EA and DICE made it difficult to cull together a complete review of BATTLEFIELD 3 on-time as console review copies were shipped the day before release, they required a ‘day one’ patch and multiplayer servers were (and still are) plagued with issues. At the end of the year, Battlefield 3 will most likely be looked upon as one of the pioneers in ‘what could be done with the next nex-gen console’ as it feels like the best home for the game is on a fast running PC. We had a chance to play through on the PlayStation 3 (mostly campaign) and witnessed insanely realistic graphics that wowed us most of the way. The destructible environment added a distinguished flair to the game while the ‘quick time moments’ a la God of War helped break up the action from time to time in campaign.
The build up and hype for Battlefield 3 was off the charts – all last week celebrities from across the spectrum were tweeting about how excited they were to receive a copy and my XBL and PSN list is filled with friends playing the game at this moment. EA’s decision to go head-to-head in marketing against the Call of Duty franchise was a mistake as Battlefield 3 is a different experience. Call of Duty multiplayer is fast-paced (twitch gaming) while Battlefield 3 multiplayer maps are further spread out and support more long range attacks. Battlefield 3’s campaign is completely scripted – trail away from an objective to explore or reach a check point too early and you’ll be penalized. On the positive side – in campaign your fellow military soldiers all have unique personalities and the attention to detail on animation and motion capture exceeds almost any video game out there.
Battlefield was an ambitious game and has sold over 5 million units in the first week. One can easily see how this type of game could really benefit when the next iteration of gaming consoles comes about. We’ve provided some gameplay and commentary (from Dante Kim) for some of the campaign levels.