MP Impressions

As I have put several hours into Battlefield 3 multiplayer now, I thought this might be a good time to put up a review (much like Cav's "SP Impressions" post for the single player).

First off, I don’t really see what the big deal about this game is or has been. To me, it is pretty much a simple upgrade to Battlefield Bad Company 2, which in turn was an upgrade from the multiplayer of Battlefield Bad Company 1. With that said, I loved those games too, and am really liking BF3 as well! It’s a great game, and just has a different feel than other shooters.

Some of the upgrades are significant, with the different “perks” and even “squad perks”. Also the team chat option is a huge improvement, as now if I am trying to repair a tank that a teammate on another squad is piloting, I can tell him to hold still instead of him just running off or backing over me because he can’t hear me.

The bad part is, one of the major problems from the Bad Company games followed BF3 with the terrible lobby system. You can set up a private squad of 4 before joining any games, and pull the entire squad into a game and keep it together, but you can’t easily do that with any additional players. Granted, it seems to work now if you accept invites that the game will “try” to put you on the same team as your friends, but balance issues don’t always work or keep it that way. Not having a true lobby like COD, where between rounds it can balance the game, is going to make keeping a good team together frustratingly difficult. Also with no true lobby, you have no private matches to do things like practice as a team or hold clan matches or tournaments. Lastly, why the hell can’t you quit the game between matches, making you have to launch the next round before backing out? That just leads to more imbalanced team issues.

OK, so off of the problems with the game (which are nothing new, it just aggravates me to see them repeat the same flaws that held the previous games back) and to some more of the things I love about it. Well, actually I don’t love it, but there is vehicle combat of large proportions. I’m not a vehicle guy, and prefer to be on the ground, snaking my way to the objective and ninja planting the bombs, but I can’t deny the vehicles are really fun. Just be careful in public matches, and some people will just spawn camp for vehicles and never seem to help with the objective but would rather circle the skies or patrol the battlefield for vehicle kills.

The squad play, while it may appear to be a hindrance when trying to get a large group together in a game, is great when executed properly on the battlefield. For one there are now squad perks. So if one member of the squad has a particular squad perk, everyone in the squad gains the benefit of the perk. If you work that properly, you can have 4 different perks on you at one time. Also having the proper class combination can make a great team. Pair up and Assault and Support class, and you two can dish out health and meds to keep the battle going forever. Just be careful if you are an up-close/bomb plant guy you are not on a squad of snipers. You want to spawn on your teammates that are in the action, and not on the fringes of the map.

This is getting long, so that’s all for now. How does everyone else like it? What are your impressions?

~mrmiller

Well personally I am fairly new to the Battlefield experience. I never played any of the original BF titles and the only BF game I had any real contact with was Bad Company 2. I played the beta and while I was impressed with the game I decided to pass on it due to the fail lobby system (yes, the same failure this game has as well). At the time I was really into COD and just didn't want to bother with it. I took my yearly copy of COD and went on my merry way.

Fast forward a few year and things have changed for me personally. I have been getting burnt out on the COD titles and competition is far less important to me than it used to be. I was hungry for something new and different. Something that would be a new experience for me and BF3 was shaping up to be that title. Fortunately it was just what the doctor ordered. BF3 may not be ground breaking for BF vets but it sure as hell was for me. This game provides an amazing battle experience. It is hands down the most fun I have ever had playing a shooter online. Does it have a crappy, broken lobby system that does not support more than 4 people? Yes. Is this a complete failure considering that everybody else seems to know how to do it correctly (R6, GRAW, COD, Crysis 2 etc...)? Yes. Is this especially frustrating if you have more than 3 friends? You betcha. Is there any good reason for this? No. But most importantly... do I care? No, not really. Why? Because it is so freaking fun to play. All I need is one good squad and we can do some serious damage. With good squad tactics and communication and the 4 of us can take any objective. And that has a very cool feeling to it. A real sense of accomplishment. 4 guys among a whole army, getting the job done.

Beyond that there is an amazing feel to the atmosphere. Destructible environments, buildings crumbling, concrete cracking and chipping away right in front of me. The action going on around you is tangible. Planes flying, bullets whizzing, rockets exploding and tanks rolling. All brought together by the best sound design I have ever heard and a lighting engine to match. The combination of all these things make for one amazing experience that can not be matched by anything on the market today. Are all Battlefiled games like this? Could be. I am sure kicking myself for not trying them earlier. But I know this for sure, this game is amazing. Flawed, but amazing. Fortunately there are work-arounds to help fix the problems and playing with your friends is possible. I can put up with the problems as long as the game delivers this kind of experience.

Don't get me wrong, I really like this game, and that's why the missteps frustrate me so much.

As Interseptor mentioned, another great attribute of the game is the environment. The destructible playing field make it feel so much more realistic, and so much more fun. Is that tree blocking your view? Blow it down! Can't get directly to the SATCOM? Blow a hole in the wall! Snipers camping that building? Make the mother f***er rubble! It just amazing and fun. It is one of the big aspects that mike the game feel so much different compared to COD and most all other shooters.

Another aspect that make the game feel so different, are the unique classes with their variability and options within the class. In most shooters either you can change all your classes like in COD and you really play most all of them the same with no true specialization, or the classes tend to be so rigid that you don't even bother playing some of them. In BF3 you can have a custom class, which is still a uniquely specialized class that complements your team and squad.

Well, the cards just won- so off this rant and on to XBL for some BF3!

~mrmiller

I've had a spectacular time with bf3. Best online experience Ive had since bf2, just as I had hoped it would be.

I don't like how the guns vary dependant on team. I'm sure once I unlock new guns, it'll be fine but it's kind of annoying to start out with. Especially considering that some vary quite a bit - not to mention the attachment unlocks.

Also, I'll be putting a freakin\' laser on pretty much all of my guns. That sh1t just fills up your screen with red, it's crazy....I do like it though. Adds to the realism.

This is the first BF game that I've really played (I played a couple hrs of BF 1942 on PC) and I'm loving it. I like that you can destroy pretty much everything and that the classes are designed to cater to all types of players, rather than just the run and gun players for most COD games. I'll never be a guy with a stellar KdR but I sure can drop ammo all around the board, pepper enemy positions with mortars, and McGyver any vehicle we're in. I think it's great that there's a game that allows support players to shine. I might get like 3 or 3 kills and die like 10 times, but I could still be up in the rankings by bringing in tons of points from support actions. All in all, I'm pretty impressed with the game, despite its flaws and I'll probably be playing this game for a long time.