"Battlefield 3" Review

                                                                

“Battlefield 3” PC Review

“It’s all about doing your J.O.B.”

by Matt Davenport

It seems like forever (in game world time) since EA introduced the world to online multi-player shooters with “Battlefield 1942.” This award winning game released in 2002 took players to World War II locations and allowed them to recreate battle strategies like “parachute out of the jeep as you drive it off the cliff.” Since that time, EA has released many incarnations of the “Battlefield” franchise. The latest is “Battlefield 3.”

                                 Time to make a Thunder Run

Single Player: The game’s single player scenario is set in the near future as tensions are at an all-time high on the Iraq-Iran border. The mission starts you off as an unnamed, unarmed character wearing half a handcuff. Clearly running from someone, your character hops a train (in dramatic fashion from an overpass) and proceeds to take out armed terrorists who have commandeered the train for their nefarious purposes. Just as you make your way to the head terrorist, the game transports you into a series of flashbacks, letting you close the gap towards real time by completing various missions that explain the story. The main character in the story is Sgt. Henry Blackburn. The Marine starts of the game being “debriefed” by American agents who are trying to unravel the events. Blackburn is up to his “Semper Fi” in trouble as he is at the center of questionable events surrounding stolen nuclear devices. The player doesn’t spend all of their time as Sgt. Blackburn, there are some missions where the player spends time as a tank operator, a F/A-18 weapons op and one Parisian mission as a Russian agent.

The handful of single player missions are very linear. You move your player from A to B to C to complete your missions. Some levels like the airstrike mission are just rail shooters, but very beautiful rail shooters. In fact, much of the single player experience came across as a graphical treat for the eyes thanks to the Frostbyte 2 graphics engine. As if the programmers wanted to show off what the latest graphic cards can do. The four and a half hour tour of duty lets you do a little bit of everything, but doesn’t focus too long on any one aspect of wargaming. The player will get to run and gun, sneak around, fly, drive a tank, take down a plane, sniper and knife opponents. It’s a quick tour though a beautiful world. But even on Normal mode, the constraints put on the player don’t let you explore it.

Single Player Rating: 6 out of 10.

                     Soldiers check out the scene in “Operation Metro”

Multi-player: This is EA’s bread and butter. Multi-player is what made “Battlefield 1942” and “Battlefield 2” such great games. “Battlefield 3” on the PC opens up the landscape with 64 player maps, multiple maps and weapon progression unlocks. The player can choose from four soldier classes assault, engineer, support and recon. Each class has a specialty and particular weapons assigned to it. “Battlefield 3” multi-player works best when the player sticks to the job of the soldier class they have chosen. If you go into the battlefield as recon, then your job is to hang bank, spot enemy troops and amour and take sniper shots at the opposing troops. “Battlefield 3” rewards you the most when you help out your team and squad by performing the job for each soldier class. Sure you can run and gun with your .50 cal, but you will progress faster and unlock more items by helping out your team. “Battlefield 3” brings in multiple game modes including conquest, rush, squad deathmatch, squad rush and team deathmatch. Multi-player hosts have the ability to choose game mode, number of players, maps and quite a few other customizable options.

The maps can get a little laggy with 64 players on larger maps and with a game like “Battlefield 3,” having a low ping can make all the difference. Jeeps, tanks, APCs and jets are back for players to drive off a cliff (or fly) and parachute out. Ah, the good old days.

“Battlefield 3” multi-player uses your web browser for its Battlelog to sort through the servers and it acts as a communications center for your friends playing the game. But to get to that, it needs to have the Origin service up and running on your computer. An extra step that is a little frustrating. Another frustrating feature is that weapon load-outs can only be accessed in-game. It would be nice to accomplish that using a web browser. After a few PC and Xbox 360 server hiccups at launch, the multi-player experience has settled down and now millions of solders are out there getting the job done. The game also features six Co-Op scenarios where you can a friend can take on the bad guys.

Multi-player Rating: 8 out of 10

                           Surveying the battlefield at Mach 1.8

Final Word: EA keeps the franchise alive with “Battlefield 3.” Don’t think of it as a short single player campaign, think of it as a large scale multi-player experience with a single player and Co-Op modes for those times when you want to take a break.

Final Score: 7 out of 10

“Battlefield 3” is available for the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and PC.

This review was played on the PC with a download code provided by EA. The Tech 2.0 Game Room Review scoring system is based on the 1 through 10 model with 1 being the lowest score and 10 being the highest.