Battlefield 3 PC / Xbox/ PS3 Game

[GaMeR-BoY]

At last after so many rumors, buzz and controversies, the 3rd episode of Battlefield is released for us. Call of Duty , a great rival this year's for BF made its appearance in game consoles that despite falling behind technically to what many hoped would be, gave us a unique competitive multiplayer that can barely be faulted and we keep hitting shots hooked for months. It has never hidden its goals to stop the overwhelming superiority of commercial Call of Duty and become the new benchmark of FPS military general public. Now the time has finally come to feel the beast and see if the challenger has strong enough shoulders to throw off the throne.

We will get Battlefield 3 on 2 DVDs, one being dedicated to the single player campaign and the other in multiplayer. This second DVD also includes an HD texture pack (1.5 GB) that is necessary to install on your hard drive to enjoy the soft under the best conditions, and too bad for those who do not ... Without it, you'll enjoy a show that will take you back to the beginning of the console, with basic lighting effects and textures very, very average. PS3 on the other hand, everything is obviously on a single Blu-ray. However, in all cases, EA recommends that all must connect their systems on the net to download a first patch whose size is close to 170 MB.

The most interesting part in Battlefield 3 multiplayer is the way to immerse youself gently. With its varied tools and huge maps, there it feels less machismo going into the war beating down other military shooters. It's really about teamwork and less gravelly exchange pleasantries in the helmet. The increase follows a consistent slope instead of being a race where you have to stack the kills and your equipment at the same time improving your skills.

Gameplay:

Over a period estimated to be 6 or 7 hours depending on the difficulty level chosen, the matron puts you in the shoes of Sergeant James Blackburn, a marine questioned by the men of his own camp on his actions and his continuing of a vile terrorist nuclear weapon. Missions await you ultra classic form of flashbacks and you'll occasionally in other rangers fighters, such as a Russian agent or a fighter pilot. In all cases, we will face the PLR, a terrorist organization that over-armed as usual, transforming the Middle East show in block before spreading fire on the Western nations. The story is revealed eventually enough lambda, unattractive, not really well told nor necessarily very well staged.

If there's one thing that is known to this saga, it is its multiplayer. However, you cannot say the same single-player campaign mode, which usually tends to be uninteresting real compared to what we offer competitive modes. But this time, the guys at DICE have strived to create an intense campaign, epic and very cinematic, to lift it to a new level. Although it shows a lot of effort placed in it, the truth is that fails to convince as much as we would like, although representing a giant leap forward compared to that seen in Bad Company 2.

The hard work begins once the game has really started and we relive a flashback in Iraqi Kurdistan. Even then, the game does not trust the player to move properly in the corridors beautifully designed. This is another one of those military shooters that make you a follower not a leader, as the route to take you is always dictated by the partners managed by artificial intelligence, who tell you exactly what do and when, while at least when they do not suddenly dismiss because you accidentally get lost in the middle of their way immutable, or when they do not venture exactly in your line of fire when you press the trigger.

Arguably, Battlefield 3 will not get surprised, not by the narrative or story that is told. After a first level as a tutorial on board trains, in which we will not know exactly why we're there shooting at anything that moves, we'll soldier on the skin of Henry Blackburn. This is being interrogated by CIA agents who try to discover what really happened for what appears to avoid a major catastrophe. From now on we will relive several flashbacks to reconstruct its history and go entirely around slowly, until the pieces fit. Although Blackburn will handle not only because it also controls other characters to show parallels events from another point of view.

This narrative style make us remind to what we saw in Call of Duty: Black Ops, but this is not where the similarities end with the series from Activision war, as its development continues at face value all the topics of development and are campaign expected a game like this. There is an abuse of scripts, ie events scheduled to occur at the time we go through a site, as well as interactive video scenes to keep pressing the buttons to show us on the screen (QTE). Of course, there is no denying the spectacle that is achieved in all these moments, worthy of a Hollywood production, but that in turn will give us the constant feeling of having seen it before.

[GaMeR-BoY]

Multiplayer Campaign:

First things first and hence let's look first at the single-player campaign. Know this, it is not the essence of what Battlefield 3, we will consider primarily a multiplayer game. So do not turn around the bush and dying at once the abscess: the campaign concocted by DICE is closer to that of the last Medal of Honor than killing the big expected by many. You perform the routine check before take-off by looking right and left parts of the state and stabilizers. You can see the scrapes and scratches on the cover of the cockpit and the light filtering through the clouds sparkle of the ocean. Then you take off, kicked off the bridge at such speed that you physically feel your stomach turn when the plane of Earth's gravity pulls.

Now the best. Almost without a doubt, we can assure you that this is one of the best competitive multiplayers seen in years. This is absolutely breathtaking; it's really the theater with a digital immersion and realism beyond anything we had seen before in games. It is also almost completely non-interactive, it is the beginning of a mission that begins in disappointment and then goes from bad to worse. The first thing to consider is that we have a very different playing style to that seen in Call of Duty. We do not say better or worse, just different. While the series from Activision has a multiplayer arcade with a style, fast and closed scenarios in Battlefield we find something more tactical and slower, not less intense, and with huge maps that give us all that feeling of being immersed in a real battlefield.

In Battlefield 3, however, that there are 6 levels in co-operation (against 23 in Modern Warfare 2) and they are playable as online, through a system of fairs poorly designed, not locally. They are also heavily scripted with enemies that appear in the same places and in the same places at each session of play that does not mean they are devoid of interest, because some of them allow using vehicles, which gives them a special flavor. The second of these missions puts you in command of such a helicopter, a player in charge of the steering and the other machine guns, and it is providing air support to two marine units operating on the ground.

Even with all this, the title offers game modes for all tastes. In Conquest mode you can enjoy large-scale combat, where our goal is to capture and control various flags scattered around the stage. In Assault, there will be an attacking team and one defender. The goal is to destroy the first two mobile stations based communications, while the latter must stop and hold until you run out of lives contrary to regenerate. There is also a pattern with fewer players called Assault Patrol. It appears that you are not the driver. You are only the first officer and your job is to go down enemy fighters during the pre-defined changes in your own airline. A little later, you are asked to destroy ground targets: just another shooter duck dressed in a suit Tom Clancy.

Maybe is it better like that, because the only mission where the game opens and allows you to immerse yourself in a real battle is one that stresses the architecture of the console in an alarming manner. It's called "A Rock And A Hard Place" and even by installing two DVD disk, including 'HD pack' and a patch on the first day of a significant size, we see appalling noise textures as well as brief tremors and still images. At one point, my reticle started messing around and I could not pull properly and a little later, I was able to pass through a walking tank.

The other key feature of the multiplayer found in the vehicles, which given the scale of the integrated maps that are not only great on the game mechanics, but they are practically essential. Most are easily handled, since they enjoy intuitive controls, but others, such as air (helicopters and fighters) will give us enough problems until we learn to master them. There are few games where we've seen fighters and helicopters crashing every two minutes just off the ground by the inexperience of the pilots. Of course, once controlled, the experience of riding high ground to support a massive assault is unmatched.

Graphics:

This is the section that has generated controversy probably around the release of game consoles. DICE has done a good job in adapting the current title to home consoles, but also leaves its limitations clearly visible. Although it is certainly not essential, the fact is that the graphics are not as flamboyant as what we expected. Let us put aside the PC version that plays clearly not in the same category and will be tried in his time and according to its support. But on consoles, the game is not really a best of Bad Company 2. Probably seen in static images might even say that is far superior to the rest of its competitors, but once in motion quite a different matter? For starters, we found great success in the lighting system, I can say it just perfect. The lighting effects in this game are probably the best and most realistic seen before on console, even over Crysis 2.

Pretty clean throughout and enjoying particle effects of good quality, the game is eaten by a lot of aliasing, a lot of clipping (textures and objects) and likes the contrasts too pronounced, as if played with a soldier suffering from retinal problems. And if the destruction of the scenery is always wonderful, it seems less pronounced than in Bad Company speaks only when the buildings themselves. This is not purely aesthetic, because it ends up having much impact on gameplay, being able to be dazzled by a spotlight or having to hide in the shadows. Moreover, the great use which gives the same graphics just hiding some defects and made up, so that everything is much more dramatic and realistic.

Regarding the famous destruction we have seen in many videos, not so very end of spectacular result have reduced the number of particle effects. And sometimes we see things like a half collapsed building in front of us, and to dissipate the dust, pieces that had fallen miraculously disappear. Still there is a good flow overall apart from some occasional jerks with 30 frames per second. And to finish with the technical side, note that the software we have planted several consoles of writing (both 360 on PS3), which shows some big problems of stability.

In short, this is a very pleasant addition that extends the experience even if you cannot enjoy it at 2 and online only. Unluckily, while many features deserve to be thorough in this, it is time to conclude. So we content ourselves with saying that on consoles, Battlefield 3 is not as incredible as what we expected. The online game is played perfectly, no major problems with lag and matchmaking system fast, easy to use and it works, but the console has been hung in a couple of times while looking for a server that get us. This is where the heart of Battlefield 3 beats stronger and it is here that players inevitably most of their time. It is therefore regrettable that overall, this title is a campaign marred by stale, spectacular, but hollow, with a cooperative mode that gives the impression of being sloppy.

Conclusion:

Battlefield 3 is without doubt a great multiplayer game on consoles more than PC, even with all the technical problems that involves. Though, if you're planning to get a copy for yourself, we can hardly recommend you, as this does not represent or 5% of what the title offers. Those who buy Battlefield 3 for multiplayer probably did not care passionately that the solo is not up to par, but what's more irritating is to think of all that DICE could have done to further improve his design skills of multiplayer and unleash if the mantra "BEAT COD" had not weighed. Instead, if you want a different type of multiplayer action that is already seen on consoles, here's a safe bet in which to invest a huge amount of hours and in which every game is completely different from before. It is thus clear a bit disappointed with the experience even if it does not prevent us from spinning online to chain sleepless nights on the battlefields of the new baby DICE. Hope that DICE has learned this lesson when Battlefield 4 looming on the horizon loudly.