down, defending a
supporting character fighting for his life, you must fend off waves
of advancing enemies with the able assistance of a fellow Marine.
Assistance that is, or lack thereof. While the critically wounded
character exchanges H2o for Co2 for possibly the last time, and you
send bullets with intent over multiple levels and in many directions,
support is not forthcoming. While you hard-headedly defend your
station, under particular duress, your partner stands firm, rifle
ready but ultimately unused. He has a big old rifle all right, but
he's absolutely not using it, for anyone. Not only would some
assistance in situations such as these be helpful, but it feels a
little rude to not fire a single bullet, or even attempt to
administer some basic CPR. 'Oh you didn't bring
a bottle? No, no that's fine. Come on in and help yourself to the
buffet.” What a Dick.
The
climax of Battlefield 3 is entirely deflating. DICE would do well to
take note of the fact that the difference between a 'cliffhanger'
ending and a bad one is extremely fine indeed. Several hours of solid
gun running is not enough to make the vague warble of the ultimate
scenes even remotely plausible. A confused and slightly pretentious
final stanza awaits, you have been warned.
The
laundry list of technical misgivings and BF3's flawed fable aside, it
bares mention that at the core of the solo playthrough, lies some
genuinely well balanced and intuitive gun gaming. A run through on
'Normal' difficulty will prove challenging enough, and while the
icing has gone bad ,the cake in the middle is still pretty tasty.
There are two very important elements to BF3's core chronicle that
make it more or less enjoyable, gripping weapon mechanics and simply
stunning audio. While they are the two parts of single player,
they are just two of the fantastic ingredients that make up
the exceptional on line experience. Battlefield as a series has never
been synonymous with plot, it has however, always been a champion of
online combat to compete with, and often outdo, the very best.
Battlefield
3 has nailed it. Delivering not only an enjoyable on line partition,
but one more than worthy of the series' thoroughbred lineage. Up to
24 players on consoles, and more on PC (depending on your choice of
mode) are deployed across nine maps at launch. These vary, from the
arid 'Operation Firestorm' to the urban 'Seine Crossing' and
'Operation Metro' or the rather more leafy 'Kharg Island' and
'Caspian Border'. There is great variety in scale as well, 'Tehran
Highway' for example, is shackled by tight, claustrophobic corridors,
the sprawling expanses of Caspian Border or Operation Firestorm, are
a welcome contrast. As you might expect with Battlefield 3, how you
choose to navigate your terrain effects your gameplay experience
greatly. Vehicular combat is a hook that Battlefield has carried with
it for a generation, and never has it been more effective and
important than in Battlefield 3. There is no hand holding if you are
taking your first, tentative steps. The first face you see might be
that of an opponent with the best gear, the highest level and
god-like familiarity with the map you frequent. Battlefield 3's
vehicles act as a fantastic equaliser for the uninitiated. So long as
you can press 'forward', 'back', 'left', 'right' and 'shoot', you
have every chance of effecting the flow of battle. As well as serving
as a gamebreaker, the vehicles contribute aesthetically too. Don't be
surprised, when as you spawn, the sky is painted red with dogfighting
jets or helicopters transporting troops and raining vengeance down
from above. Nothing gets a sniper out of his comfort zone quite like
shrapnel from a nearby mortar. Destructible buildings crumble and
crack as the force of each bullet or shell leaves lasting impact on
the environment. While buildings can't be entirely destroyed, each
multiplayer canvas will inevitably be painted a darker shade as each
skirmish progresses.
It's
no surprise that BF3 has a healthy variety of modes to play. Death
Match and Team Death Match aside, Squad Death Match provides a place
for the truly team oriented. In this mode you can compete in a
four-a-side, sixteen man bloodbath where the pack animal is king.
Possibly the two most well worn modes in this year's instalment are
'Conquest' and 'Rush'. The former an outstanding capture the flag
format. Spread over three or four bases, each successfully defended,
neutralised or captured flag will yield experience with an ultimate
goal of capturing all available flags and triggering a bleed effect
on the enemies reinforcements. If you have less than half the flags,
then even if no one's getting shot, your backup resources will
gradually deplete, faster still for every base that escapes you. Rush
is a last line of defence back and forth. You must capture and
destroy two separate enemy M-COM stations, doing so will allow you to
advance to the next set and so on until they're all neutralised, or
your forces have been squashed.
It
is rare to find two runs that feel the same. Conquest and Rush alone,
spread across the nine available maps, provide hour after hour of
excitement and the exquisite level design never feels restrictive or
too open and roomy. This can change in the rare instances that you
find yourself waiting for a vehicle to respawn, while the passing
seconds can feel like a lifetime in the heat of battle, it is
unlikely to spoil your fun. If passing time is your thing,
extensively customisable appearance and loadouts, depending on your
level, are a nice way to pass the time. You also have the option of
playing as one of four classes, 'Assault', 'Support', 'Engineer' and
'Recon'. The first two will generally carry assault rifles, MP5s, Ak
47s and the like with engineers specialising in heavy weapons,
explosives and repair. Recon carry sniper rifles and a generally more
cautious disposition. Each class has his own array of unlockable
gadgets that can turn the tide in your favour. Mobile spawn points,
ammo, medic kits and rocket launchers among the tricky treats
available.
Battlefield
3 online gives you reason after reason to return. You might be shot
down with frustrating frequency over a forty minute blitz, but BF3
rewards the overall impact you have on the game, more than it rewards
kills to deaths, as is often common elsewhere. As is commonplace in
the on line FPS market, each kill of any kind, with each individual
weapon and each base defended or captured will bring reward, as
ribbons are dished out like candy at a piñata party. Repeat these
feats enough and you will receive medals and dog tags to commemorate
your achievement. As in previous instalments, dog tags can be
procured from any unwitting foes who let you get behind them. This
adds some nice tension at times and helps to encourage those of a pro
camping disposition to kick up some dirt. Experience is given out in
spades, but you never feel like you are being fast tracked through
the early levels. BF3 is a grind. Xp is there to be had when you
capture or defend a base, kill someone, assist a kill, blow up a
vehicle or follow an attack order to name a few. If you keep busy,
that bar will raise fast enough, but it's unlikely that you'll feel
that you ever had it easy.
Beyond
levelling, BF3 rewards your commitment to you closest friend out in
the field, your gun. The longer you play on with your weapon of
choice, the more unlocks will become available. This can lead to you
being vastly outmatched against more experienced players initially,
but over time the playing field levels out nicely. As you invest time
with your boomstick, new sights, scopes, grips and gadgets will
become available. This acts as a nice stop gap between the times your
character's actual level increases. If you choose to take advantage
of the vehicles at your disposal, their frequent use is rewarded as
well. A tank for example, can be modified to include, gun turrets,
smoke grenades or zoomed in reticules among others.
Battlefield
3 is a fairly good looking game over all. If you have a nice, shiny,
high end PC, then that should represent your platform of choice.
While it's not the only game that looks better on PC than on
it's console counterparts, unlike most games released this year,
there is a distinct and noticeable visual up step from console to PC.
On console, when the dust of multi disk installation has settled, BF3
looks okay. More than the pure graphical fidelity, it is the scale
and nature of the happenings in your periphery that make up BF3's
visual biography.
Battlefield
3 carries two particular qualities across all platforms and game
modes. DICE has a long standing tradition of ground breaking audio
design and BF3 happily continues this trend. If there was an award
for 'Best Aural Ear Candy 2011', I would not hesitate, for even a
second. It is absolutely spectacular, bullets whisper sweet nothings
in your ear as they whistle by. The far off crackle and pop of gun
fire and explosions is quite removed from the violent, in your face,
vulgarity of a proximal detonation. The muted score when sat behind
the wheel of a tank is abruptly burst, noticeably so, upon your exit
or even worse, it's explosion. A rocket launched nearby will sound
quite different when fired in an open desert environment as opposed
to the confined space of a subway tunnel. If you like listening to
things, you owe it to yourself to experience this jaw dropping audio
first hand.
BF3's
gun play is intensely rewarding and equally gratifying. The variety
of weaponry at your fingertips is part of the appeal. The feeling
that every rifle, shotgun or explosive you carry is distinct from
it's closest cousin, defines BF3's quality. Bipods and grips will
steady your aim, every weapon has different sights best suited for
varying ranges of combat. Recoil feels realistic and taking shots
from the prone, crouched or standing position feels tangibly
different. BF3 feels fair at every turn too, at no point are
unrealistic weapon mechanics responsible for withdrawing you from the
utter immersion that BF3 online provides.
Battlefield
3 has to compete with Call of Duty, it's no secret. Modern Warfare 3
is a shoo in to be Christmas number one this year, odds on with any
bookmaker, not run from a cellar somewhere. As such, more than ever
before, Battlefield 3 is coated from head to toe in glitter. Shiny
distractions from it's spectacular core. In truth, Battlefield 3's
story mode is poor, it's inclusion was never warranted. Perhaps,
after the relatively warm reception BFBC2's narrative and characters
received, it felt like a logical step to break ground and include the
mode in a 'Battlefield' game for the first time. It was a misguided
decision, whether in it's conception or in it's execution, it feels
like nothing more than a kiddies run of what MW3's campaign promises
to produce. When the glitter is stripped away however, and
Battlefield 3 goes back to what it has always done best, the
shrinking violet at the heart of BF3 finds it's voice. And what a
voice it is.
BF3
is a ballet of beautifully orchestrated violence and earth shaking
audio. While it's single player portion is flawed to the core, so
it's multiplayer component is a pulsating drum beat of well crafted
weaponry, enthralling action, constant gratification, and spectacular
variety and replayability. Steer as clear of the campaign as you can
but you owe it to yourself and your friends to get on line together
and experience, what so far at least, is the best on line FPS
endeavour of this year. When Battlefield does what it was born to do,
nobody does it better.
Mecha
Score 8.5
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