Battlefield 3 Reviews

So, after months of tantalising trailers and mouth-watering screenshots, is Battlefield 3 all it's cracked up to be?

Single Player

The Battlefield series is not known for it's single player, but rather it's multiplayer. However, don't let this put you off! DICE have made an incredible campaign, with some spectacular scenery and some awesome missions. Without wishing to give too much away, you're a marine who's being interrogated by a pair of C.I.A. agents, who seem to be playing "good cop, bad cop". After the intense opening level, they question you about what happened leading up to you being in detention, cue many flashbacks, and an extremely varied selection of missions.

As for the the individual missions, they are surprisingly varied, with a ton of enemies lurking in each, from stealthy backstabs, to jet fights, this campaign has it all! The commands of your teammates and the mission structure makes you feel like you're a real soldier on the ground and really helps make the campaign come alive. Unlike Call of Duty, where you're the best soldier the world has ever seen, you're just a humble marine. Not that the marine's are bad at what they do, but the fact you work as a member of a squad really makes Battlefield feel like a game where potentially you are the soldier in that warzone!

The Frostbite 2.0 engine really bumps up the realism factor for Battlefield, as cover literally distinegrates in front of your very eyes, and whole sections of a building collapse onto the street, you really do get the sense that this is a real warzone, with a dynamic, changing topography every step of the way!

Multiplayer

Now onto the real attraction!

After the buggy beta, many gamers, myself included, were sceptical as to whether DICE could solve the many issues which plagued the beta.

In response, they did! Mostly. The multiplayer is now completley seamless, with very little lag thanks to the servers! It's also the cause of most problems as well... For some reason, at present, the quick match option doesn't usually work, and the servers can often be seemingly impossible to join, though I reckon that DICE will soon sort these issues out!

There are now nine maps to choose from, varying in scale from frighteningly huge, where vehicles are a must, to nice C.Q.B engagements where your best way of getting around is your own two feet!
On the subject of vehicles, the variety is certainly pretty impressive. From humvees to jets, there is a lot to choose from! Jets are certainly interesting to fly, the average flight time according to DICE is 8 seconds, and it takes several attempts to be successful at staying in the air, though killing an enemy is another issue altogether! The T90 MBT is excellent on the ground, whilst amphibious vehicles are also in there too!

The same weapons are found online as in the campaign, although the variety of attachments is staggering. The way of acquiring weapons is interesting. Just playing normally and gaining xp causes you to rank up, unlocking pistols and PDW's (Personal Defence Weapons), as well as new dog tags and camo. Using a specific class, such as Recon for example, unlocks further weapons and gadgets associated with that class. Use the same weapon a lot, and you can unlock more attachments on it, which is pretty cool! So if you're a big fan of the SV- 98, then using it a lot gains you a bipod, numerous scopes, silencer etc.
No guns are overpowered really, yes, sniper rifles can get one or two hit kills, but you trade power for rate of fire. On the other hand, LMG's are relatively low- powered, but have a huge magazine and rate of fire, so are excellent for suppressing targets.

Co-op

The co-op campaign consists of 6 missions, with a story arc which follows the single-player campaign. The missions vary from defending against waves of enemies to providing overwatch from a helicopter. Although short, these missions are good fun, especially with friends!

General

Since some aspects of the game cover everything, it seemed better to put it in a separate section!

Possibly the aspect which makes the game possibly the best FPS I've ever played has to be the graphics. I'm not usually too bothered about graphics, but those on Battlefield are incredible! Included on the multiplayer disc, is the HD graphics which are installed onto your hard drive. It's a pretty huge sized file, 1.5 gb, but certainly worth it! They improve the textures, lighting and just generally everything. If you don't believe me, check out the comparison clips on Youtube, they really show the difference!

Enough about the graphics, the controls are pretty good too! As an infantryman, they feel slick and smooth, not clunky as they did on BF:BC2, whilst still feeling weighty, as though you're carrying all the kit, which I really liked. Land vehicles are reasonably responsive, just not really tanks for obvious reasons, but are satisfying and really add to the realism. Air vehicles are something else! In helicopters, roll too far, and you're destined for the ground, and planes are merciless, clip a wing on a telegaph pole and your pot roasted Russian! Oddly, such unforgiving controls make the experience BETTER! It is an incredibly satisfying feeling to fly a jet just above the ground without crashing!

Conclusion

I would argue Battlefield 3 is definatley worth shelling out £40 ($60) since the value for money and replay value is easily worth it, but I'll let you make your own mind up!

If you have any positive or negative feedback, please comment so I can make this review better!

Battlefield 3 has been hyped as one of the biggest releases of the year and for good reason. With the introduction of the new Frostbite 2 engine and following on from the successes of Battlefield 2 and more notably for console players, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the game was always going to be a big seller. Whether it will live up to it's hype and expectations is another matter altogether.

This game is an interesting release for the franchise not only for it's use of the Frostbite 2 engine but also for it's subtle changes to gameplay that seem to be trying to bring it more inline it with it's largest rival on the FPS market, Call of Duty, while managing to retain it's own unique identity as it tries to reach out to an increased market audience.

Campaign -
While few people will have bought this game for the merits of it's single player campaign it is an aspect that needs to be taken into account. It is without doubt the weakest aspect of the release and anybody familiar with other titles in the genre will experience an extreme case of deja-vu as the plot borrows heavily from other mainstream titles. In a story highly reminiscent of Call of Duty: Black Ops the player finds themselves reliving their recent memories in an attempt to get a handle on the latest international terror plot. While the plot is well constructed and provides varied gameplay it's lack of originality can take it's toll. As more and more borrowed elements begin to seep in it can become difficult not to roll your eyes and wonder how much time they actually put into creating the campaign and wonder whether it was just a collection of their favourite moments from other popular single player campaigns.

Multiplayer -
What Battlefield lacks in the single player it makes up for in multiplayer. The co-op missions provide something a little different and can be a great way to break up a bad streak in the competitive game modes. The missions allow you to play through the standard gun fights, or provide cover fire for a night time hostage crisis. These also provide you with the only opportunity to practice your flying skills, something that will prove invaluable if you find yourself having difficulty in the competitve modes.

The competitive multiplayer features the standard rush, conquest and deathmatch gametypes that players of the previous title will be familiar with. The gameplay however may not feel quite as familiar. One of the most noticable changes is the variety of map types. With an increase in the number of cqc maps certain gametypes, particularly team deathmatch, feel less strategic than in previous installments. The matches have a much faster pace and often seem to be verging into the Call of Duty run and gun ideal. When you do find yourself on larger maps they can often feel underpopulated, having initially been designed with the larger PC lobbies in mind.

Your experience in multiplayer will vary dramatically depending on who you play with. If you are playing with a squad full of friends you can expect a fun and high-paced experience. If however you are playing with strangers you may find the game highly frustrating as teammates rarely offer ammo or medkits and due to an ill conceived medal that requires 20 hours of jet flying you will often find your air support being hijacked by people who want to do little more than fly in loops for hours on end.

General -
The graphics are undeniably astonishing, provided you do not stand still to admire them. Even after installing the HD Pack graphics can appear noticeably blocky at times and popping is quite common. If you are somebody who likes to play a fast game and be on the move at all times then the visuals will most likely blow you away. If you tend to play at a slower pace you may find your eye drawn to hexagonal tyres and stationary, jagged smoke plumes. Due to the heavy detail in the game it can often have difficulties keeping up and certain areas suffer from large amounts of popping. Brightness can also be a serious issue when you first play the game. Some of the maps can prove blinding at times and if you don't adjust your brightness settings correctly you will find yourself going from pitch black buildings to outside environments so bright you'll find yourself reaching for your sunglasses. Their is one area that is worthy of high praise however. The character movement and design are a joy to behold allowing for a free moving experience that allows you to vault walls with ease and go prone in a flash.

Glitches are frequent and vary in their seriousness. You the course of a match you might stumble across flying tanks, floating guns, self-firing stationary weapons, sea faring jets and a great many invisible walls.

Conclusions -
While there are many complaints that can be made about Battlefield 3 it remains a fun game that has earned it's right to be on the forefront of the FPS genre. While it may feel a little more arcadelike that is not necessarily a negative and the new variartion in map size is very welcome. If you want to have a fun, team-based experience with a group of friends then this is the game for you but more serious players may find themselves tempted to return to the Battlefield 2 / Bad Company 2 lobbies on occasion.

Overall Battlefield 3 is a good game that should have been great. Underpopulated maps and texture popping are the result of a game designed for PC with it's console counterparts being forced to struggle with the reduced capacity.
The numerous bugs and glitches coupled with the lacklustre single player make the game feel rushed. Fortunately many of these issues will most likely be patched but at this moment they do detract notably from the experience.
All complaints aside the game achieves what it set out to do, providing an immersive and enjoyable online experience however it will likely leave many feeling somewhat disappointed.

While the bugs and popping would tempt me to score the game as a 3 out of 5, the knowledge that these will likely be fixed in the near future does prompt a higher score.

Battlefield 3. Is it the realistic war game that gamers were so excited about to play? Is it honestly the "Call of Duty killer"? Or is this game just a fad that will fade off in a week? Let's find out.

First things first, the single-player campaign. I will try my best to explain this without spoilers. For starters, the length. The length of the campaign is somewhat short and honestly not as long as I wanted. You can probably beat it within six or seven hours. Now, that's not to say that this campaign isn't good. The story really grips you and keeps you on your toes. I frankly enjoyed it. Let me sum up what the campaign is about. You are a soldier named Blackburn and the game actually starts you off at the end. Now, before that gets too crazy, after the first couple minutes of the campaign, the screen fades to black and you flashback to eight hours earlier. You are in a room with two detectives that are trying to find out the backstory of Blackburn and the player has the feeling of finding out what he is being interrogated by detectives. Well, at least 3/4 the game is flashbacks to what happened weeks before the interrogation. *SPOILER SPOILER* To sum it up, you basically find out that the PLR (terrorists) were screwed out of a deal from a Russian named Solomon. In a bank vault of Solomon's you find a suitcase with one nuke in it, but there is a two more slots that could hold two other nukes. On a table in the same vault, you find maps to Paris and New York. If that just clicked in your head, good job. A couple weeks later, a nuke goes off in Paris and basically the detectives don't believe it is Solomon that is causing it, they think it is the Russians. Although, in certain missions of the game you actually play as some Russian agents that are tying to stop Solomon as well, because they don't want Russia and the United States at war. So Blackburn breaks out of his prison and tracks down Solomon and kills him.
Honestly, it is better if you play it yourself than just having me explain it.

Second, the multiplayer. The definitive multiplayer of Battlefield. A lot of gamers consider this to be the best multiplayer on the planet. Is that just fanboy talk? Or is that the truth? Let's see.
To start off, there are only nine maps. But honestly, that is not a bad thing. The maps are actually mixed between large maps with jets, tanks, humvees, etc. and the smaller sort-of C.Q.C maps with either few or no vehicles. It's good to mix it up a bit as I prefer not to play on large maps all the time. The vehicles are somewhat difficult to maneuver as they're different from other Battlefield games. Nonetheless, the vehicles are fun as all hell to drive/pilot. The guns are not too overpowered or too underpowered. They are actually perfect. You don't see any overused guns like Call of Duty where people only use the Galil, Famas, etc. There are a HUGE number of unlocks for you to earn. Whether it be medals, ribbons, attachments for guns, camoes, or vehicle unlocks! Lots of stuff to do to keep the player playing. The game modes in multiplayer include the traditional Conquest mode, where the objective is to deplete the other team's life tickets while capturing flags to spawn off of; and the Rush mode where teams take turns attacking bomb-based objectives and moving on to the next stage. A new mode, Team Deathmatch is where the only objective is to deplete the enemy's life tickets. The only downside to the multiplayer so far, is that the EA Online servers (the servers that keep the game online) have already failed four times since the game launched. Maybe it's because so many people are playing the game, or maybe EA's hardware just sucks. Who knows. The multiplayer is amazing nonetheless.

Third, the co-op campaign. Now, I've hardly touched the co-op campaign because I've been so busy playing multiplayer. But basically what it is is what is says it is! You and a buddy go across nine (God save me if I'm wrong) different levels attempting to complete various objectives. There really isn't much to say to this mode so just imagine it as a single-player campaign, but with a buddy.

Fourth, the graphics and overall gameplay. The graphics are outstanding. EA/Dice really made good use of their new Frostbite 2.0 engine. Some animations you can tell are from other Dice games like, Mirrors Edge. The only downside to the Xbox 360 version is you have to download an HD texture pack to make the graphics look great. The download is 1.5 GB so for those who don't have a hard drive cannot download this. With the texture pack, the game looks great; from the flowers on the ground, to the sun that glares into your eyes when you look at it. The gameplay is easy to master as it is most like traditional first-person shooters. Right trigger to fire, left trigger to zoom, things like that. I think that Battlefield is trying to appeal to a casual audience but I think only us hardcore gamers are playing it.

Campaign Score: 4/5 - I noticed some choppy bits during the campaign, but great nonetheless.
Multiplayer Score: 5/5 - Amazing multiplayer, tons to unlock, fun with friends.
Co-op Score: 4/5 - A single-player campaign, with a buddy.
Graphics/Gameplay Score: 5/5 - Outstanding. Good work with the Frostbite 2.0 engine.

That is the end of my review and thank you for reading.

Before the start of this review I would like to mention that I am a long time Battlefield Fanboy. Dating back all the way to 1942. Following through with all expantions and mods ( Even down the the Australian Forces Mod for BF2 )

The wait is finally over. After 6 years of banter from EA about Battlefield 3 and years after the online community died. Just when everyone had given up hope and written this off to be another Duke Nukem or Doom. EA does it. A RELEASE DATE! All over the world Fanboys of this Massive and thriving franchise all squeeled as if they had just discovered Crispy Creme are now doing soft serve centred doughnuts.

Battlefield 3 is a massive game, and who could forget that its running on Dice's newest technology. Frost Bite 2. Which lets face it is more just about the lighting than anything else. Most have hyped this game up to the " CoD's Killer! " But is it really? Lets break it down and find out!


Although contrary to popular belief the campagin is not always the starting point of a game. Especially not Battlefield. Which means the breakdown can only start at one place. Multiplayer. The multiplayer has been dubed the core focus of Battlefield 3 with possibly the most options put into this mode than anything ive ever seen before. Battlefield has always been about playing your own way, but then they came out and said " Play your way!" on this number 3 I didn't take it to seriously. I mean they've always said that on all the battlefield games, but this. THIS. Takes it to a whole new level. Everything you could possibly think of is customisable. Right down to the type of weighting you want on the bottom of your gun to increase accuracy though weighting. The maps are massive, quite possibly the size of a small city. A small city that you can absolutly level to the ground. Campers beware! If you camp for to long in here you WILL lose your cover! 16x16 Player maps, make for an almost real war experience. No matter where you look theres something happenening, and theres just something about trying to sit back and relax then a couple of jets fly over you in a complete dog fight. Makes it quite unsettling.

If you're the type of person that likes to sink a lot of hours into multiplayer content. You will love this. You can unlock unlocks for your unlocks in specific kits. If you don't like recon. Don't play recon, and it will never change. Battlefield 3 wouldn't be complete without an extensive medal and ribbon collection for you to collect ranging from guns to specific amount of kills in specific cars and planes. No matter what happens you will never run out of something to do.
There's even a stage you need to skydive off a cliff to reach the next objective! What's not great about that.

Now we move on down to the Campagin. The lovely people at Dice decided " Single player is just as important to a game as the multiplayer " I know right.. They actually realised this for a change? HOLD ONTO YOUR SEATS! Because it's true. They really have put quite a lot of effot into the campagin on Battlefield 3 and it shows. Without giving away to much or spoiling anything I will walk around the story line like a cat on a very thin fence.

You are Sgt. Blackburn. Wanted to Treason. You must proove the powers that be wrong and save the world. One kill. At. A. Time. To put it simply. The story line keeps you on your toes and makes you wonder. As you play through the missions you will play as different people and you do become quite fond of them. Even the enemy.. The campagin took me around about 8 hours to complete, but I didn't take my time. Considering how most FPS are these days the campagin length is quite generous ( I played though on easy first time around ) Hard is quite the challange. The AI not dimwitted zombies for a change and will actually kill eachother. I managed to pull off half a mission without firing, granted it took a long time but it happened. The cover system is mostly non existant, but if your a person who loves knee high walls you will be in heaven! I don't really want to go into to much detail on the single player because any real detail will spoil to much of the game. I want you to experience the heart pulling, gut wrenching, ball in the throat about to cry enducing moments that I did untainted! But be warned. You will be touched :P

But it's not all fantastic and amazing, there are quite a few glitches I found scattered around the place. Walls being like they arent there. Sticking to random objects. Shooting things that don't exist. They are few and far bewteen but enough to make it noticable.

Which brings me to my final point about game play. Co-Op. Yes thats right co-op. Before any of you get overly excited I want to point out one major downfall I found with the co-op. There no Local Play. Online only. This means that you cant get your mates around, have a couple of drinks and smash out the co op ( as i discovered by getting my mates around having a few drinks and finding out we couldn't do it haha ) This doesn't in way shape or mean it's a write off though. It's hard, and well thought out. Team work is most definately the key sucess in the co op. You really need to think like your a close nit squad fighting for all you classify as sacred. One thing that is well done in the co op is it's not all just go here run there kill him. Theres tactics aswell as a chopper mission. ( Make sure you have a friend that can fly or your boned :P ) The co op is mostly an extention to the campagin so I suggest that you play the campagin first then move onto the co op missions as they do fill in some blanks and leave you feeling as though you have the full story.

Now finally to finish this all off ( Thank you for sticking though it all I know it's been long ) Sound/Lighting/Mechanics/Graphics.
We will start off with sound and graphics. If these are something you value in a game then you will not be disapointed. To really get the full benifit of these features you will want either a decent sound system or some 5.1/7.1 surround headphones and 1080p / Full HD TV. To enable the full HD you will need to install the HD content to the HDD of your xbox. This is about 30GB. You are prompted when you first put the disc into the Xbox. DO IT! It really does show. The graphics in this game are phenominal. All be it mostly environmental you actually feel athough it's real. Until you see a character :P Character graphics do leave something a little more desireable on your tounge but you can deal with it as you don't really see to much of them anyway. Mostly in cut scenes. As for the sound, when you have full surround it really immerses you into the conflict and has you physically looking around the room when you hear foot steps. The explosions and gun fire sound so realistic. ( I had a friend of mine military trained applaud when I used a grenade saying " That's how they really sound. A really big thud. Not BOOM! " The lighting in Battlefield 3 is something to really admire. Not only is it absolutly spot on but it also makes the game just that little bit harder. When your trying to line up a kill and you move slightly and the light reflects off your helmet and you can't see.. You really appreciate it.

Overall I think this game has been worth the wait although I believe there was somethings they could have done a lot better the good out weighs the bad.
So it comes to this point. Time to score.

Singleplayer/Campagin - 4/5 Magicarps - Great Story/Progression.
Multiplayer/Online - 5/5 Magicarps - Theres just so much content.
Co-op - 3/5 Maricarps - Left a lot to be desired but well done and well thought out.
Sound/Graphics - 4.5/5 - So clean and crisp. Though you really do need HD/7.1 Sound.

Overall - 16.5/20 Magicarps Or 4.5 Magicarps.

Definately worth the time and money.
Thank you :)

Warfare has never looked this beautiful, ever

The Campaign
-Flash-forward, you are on the run, with a broken handcuff on your arm, you leap. To land on a train to take out a bunch of terrorists. Then you go back, there's some interrogating going on and you live the retelling of the story. Like other Battlefield games you are introduced to your squad and you move around completing objectives tactically. This is no run and gun campaign, you usually take your time to take the terrorists, planning to pick them off quick or perhaps destroy some cover making them vulnerable in the open. Which tells us one the sickest parts of the game, the destruction. You can litterly destroy everything around you. There’s a wall there,
rocket, now there isn’t. Take out cover, destroy cars and take out holes in buildings throughout the campaign. The story is fairly solid, and there was a couple moments that made me think of the Bad Company series. Its got moments that carry big action, some comedic areas and also has some slower tactical parts.

Coop Missions
-Besides campaign there is the newly added coop missions requiring you and a friend to take on various tasks unlocking more missions in a tier leveling system. From doing the buddy system in a helicopter to defending positions. I’d compare it to Spec Ops in Modern Warfare 2, but its far, far better, more tactical and a lot more fun to play.

Multiplayer
-This is the area that Battlefield 100% stands out in. The online battles are massive with an unbelievable scope that you venture through with a squad. I’ll just start by going over that each level differs, offering a different feel and a beautifully different landscape. There was much care involved making every little spot feel special and destructible. Basically everything online can be destroyed, buildings, bridges and you can even dent the ground making cover in the ground. Its almost magical watching as your enemies cover is slowly picked away. Of course with maps so large, there comes the large selection of vehicles to choose from that cover basically anywhere you want. Its got boats, its got jets, helicopters, tanks, atvs and much more! Online modes are similar to the past Battlefield games with your Rush, Conquest, Team Deathmatch and smaller squad team game types. The core play of the online has changed little, except for the changes making the assault class handle the medical aspect of play. You can customize lots about your different classes as you level and unlock attachments. From there you spawn, usually into a squad where you are able to pick any of your squad to spawn on and gain additional points when anything is done with them. This is where Battlefield delivers where other shooters fail, in the game I feel that whatever I'm doing, big or small is helping my teammates and working towards a bigger cause someway. Like myself others just stick together working tactically for positions and giving fire support. Making the online experience an incredibly enjoyable area where everyone is supportive giving a feeling of a real war scenario.

Gameplay
-Battlefield 3 sets the standard for all future games. I have never experienced a game this set to real life. Everything looks real, there is debris, particles of dust getting shot up and completely realistic destruction. The game at core still feels like Battlefield, but the game has been given one hell of an upgrade.

The Conclusion
-Battlefield 3 is just awesome. Most of your time though will be spent blasting away buildings and enemies online. We all know that, but the games coop missions are fun and the campaign is also a neat thing to play through. You will spend hours just looking around at the scope of the levels, while flying around in a copter, hiking it on foot or smashing through walls in a tank. The game is quite the masterpiece.

Written by me on Gamerheadquarters.com

Battlefield 3 – A Review of the Multiplayer

Introduction
First off, let me state that this is my first review on this website, so go easy on me

Second of all, with the exception of BF:2142 and BF:BC 1, I have played every BF game, none more so than Battlefield 2 (PC, not the Xbox version) where I clocked in nearly 2000 hours worth of playtime!

Thirdly, I am going to be concentrating on the Multiplayer aspects of Battlefield 3, and compare a lot of them to the last "true Battlefield" aka Battlefield 2. The Bad-Company series, although excellent, is officially a spin off and not related, even if the MP is largely the same.

I have also reviewed all 5 of the DLC’s separately:
Back to Karkand - https://www.trueachievements.com/dlcreviews.aspx?dlcid=4231
Close Quarters - https://www.trueachievements.com/dlcreviews.aspx?dlcid=4312
Armoured Kill - https://www.trueachievements.com/dlcreviews.aspx?dlcid=4368
Aftermath - https://www.trueachievements.com/dlcreviews.aspx?dlcid=4436
End Game - https://www.trueachievements.com/dlcreviews.aspx?dlcid=4502


The reason I am not reviewing the singleplayer or coop, is because this has been largely covered by the 9 other reviews at the time of writing this one, so I feel as if that has been suitably covered. All I will say on the subject is that I enjoyed most of the campaign, but felt the coop was lacking something.

So, you would imagine that having played so many Battlefield games that I would have been getting the hotly anticipated Battlefield 3 on release right?
Wrong.
Despite being released back in October 2011, I waited until February 2013 before eventually purchasing it.

So what made me delay it for so long?
Well it was two-fold: Gears3 was released beforehand (which I have spent a LOT of time playing) and I wanted to concentrate on that, but I was also torn between getting it for the PC or xbox and also the introduction of the unlock system for vehicles. Having now played the game, I have to say its not as bad as I had imagined, but my fears are well justified for certain aspects of the game, which is explained in greater detail below.

So what can be expected from BF3’s Multiplayer?
This list is not exhaustive, but here is a quick overview:
1) Bullet drop for all weapons (note: tank shells drop in multiplayer, but not in singleplayer!)
2) After not being included for BF:BC2, prone is now back.
3) Squads for infantry, including the ability to spawn on any member in the squad (not just the squad leader anymore).
4) Dog-tags for knife kills, and medals & badges make a welcome return.
5) Just like the “true Battlefield games”, jets are also back.
6) The ability to repair transport and scout helicopters whilst in-flight.
7) The USS Essex carrier, with the same layout (including the ladders!) that was present in BF2.
8) Battlefields’ traditional Conquest gamemode, along with Rush, Squad Rush, Team Deathmatch and Squad Deathmatch (4v4v4v4).
9) Scenery and building destruction (although not quite on the same level as BF:BC2)
10) Boats are no longer deathtraps
11) 4 solder classes instead of 7.
12) Noise levels now affect your appearance on the minimap to enemies, so consider stealth.
13) Yes, Wake Island is (unfortunately) back, albeit in a DLC.
14) A portable AA system in the Stinger is now provided for infantry
15) Vehicles now have an unlimited amount of ammo: no returning to airstrips to rearm or repair.
16) Both stationary AA and AT systems make a return, although mounted machine guns have disappeared.
17) In addition to the traditional multiplayer, BF3 has a singleplayer and coop campaign too! Unfortunately, this has taken out the “old” battlefield singleplayer which allowed you to play the multiplayer maps against bots.
18) Gunner seats in tanks, transport helicopters and jeeps can now actually score hits on opponents whilst the vehicle is moving!

One of the best additions to BF3 is the ability from the spawn-screen, to immediately take command of an empty jet or helicopter at your teams main base (and armour in some cases).
The problems of all previous BF games where people stand around at airfields waiting for the air vehicles (and blocking them on take-off to force teamkills), strapping the vehicles with C4 or using an M95 to shoot the pilot out of the cockpit, has all been completely eliminated by this simple yet effective solution.

Unfortunately, the role of the Commander has been removed from Battlefield 3, having only been introduced in Battlefield 2. The loss of the UAV and artillery strikes is a shame, but fear not, as this now results in much less radio spam particularly the infamous “Enemy Boat Spotted!”

Soldier Classes and Infantry
In Battlefield 3, there are 4 soldier classes which you can play as. These are:
Medic
Engineer
Support
Recon

For the BF2 vets, where there were 7 different classes, the following have been combined: Spec Ops & Support, Medic & Assault, Engineer & Anti-Tank. Only Sniper, now called “Recon”, remains relatively unchanged.

The same rules apply from previous games though, in that engineers should always be driving tanks and carry trusty repair tools to repair damage. Not only that, but the repair tool can now kill enemy soldiers and vehicles!
Engineers also carry the rocket launchers (AT or AA) that the AT kit used to carry, and even AT-mines too, so this makes them an even more deadly foe to enemy armour than ever before.

Medics still have medi-kits, defibrillators and assault rifles, although their assault rifles can now be equipped with the grenade launcher. The defibrillators can still kill enemies too, which is, as ever, extremely satisfying and hilarious; the killer now makes a taunting speech after getting the kill!

The Support class still carry ammo bags and an LMG, but they also carry C4, claymores or the newly added mortar.

The Recon class are the snipers of the game, but unlike previous Battlefield games, they can have a much bigger role. Their equipment allows them to laser designate enemy vehicles for AT weapons, spot enemies (similar to the old UAV), but perhaps the most useful item is the Radio Beacon.
This is basically a beacon which you can deploy to allow your squad to spawn at. This can be useful as it remains even if you have been killed, allowing your squad to get back to the front lines a lot quicker, particularly in Rush.

Infantry warfare is probably the biggest and most notable change in BF3 over BF2. The old sprint system has gone, but perhaps most of all is that the weapons and the way they “feel” when being used has had a radical overhaul. Rather than the traditional Battlefield feel, it feels a lot more like BF:BC2 or a modern FPS game. This is difficult to describe, but if you have played the older Battlefield games, you will probably understand what I mean.
I would also add that the crosshair sights on ALL of the weapons are now correct! Remember the old MG36 LMG which registered bullets half-way down the right-hand side of the ironsight? Yep, this has all been sorted out. AT LAST!
The old days of grenade spam has also mostly disappeared, with each soldier carrying only 1 grenade rather than the 3 of old.

Something else worth noting is the new Suppression system. While each gun can cause Suppression, none create it more than LMG’s. This has a direct effect on enemy soldiers as their vision becomes blurred and disorientated whilst taking heavy fire. This obviously works against you too, but creates a better immersion into the game and can make you think twice about standing up.
This is a seemingly love/hate relationship, and I wasn’t a fan of it at first. It may take a while to get used to, but it is a brilliant addition to the game and can be overcome with a bit of practise.

Vehicles
The crème-de-la-crème of the Battlefield games: vehicle warfare, and it is back, but not really in all of its previous glory.
Some of the biggest changes that experienced Battlefield players will realise are that infantry have been balanced out rather well with vehicles. Perhaps too well.

Vehicles function just as before, except they can become disabled and lose most of their movement after taking just over half damage. They can catch fire, have limited mobility and lose health until they effectively self-destruct, but if you manage to keep your armour above 35% without catching fire, by not taking any more damage for a set amount of time, will automatically self-repair. This is a nice feature, and yes, this also applies to jets and helicopters.
Ground-based armour units now have turbo boosts which can be employed at almost any time to speed up travel, almost like NOS.
Vehicles also now have unlimited ammo, requiring only reload times before they can fire again. As a result, there is no more returning to the helipad or runway to replenish your armour and ammo with air vehicles. It is debateable whether this is a good thing or not, but it doesn’t really affect the balance as the effectiveness of the airborne vehicles has been greatly reduced.
It does, however, have an effect on aerial combat between jets, because whilst flares are still in the game, with potentially unlimited heat-seeking missiles, the tactical element of firing them at the right time has gone. With the hit-boxes on the vehicles also fixed, no 1 jet automatically evades every missile fired at it (ala BF2’s J10 jet) but instead, every missile ever fired will hit its target (just like BF2’s F-35) barring intervention from the terrain.

The lack of UAV’s to reveal enemy locations on the minimap, vehicles unable to repair one another by parking near each other (well, with an engineer inside), access to all buildings and their destruction providing a lot of hiding places for infantry, as well as vehicle weapon systems being generally toned down in their effectiveness, really brings vehicles onto a much more level playing field.
Yes, a tank will still kill a soldier with ease, but the smarter soldier will now have much more chance to escape/evade and even kill the vehicle.

Transport vehicles make a return, in various shapes and sizes, but still feature a driver seat and a gunner with a heavy machine gun. Other than the gunner being better protected from enemy fire, these remain unchanged.

MBT’s (“Main Battle Tanks”) and IFV’s (“Infantry Fighting Vehicles”) are your typical land based armour units, each featuring similar systems as previous games.
Just as before, they feature their main cannon and a coax MG, but both cannot be fired simultaneously anymore. You need to choose which to fire at any given time, which slightly limits their effectiveness against infantry.

Mobile AA makes a return, with its rapid-firing cannons having a serious upgrade against air units. This now makes them a lot more deadly than their BF2 counterparts, although the AA missiles have been reduced from 4 to 2.

Scout Helicopters, which only featured in the Armoured Fury expansion of BF2 now appear in the main game. Unlike Mobile AA, the BF3 scout heli has had its guns downgraded where you can only fire approx 40 shots (very quickly I might add) before it overheats. You can also equip it with missiles allowing you to engage tanks and even other air units.

Attack Helicopters return, which are almost identical to their BF2 counterparts. The biggest problem here is that the gunner only has a cannon: TV missiles (and also Laser Guided Missiles) are an unlock, which you don’t get for quite a long time.
Remember those days of screaming at your gunner to fire a TV missile at a tank? That’s still here, but unfortunately, that will persist until the gunner actually unlocks this ability.

Jets have now been radically overhauled, and their completely dominating days of BF2 are long gone.
The cannon has a limited range and overheats very quickly, AA missiles are still here but bombs have disappeared altogether. There is an unlock for rocket pods to engage ground targets, but you have to choose between these or the AA missiles: you can no longer have both.

People who loved jets in BF2 are in for a big shock here, as not only have they been toned down, but there are no rear facing third person views to track enemy jets who may be on your tail! Indeed, this applies to all vehicles, but nowhere is it felt more than in air combat between yourself and another jet. There is also the way the cannon has a limited range, which means you will no longer be able to attack a tank whilst going at full throttle: most players slow right down to maximise their time strafing the target, which has the same effect of making them a MUCH easier target to shoot down! Expect to be nailed by a tank shell more than once if you use jets regularly.

Combine all of this with the unlock system for vehicles, this makes helicopters and particularly jets, a real headache during the early stages, and gives experienced players far too much of an advantage.

I should also add that all jets are now single-seaters: there are no bomber-jets with laser-guided missiles for a second player.

The Obsession with Unlocks
First, a bit of background; lets go back to Battlefield 2. The only unlocks in the entire game were 2 primary weapons for the 7 different soldier classes, i.e. a total of 14 weapons in all. The first 7 were all unlocked by ranking up (you would have all unlocks by rank 10 out of 22, and the remaining 7 by playing the "Special Forces" expansion pack).

Now, before we go into unlocks, I should point out that there are a lot of unlocks for BF3, which can all be unlocked by getting points/kills with the guns and vehicles. However, there are shortcut bundles which can be purchased from the xbox marketplace to instantly unlock everything. There are bundles for each of the 4 kit classes, ground vehicles, air vehicles and one for “everything”.
However, at 3200msp, this is VERY expensive (27.50 GBP / 40 USD) and is effectively EA’s “micro-transactions” for BF3. Whilst not a big problem for the weapons, this really upsets the balance of the vehicles as already discussed above.

Weapon Unlocks and Attachments
Battlefield 3 has a total of 63 different primary weapons (i.e. excluding pistols, rocket launchers and equipment), most of which have to be unlocked by completing assignments or getting so many points with 1 of the 4 classes.
Now, all 63 of these weapons then have custom unlockable attachments too, ranging from scopes, silencers, grips to reduce recoil, etc, all of which are unlocked by getting so many kills with said weapon. So, the more kills you get with a gun, the more attachments you get for the gun.
Typically, the number of attachments PER GUN, is in the range of 15-19 !

I'm not going to discuss every weapon attachment, but there are some which are worth mentioning.

The laser dot is both an advantage and disadvantage, as it not only increases your accuracy and partially blinds your enemy, but it also means the enemy immediately know they are being lined up through a scope and can take evasive action. This is less of a hindrance with assault rifles, but it can be a problem for snipers who are just adjusting their aim before taking the shot.

The flashlight is similar in nature to the laser dot, except that it really does blind the opponent! The obvious downside to this is that it will reveal your position not just to your opponent, but to everyone in the vicinity, and only works at shorter ranges.

Bipods are a neat addition to the LMG’s (light machine gun) and sniper rifles, which allow you to steady the gun thus eliminating recoil, but at the same time, makes you a sitting target.

Silencers have the advantage of not revealing your presence to the enemy on their minimaps, however, the bullets travel slightly slower and deal less damage.

There is something here for everyone, depending on your playstyle. There is plenty to unlock, but the reality is that you will find several guns which suit you, and you will end up unlocking everything for it whilst ignoring all of the other weapons.

Pistols and rocket launchers have no attachments to unlock, although new pistols and a new rocket launcher can be unlocked for use. The standard rocket launcher for both armies is the RPG / SMAW, which is an unguided system.
The Javelin can be used in their place, which requires a somewhat lengthly lock-on time, but deals a massive amount of damage to tanks.

Equipment remains similar to before, with the range of defibrillator, medikits, ammo bags, etc, but there are also some nice additions, all of which need to be unlocked (duh!). These include:

The EOD Bot, which is deployed from the engineer and is a miniature roaming vehicle which you control. It can activate/deactivate MCOM’s in Rush and also kill enemy soldiers and vehicles! You can even get teammates to strap it with C4 and send it at enemies...

The MAV is a flying bot deployed by the Recon class. It’s similar to the UAV in BF:BC2 and is used primarily to spot enemies as it has no weapon systems. It can, however, get roadkills on enemy infantry.

The Mortar is a piece of kit deployed by the Support class. It has a minimum and maximum range, but first it needs to be deployed. You can fire shells once every 5 or so seconds, and can also fire smoke shells to provide cover around flags. Unfortunately, it can only ever be used in a supporting role, as it lacks the power, damage or fire-rate to be of real use.

The Laser Designator (SOFLAM) is deployed by the Recon Class, which automatically (or manually) will paint enemy vehicles which allow friendly laser-guided systems to lock onto and fire at targets at greater distances which would otherwise be out of their range. Such weapons include the Javelin AT launcher, helicopters and jets, and the SOFLAM can even track enemy jets and helicopters which would otherwise be untargetable!

Vehicle Unlocks
This area is, without doubt, my biggest hate with Battlefield 3.

There are typically 12 unlocks for each vehicle type, and 16 for attack helicopters.

For ground based armour; MBT’s and IFV’s, the first unlock will be smoke to disguise yourself and fool laser-guided missiles. There are also coax-MG’s, zoom functions, autoloaders, thermal camo to increase enemy locking time and others too.
There is also a “Proximity scan”, which acts like a UAV and reveals all enemies onto your minimap in the surrounding area: invaluable for keeping an eye on people trying to C4 your precious tank!

Mobile AA functions in a similar manner, except the second unlock will be the AA missiles which you oddly don’t start with.

Now, I can live with unlocks for MBT’s, IFV’s and Mobile AA’s, as they are relatively easy to get kills/points with (mostly by killing infantry and capturing/defending flags). But frankly, unlocks for airborne vehicles has taken things too far.

It has widely been acknowledged in the Battlefield community that both helicopters and jets have the steepest learning curves. In fact, it took me well over 50hours of ranked play in both to really understand them in BF2. This excludes practising in the singleplayer side of the game.
But now, you not only have to do that again in BF3, but you also have to adapt for each of the unlocks.

Lets take jets: in BF2, anybody could jump into a jet and be presented with a cannon, AA missiles to engage air units, bombs to engage ground units and flares to spoof enemy AA missiles. You also had a minimap which could be zoomed in/out and an outline box appeared around all ground vehicles occupied by the enemy for easy identification.
So, you had all of the tools: all you had to do was learn to fly properly, how to evade enemy jets and how to engage air and ground units.

Lets contrast that with BF3, where we still have to learn to fly, evade and engage air and ground units, but now we are starting with only a cannon. That is it! That is all you have. You don’t have flares or missiles, or any rocket pods for ground units (which have replaced bombs).
Couple this with the air-radar unlock approx half-way through the unlock tree for jets, which zooms the minimap out (so you can see more of the map in 1 go) and reveals all enemy air units on the minimap for you, and it’s an instant imbalance.
For instance, if you get behind an enemy jet who has the air radar, they will immediately know you are there and take evasive action. But vice versa when you have no radar; you are a sitting duck. And this is where the rear-facing third person views from all previous Battlefield games are such a sore loss to jets.

Scout helicopters are not so bad, as the pilot has full control over flight and guns, with the only major upgrades being a proximity radar and guided missiles for engaging enemy armour (once unlocked). Seeing as your primary targets are ground based infantry, and you are relatively close to the ground with miniguns, provided you can learn to fly them, this isn’t much of a game-breaker.

Attack Helicopters on the other hand, are probably worse than jets for unlocks, purely because there are 2 players in the helicopter, which requires a level of teamwork not associated with any other vehicle.
Just as BF2, attack helicopters have a pilot who has control over unguided rockets and a gunner who has control over a cannon, and that is all the gunner has. For helicopters which are supposed to engage enemy tanks, this severely hampers their effectiveness until you can unlock laser guided missiles, and eventually, TV guided missiles.
This means that you will be upsetting a lot of players online for a long time until you can unlock weapons which are better than a cannon which requires reloading after 20 very rapid shots.

If we go back to BF2, the singleplayer portion of the game was multiplayer maps but you were pitted against bots. This was a perfect arena to learn how to fly jets and helicopters in isolation, without being shot down all the time. As this doesn’t exist in BF3, it makes the experience worse and the learning curve much harder.
Yes, a lot of the same tactics can be used from previous Battlefield games (including engineers in transport & scout helicopters to repair damage in-flight), but this doesn’t take away from the imbalances presented with the unlock system.

So, to sum up vehicle unlocks, these are an EA micro-overpriced-transaction scheme designed for nothing other than to take money from us gamers, and in doing so, for those who refuse to pay, manage to create some serious imbalance in the multiplayer.

If you are on this game purely for achievements, then you can probably live with this. But for those who are intent on playing beyond the achievements, and look at it as a multiplayer game which they can waste hundreds of hours on, then it poses a real problem early on.

Assignments
These are a new feature to Battlefield which provide you with tasks to complete to unlock new guns, weapon skins and dog-tags. Progress towards these can be found in both the stats section of the game and on Battlelog (http://battlelog.battlefield.com).
There are assignments associated with each of the 5 DLC’s and also for “Battlefield Premium”, and an example would be:
Cumulatively, get 10 repairs and 1 kill with a repair tool....to unlock a new gun, the G53.

Maps
Each of the maps caters quite nicely for the Battlefield type of play. There are the usual mix of expansive maps with jets, tanks and helicopters for all out carnage, and the “city maps” which are predominantly infantry based with the odd armour vehicle.

One of the biggest changes compared to BF2 though, is the lack of armour vehicles which spawn at capturable flags, they only really spawn at the two main “uncap” bases. Whilst this may help with balance, tanks can feel especially vulnerable at the hands of experienced jet and helicopter teams when they have to travel a good distance of the map.
The standard game ships with 9 maps, 4 of which can be classed as “city maps” and 1 as a purely infantry based map (Operation Metro).

Multiplayer Options
Unlike most xbox games, there is no matchmaking and instead BF3 relies on the server browser. The functionality is superb, with a lot of filtering options for gamemodes, player counts and maps. You should be able to easily find what you want, and you can also add servers to your favourites list or browse through the history.

You can also rent servers for your use, and the longer you want it, the more MSP you will pay upfront. You can rent for a day, several days or months on end. You can also customise plenty of options for ranked play, including friendly fire, ticket counts, whether vehicles will spawn or not, minimaps on or off and even an option to force squads to be only able to spawn on the squad leader!
Despite this, you will mostly only find the ticket ratios adjusted, usually 300% or 500%, which can result in some games lasting a long time. I have seen (and played in) games on Operation Metro at 500% tickets...which is 1800 tickets per army! These games last a LONG time, but result in a lot of kills. If you want the standard 100% ticket ratios, look out for the official –{DICE}– servers.

The game options allow you to choose from various control layouts for infantry, tanks, jets and helicopters allowing you to adjust to what you want. There is also a slider for the sensitivity of the analogue sticks, but unfortunately this is universal and cannot be adjusted individually for infantry, tanks, jets and helis.
This was an option in BF2, and I remember my sensitivity for jets was 6.5 whilst infantry was 2.0! It just made it all a lot easier, so I’m disappointed to see this option removed.

Achievements
The multiplayer achievements with the standard game are not too bad. Some people will struggle with them, such as finishing first, second and third in MP matches (especially if you are new to Battlefield) or getting the vehicle ribbons.
Getting to rank 45 (Colonel) is fairly straight forward, which I got coincidently after 45hours of online play! For those who intend to carry on playing, there are 100 ranks of “Colonel” to work your way through, and they require a large amount of XP per rank. 50hours beyond getting Colonel, I’m at level 9 thanks to a double XP event...!

In all honesty, Battlefield veterans should adapt and get these achievements with relative ease, and they are not difficult: they should come with natural progression through the multiplayer. Earning first / second / third place finishes is relatively easy in Team Deathmatch games on Noshahr Canals.

Summary
Am I disappointed that I didn’t get BF3 earlier? You betcha. I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this game and cannot get enough of it .
I won’t be hitting anywhere near the 2000 hours that I spent on BF2, in fact I don’t think I’ll even break 1000, but this is fundamentally a brilliant game.
I don’t like the vehicle unlocks, and the sooner they disappear the better. I also think the vehicle balance (jets in particular) needs tweaking slightly, but other than that, all of the stupid bugs and glitches are seemingly long gone.

DICE have learnt a lot of the lessons from BF2, which is now 8 years old, combined them with BF:BC2 and put it all together to create a stunning masterpiece.

Hello gaming brethren and...(sistren?) Thanks for checking out my review on Battlefield 3. So, as everyone knows Battlefield 3 looked shocking on the trailers and pretty much promised to knock blocks, so let's get down to it and see how it measures up to the hype.

Single Player
In my opinion, I thought the single player was...not bad... Taking a page from the first Max Payne game, the story starts at the end and progresses through flashbacks of your main character Blackburn and sometimes trails off to other characters like a jet pilot, a member of a tank battalion and a Russian special operative named Dima, as a counter part to prove Blackburn's story is false. This isn't a bad thing, it allows players to get an idea of what the problem is and how the solution will be found without revealing too many key points of the story that may cause the player to lose interest. The difficulty was adjustable (Though I found normal to be challenging enough.) Letting players who were interested in either story, challenge or both, to make the choice between easy, normal, and uh...masochistic. The length of the single player campaign was very much like most FPS games, short and sweet. Personally I don't know how they could have made a story about a secret conspiracy in a war any longer to play out, so I had no problems there. There were a few, "whoa!" moment's like buildings collapsing, earthquakes, quick time button fights, RPG missles crashing through windows and zipping past your head and other war game thrills. All in all, it was an enjoyable experience
but nothing truly groundbreaking in my opinion.

Co-op
I truly had fun with Co-op. Not only is it a way to play the game without having to be competitive with other players if you're simply not ready for that yet, but it also rewards players with weapons and items not obtainable through normal game play. It features game modes not necessarily story based so as not to leave any black holes in their story that just confuse players. These modes also coax players into tight teamwork for future application in the multiplayer mode I'll be getting to after this. There is actually a segment in which one player pilots a helicopter and the other operates the gun. This was a blast for me, as I was hoping I would be the heli-gunner but turned out to be the pilot. It put just enough pressure on me to where I would quickly learn to fly a helicopter without crashing it into the ground or mountains before the real threat even arrived. (Trust me, aircraft controls are a whole different ballgame in Battlefield 3, not just anyone can hop in a jet or helicopter and clean house.) This was a very positive learning experience for me as a player for it allowed me to use my knowledge as a pilot to be more reliable and versatile for my team in multiplayer Other than that, there was a stand off mode similar to the first level in story mode, an office breach, a sniping session and things like that. A challenge, a learning experience for those new to the game, and a rewarding way to get to know your way around the game with a partner who perhaps could teach you a thing or two along the way.

Customization
By customization I don't mean anything along the lines of Rainbow Six Vegas. I am simply referring to the ability to change your soldier's load out and camouflage patterns. This is an excellent feature that fits right into the game without any clumsy hard to navigate user interfaces and menus. You can set up your primary weapon, secondary weapon, any combination of attachments you have unlocked for those weapons, any gadgets you have and any specializations you have at your disposal. This is possible for every class, Assault, Support, Medic, and Recon, meaning that if you have to change your role in the battle in a moment's notice, you can have everything set up before the battle so all you need to do is highlight your preferred class and spawn on the battlefield, without needing to sit in the menu and adjust every weapon, gadget and attachment, which would definitely slow things down.

Arsenal
Every FPS needs an appealing arsenal of weaponry and Battlefield 3 doesn't disappoint. There are a slew of weapons to chose from, (most of which I have never even heard of.) Assault rifles like the AKS-74u, M4A1, M416, AEK-971, AN-94, and a few M16 models as well as widely known sub machine guns like the P90, MP7 and others. There are also higher powered weapons like 50.cal sniper rifles, shotguns with grenade rounds, laser guided missiles and anti tank and air weapons for those times when you need to take out the enemy's armored support while on foot. There are so many weapons to chose from that when you are on the battlefield, chances are that at least a few people between either team prefers the performance of one weapon over the choice of another player often time's leaving you to witness a player being taken out and the other player simply ignoring the more powerful weapon left lying on the ground. It always a impresses me when I can be outgunned by a man or woman who is skilled with a pistol while I prefer an assault rifle or shotgun. Battlefield ensures that the performance of the weapon depends on the player, and for that, I applaud EA and DICE.

Multiplayer
This is where the real fun begins. Maps can be massive depending on the game type played. During team deathmatch or squad deathmatch, teams (Russians vs Americans) are given tickets. Each time a member of either team dies, one ticket is depleted. First to hit zero tickets loses.
These games are usually played on the small variants of the maps but not too small, so as to allow the action to flow smoothly, but still give players who prefer to be a sniper some room to breathe.

Rush mode
This is fun. The map is divided into sections, usually three. The first would be the park area. (as an example I'll say Operation Metro) Within these sections are usually two objectives which the defending team must prevent from being destroyed. In order to do so, they must hold off the assault team for 100 tickets. If they manage to do that, then they win outright. On the other hand, if the assault team manages to destroy both objectives before their tickets reach zero, they will be granted 100 tickets back (Never to exceed 100 to be fair.) and progress into the subway station. The defending team will then be spawned to their next defending area. (So as not to be left behind by a particularly relentless assault team, and therefore offering no resistance or challenge to the assault team.) The rules for the defending team stay the same throughout, as well as the assault team. They must destroy both objectives once again. If that is accomplished, then they move to the last area of the map, a once busy street with cafe's and storefront lining an overlook of the avenue. There are two more objectives here for the assault team and after these are destroyed the assault team will finally claim their well earned victory. This game mode is particularly enjoyable when tight team play is applied as it makes the defense sturdier or the assault all the more fierce. It also appeals to those players who enjoy a game where at any moment the tide can turn. One minute the push is going smoothly and the next they meet stiff resistance that requires more than just gung ho tactics to break through.

Conquest
This mode is quite intense and just as active as the last two. Teams are placed on a large variant of the chosen map and given three or more points to secure, these points are namely flags to raise. Players may see the most use of vehicles like helicopters and APC's in these game modes as they are a faster and safer way to transport more than one person to a flag at a time. Both teams must raise as many flags as they can and vie to protect all of their flags. If either team controls all flags, the opposing team's tickets will drain at a steady pace until a flag is raised in their teams name. This is just as enjoyable as any other game mode, as it can be a true tug of war and can last for quite a long time. The amount of tickets can be adjusted as with any of the game modes but I believe the default number is 500. Lots of fun to be had here and players can literally play each role to the fullest in this mode. No complaints out of me.

Sound
The sound quality in this game is amazing. If you have a nice stereo system or you use Turtle Beach headsets, you'll understand what I mean. Gravel crunching under footsteps, jets soaring or exploding overhead, gun reports echoing in the distance, car engines revving up, glass braking-grenades exploding-people screaming-bullets whizzing-tank shells booming!!! Total audio overload...Very nice on the effects. Applause goes out to EA and DICE's sound guys on this game.

Control
The game controls pretty well most of the time. It feels a bit like Mirror's Edge when running and vaulting objects. Gun controls are on point and easy to use, right trigger fires while left trigger zooms and the D-pad toggles fire modes, flash lights and laser sights if applicable. The game takes some getting used to if you are accustomed to more traditional games like halo or call of duty.
Sniping is a reputable skill in my opinion due to a realistic bullet drop, apparently bringing the Coriolis effect into play somehow and perhaps even wind. I have a slight complaint about how sniper rifles and shotguns don't seem to do massive damage as they normally fire high caliber bullets. Hip fire is discouraged unless you are very close or have a laser sight and recoil is sometimes realistic and sometimes just plain disorienting and often leaves some players believing they filled their enemies with lead only to be shot one time and killed by a person who at first didn't even see them.

These things are able to be remedied somewhat by attachments and bi-pods and such, which makes players realize that this isn't the typical run and gun shooter. No real complaint aside from the fact that I wish bullet detection was just a tad bit more spot on.

Summary
The game is great. Maybe not as great as the hype, but in my opinion, nothing is ever as great as the hype suggests because sometimes gamers just expect too much. I can have fun for hours on this game and I'm not even that good at it, but it always keeps me coming back for more losses and often strange and random enemy encounters and mishaps. If you want a somewhat realistic war game to play online that has good to great everything and a total sense of unpredictability, ( I almost got run over by a tank but when prone and it rolled harmlessly over me...If only I wasn't a sniper when it happened I would have put some C4 on it like in Captain America.) then Battlefield 3 is your game. You won't be disappointed. If anyone is looking for someone to play Battlefield 3 with on some Wednesdays through Saturday's then you know my gamer tag. Hit me up and we'll play. Duey Decibel signing off...with a smile?

Battlefield 3 is an interesting mix. Its production values at times seem to be unmatched, while at other times, are extremely flawed. I might as well start with the big thing everyone talked about leading up to this game, the Frostbite 2 engine. The engine is absolutely gorgeous, theses graphics are some of the best i have ever seen in a game, however sometimes, certain aspects of the engine look so good, when compared to other parts it makes the engine seem lopsided, as if they put all the focus into say water effects on the ground rather than textured for cars. However that does not effect that i feel the graphics of this game are a perfect 10/10.

The sound design of this game is great as well, music and battle sounds are crisp and clear and sound great on even normal television speakers. My only complaint about the sound is the voice actors. They just cant bring any of the characters to life, this is not really an issues with the quality of their work, but maybe over the direction they were given by dice, but more on this later. Sound design gets a 9/10.

The campaign of Battlefield 3 is a mixed bag, there are some good moments, and some bad ones, their are bright spots with design of levels and characters, and things that will make you wonder what the heck were they thinking? The story is only so so, no spoilers but its just kind of dull and never gives much reason for why you should care whats going on. it never gives you motivation, and that comes down to the way the characters are being developed. There simply is no character development in this campaign, all the soldiers are dull and lifeless and have no personallity whatsoever. The main character only seems to be able to talk in cut scenes, you never hear him talk during the actual gameplay. the levels are designed fine with some nice actions setpieces and some cool moments are sprinkled in here and there, but overall the campaign lacks polish. Its a so so experience, and completely forgettable, Campaign score is a 5/10.

Multiplayer is the meat of your battlefield 3 experience, and is is fantastic. There are 9 huge maps and 5 awesome game modes to play on. The leveling up system is addictive and will keep you playing to reach that next rank and level. I wont go into too much detail about the multiplayer. The experience is very vehicle oriented, with only a few maps providing close quarters gun on gun gameplay, unless you are playing TDM. Any fan of the Call Of Duty Series will have to get used to this change of pace in multiplayer, but it works and is stellar. The multiplayer gets a perfect 10/10.

Co/op is a new addition to battlefield 3, however there is not much to talk about here. There are a few missions to take on with a buddy, they can be decent fun, yet still frustrating at times. The only problem is there just isnt much to this mode, it feels like it was put on at the last minute, its fun, dont get me wrong, it just feels incomplete. Co/op gets a 7/10.

Finally what needs to be talked about is gameplay. The game play is great at times and other times horribly frustrating. There are many frustrating glitches in both campaign and co/op which impede your progress and sometimes can make the campaign unbeatable if you dont start it all over again. The enemy AI is smart, and provides a good challenge. Your team mate AI is only so so, but they do find a way to kill the enemies so theres that. The controls are tight and responsive and well done. and all the gun on gun action is great. Gameplay gets an 8/10.

Still the best multiplayer shooter around, but weak single player and stability issues keep it from greatness.

If you liked Bad Company 2, you'll like Battlefield 3. The multiplayer seems to work even better - maps are bigger but don't seem too big where people get lost; the squad play you love is still there and the graphics are pretty amazing.

Single player is a bit meh. It's pretty, but it's short and you sort of feel like you're going through the motions. Theoretically the co-op should help, and I appreciate that people saw what Modern Warfare 2 did so well with the Special Ops and try to replicate it. I say try, because they didn't quite get it. Lack of local co-op hinders it firstly (online co-op is fine, but sometimes you need some games you can play with the people actually in your life), as does the limited number of missions. But, still, it does add value.

So, for me, it comes down to how you feel about Battlefield multiplayer. If you liked it before, you'll love this. If you didn't, you'll probably find this disappointing too.

Graphics 5/5
Campain 4/5
Co-op Not played yet
Multiplayer 5/5

overall good game if you like feeling as part of the team within the story but lacks the ability to wander off and explore (not that you would in a warzone anyway) however i passed a weapon cache, killed 2 enemies then was refused entry back into the cache due to an invisible wall, didnt spoil it too much though

Multiplayer is what you expect from the franchise and ive never seen lag ...(yet) but im on 20mb connection.
hope this review helps people buy this game

ps i know it doesnt show i have done the campaign achievements on my gamercard i've done story on another account

Single player campaign on hard is just stupid, the stories OK but nothing to write home (or here) about but you die in the most frustrating ways that just don't make sense.

Just be prepared to die a lot from getting shot behind rocks or whilst running from spot to spot or following some dumbass follow routine where you may as well just crawl the whole level.

Multiplayer is brilliant and hopefully they fix the teething issues I'm still experiencing with things like not being able to spawn in a game I've been playing for 10 minutes and have to exit out,

Battlefield 3 is a good game the things i hate about it is the AI can apparently shoot through walls there is not enough checkpoints and it is very hard to see the enemy otherwise i really enjoy the game. I am annoyed that everyone i play against in the multiplayer doesnt die i shoot and shoot every bullet hits but nothing and also if an enemy has a tactical torch or laser sight when they look at you it blinds you which is very daft. so in conclusion I like the concept of the game but I don't like the way it was put together

Unlike my first review I'll break this down into sections. However I want to preface this by saying I was hardcore biased to COD before playing this and have never played a Battlefield game for very long before this.

Campaign- Bad character models. Good story. To those who think it's basically a rip-off of Black Ops but with nukes instead of poison gas, keep in mind that this was in development before Black Ops was. The story was pretty impressive. I give the story a 4/5 mostly because they could have done better.

Multiplayer- Basically each mode has it's own pace. Team Deathmatch is the fastest paced, highest-action mode in BF3, and I'm not really a fan of it, but that's a personal prefence. Even my least favorite mode of the game does really well. Rush is a good middle-ground between TDM and Conquest, and a mode I just generally like. Conquest is the slowest-paced mode in BF3 and is still.at a decent pace and has a great amount of action. This mode nets a 5/5.

Co-op- Kind of just feels tacked-on, with the exception of the unlockable weapons for multiplayer. There's basically no story for them and very few missons, but they play well and are fun, so I guess that's all that matters. This mode nets a 4/5 because it could have been better.

Overall, 13/15 points. Averages out to a 4.3 out of 5. Cheers

When you first open the case for Battlefield 3 you notice that there are 2 discs--the first being multiplayer and co-op with an hd texture pack (install this if you want better than ps2 visuals) and the second being campaign. The campaign is fairly short but does have a few cool moments. You will experience a few cheap deaths along with some uninspired quick time events that end up feeling a bit out of place and slowing down the gameplay. Although the campaign feels lack luster, the multiplayer is the reason you buy this game. With massive maps, a plethora of vehicles (including, but not limited to, tanks, jeeps, helicopters, and jets), about 55 weapons, tons of attachments, etc., you won't be getting bored of this game anytime soon.

Campaign-- 3/5
Sound-- 5/5
Graphics-- 5/5 (with the texture pack installed)
Multiplayer-- 5/5

Although the campaign holds this game back from being a true 5/5, this is a mainly multiplayer game and shall be judged as such.

Overall-- 5/5