Ok, I gunned half through a few hours of single player simply for the trophies and then dropped it for a few hours into the MP end of stuff. This is an early rummage of thoughts to give some people on the fence an idea of what they are getting into. Even most of the PC reviews out there have been pretty vague. I haven't cleared this 100% for the Platinum or put in 100 hours of ranking. But I have been playing Battlefield games for awhile so some early thoughts after a few hours.
First off -- 200+ meg update before you can play then you're off to the races. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was similar to Crysis, in that you could navigate the landscape the way you wanted, within an admittedly small area. Wooden huts and hideouts were for the destroying if you were so inclined. In Battlefield 3, you are literally led by the nose with little blue and red boxes on EXACTLY what to do. It's pretty insulting. Walk one foot too far this way or that way, and you are immediately told to "RETURN TO THE BATTLEFIELD." The levels are much more confined than the last game, but I think they went way too far on the scripted confrontations. On the realism end, there is a a few instances where a Marine will drop dead right in front of you and the other soldiers will just walk right by. Pretty lame, Marines don't tend to do that sort of thing. So the story sucks, but nobody reads Playboy for the articles right? Character models are not the strong point here. Where in CoD, everything looks like shiny plaster, here they look like clay . The environment textures look good most of the time, but occasionally do load slowly. Also, first thing I would do, is jack up the controller sensitivity, the default setting is way too slow. So far, I see a real missed opportunity in the single player end. I don't know why they just don't take the large maps from multiplayer and come up with a story based task for the single player. Corridor shooting needs to finally die. Anyway, the campaign doesn't do much new thus far, but there are good points. The audio is absolutely stunning. On my surround sound, the bullet hits and muzzle sounds are really awesome.
But playing Battlefield by yourself is like buying a banana just to eat the peels.
There is the new seemingly obligatory online pass to jump through and then you are greeted with a "free" M1911 pistol reward. Yay.
Online, there are still some occaisional collision problems from the beta. I have been sapped by a LMG more than once half stuck in the floor geometry of a building, but other than that the game does play pretty good. This is Battlefield - so when you can spawn on a boat and grab some airpower - you'll probably crash right away. haha. It happens every time. In 1943 it took me awhile to get the plane over Suribachi too. But there is a new feeling of dominance gunning around with the Apache's instead of just having tanks or jeeps with machine gun mounts. I haven't had too much time with the jets in Conquest yet, but I'm getting there. Tanks are still the main fun for me. There's nothing more satisfying than blasting down an entire roof where a sniper is camped out stopping your troops from getting the Gas Station capture point. Bullet drop with snipers from BC2 seems less pronounced or it may be a placebo.
Maps range from HUGE to more conventional "CoD" style boxes for deathmatch. For me, TDM really is pointless in this type of game but it is a game mode that never seems to die no matter what game they put it in. Whatever, I prefer the larger skirmishes with objectives, but I think the larger maps do bring up the obvious. This game is probably better played on the PC for one real reason and it has nothing to do with graphics. The PC will hold 64 players - and that is where the real meat of the series has always been. Eventually, I'll probably up for the PC sku when I can afford an upgraded rig, but this does well for now.
Battlefield 3 is not for everybody. Black Ops this is not. MW2, this is not. You cannot hide in a tin roof building like in Favela during an Apache onslaught and expect to ride out the bulletstorm. You can't run around and knife from 10 meters away. If you played Battlefield BC2, MoH, or even the PSN/XBL 1943, then you'll know what you're getting into here. Weapons sway, reloading takes time and there's no MW2 pinball score counters. If you are curious and big on CoD quick turn maps where you can noob tube to a nuke with OMA - this is probably not your game. Battlefield matches can be long drawn out affairs and inching your way on foot to objectives or blasting your way through buildings to a flag is a better way to success. Not to say the knifing isn't useful. If you don't play as a team - you will have a very bad day. FYI you can't jump off the top of a three-story building doing a 360 turn and pop a guy in the head with an Intervention and run off into the sunset with a 73-7 k/d in Scrapyard with the chopper gunner singing in the background. Battlefield isn't about killstreaks, it is about a 'battlefield.' Ironic I know. Battlefield 3 pretty much holds to the history of the franchise thus far. There are some mistakes here and there - all of them in the single player end - mostly because I feel it is a mistake to try to compete with Call of Duty. Call of Duty is a slowed down Quake 3 - fun but aging, fake and in no way a war game. Battlefield 3, on the other hand, is pretty much the game it was 10 years ago, but now with much better graphics, more lethal vehicles and stunning sound design. Don't buy into the hype one way or the other. But if you're tired of endless 'nade spamming, chopper gunner spamming, host lag, knife spamming, and want something objective based - give Battlefield 3 a look.
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UPDATE: I'm going to just drop a few last pieces in and leave it at that. Right now I'm rocking the ever popular M416, suppressor, bi-pod and Holo with the M26. There was a point around level 7 or 8 where you really start making a weapon your own with the sights, rail attachments and the game really starts to come into it's own. It no longer feels like the early "grind" and you start to know the maps. Even TDM starts to make sense at least on Metró. Though CQB is still clumsy. I haven't touched the single player again - and I doubt I will. Frame rates could be a tad better, but this was built for a PC with SLI cards, so what can you do? Oh and the Battlelog stats site is ripped almost completely from the Killzone stats site. Go figure. Not sure if Xbox live lobbies are back up yet, but 3/4 time I get dropped immediately into a game from PSN. Once in awhile I get kicked during search. Server list is helpful and would be welcome in any other console FPS. I'm in for the long haul. If you got the stomach for the climb to level 45, it's worth it. There are few things more rewarding in online gamedom than making a push with a good team in conquest, hopping over a rail to heal a fallen teammate and throwing up cover fire with a well tuned weapon with an Abrahms tank on your back blasting the wall of an apartment building with laser sights bouncing around on your position to take the win. Hard to find this type of experience anywhere else.
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I've got my MW3 preorder in on the 360 but I absolutely have to post this. It's so funny because I think it's true.
Look up -- 14 Ways to Spot a CoD player in Battlefield 3 on the OXM UK website.
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Well I caved. Finished a new PC build with a Core i5 2500 and 2 GTX 560 ti's. Battlefield 3 runs like glass. EA's Origin is awful, but the game is just stunning. Maps are much bigger and even single player earns a few points back. I'll still be playing on PSN, but the PC version has to be seen in motion to be believed. If anybody has any questions on the differences, let me know.