Battlefield 3 peaked my interest upon it's first announcement. I constantly tried to keep myself away from the hype so I would not be disappointed by another flop of a game. The last two games I was extreamly excited for were Dragon Age 2 and Medal of Honor. Both games hit bottom for me on my list. I didn't love them like I thought I would and was greatly sadden by this. It was a rough time for games. Then there were great experiences I wasn't expecting. For instance Dark Souls. If any of you haven't played this game then I strongly recommend picking it up if you are interested in a beautiful looking game that will challenge you to your core.
Battlefield 3 steps into a ring that is currently dominated by an undefeated opponent. If anyone has played a first person shooter (FPS) then they probably have played or at least heard of the Call of Duty series. The Call of Duty series has strongly dominated the platform for some time now. Many haven't played the previous two Battlefield games and it was mostly kept underground. Battlefield 3 however stood up to challenge a game such as Call of Duty. Coming into the arena against such a powerhouse such as Call of Duty is a large feat to undertake. You can't help but cheer for the under dog and I couldn't help but hope this game would come out superior in the end. However, Call of Duty has one advantage in this fight and that is that they've molded the FPS player to it's type of game style. It would be hard to create a game now that does not have similarities to the Call of Duty genere.
Now Battlefield 3 releases a game a mere 2 weeks before the highly anticipated CoD4MW3. When I placed my game into the XBOX it prompted me to install a texture pack to help make the game look better. I agreed and waited for the game to install to my hard drive. Upon starting the single player campign it started a story that instantly got me excited. I started the story with some adreniline pumping in my veins. Instantly captured my attention and felt great. I completed the opening (tutorial) sequence and began the story of the game which takes place 8 hours previously. The beginning of the story instantly reminded me of the CoD Black Ops story style. I couldn't help but think of CoD Black Ops story telling style and awaited more moments of such a game. (For the record I suffered through the Black Ops single player and was so excited to get it over with) Now the next level starts and I see a beautiful Middle Eastern City laid in front of me. My squad travel through the narrow alleys till we are ambushed. The game has begun. I enjoyed the fact that I was fighting my way though objectives rather then simply waves of enemies to reach the next check point. I went from the ambush, to taking down a sniper, to covering a squad of allies, to defending a LZ. The game flowed well and kept me from losing my interest. Shortly after completing more missions as the Marine Recon solider I entered into the cock pit of a Fighter Jet set on a mission. The mission included dog fighting, marking targets, and recon. It was done well and I greatly enjoyed it. My wife, however, did not enjoy the jet scene and felt sick while watching. I loved the view I had during the scene going to and flying in the jet. The enviroment around my character was a gripping action scene of war. It was beautiful. I then moved on to the next mission which I'm currently on which is a night time assualt on a city. So far so good.
The negative of the Single Player. I did encounter some issues in the game. There was a short instance where I got hit with the evil known as lag. I was attempting to jump over some blankets in a narrow hallway shoot out and hit some lag which looked as if the game was paused suddenly and then quickly unpaused. Later in a different area of the game I was attempting to sneak past some guards. Once they saw me I hit some lag when they began firing upon my position. Nothing was altering to the game play but it was evident that lag had struck. One other flaw I came across is I was shooting an enemy and while shooting him he disappered as if he was never there. He didn't react to my gun fire and then suddenly disappered. That was the only occurance of that thus far.
Now for the multiplayer. The multiplayer is where most players fell in love with CoD, I know I did. I entered into the multiplayer looking for a server to play on. The server selection reminded me much of the server selection on a PC version of any other game. Different to me compared to what I was use to playing on CoD or Halo. Yet I had the selection of a map to play, players in the game, and a game mode. I enjoyed it. I found a full server and was put into queue for the next avilable slot. I was 2 out of 3. Not bad waiting. Within a few moments I was in the game. Upon entering the game I saw a vast battlefield and in the air was a dog fight between jets. The jet exploded and pieces fell to the earth around me. Tanks and jeeps fought through the streets as snipers attempted to pick off infantry moving into the town. I'm more of an infantry player so took my assault class for a run. First run started off all well then I was sniped from a well hidden sniper. Second attempt, I ran to objective A and was able to knife an unsuspecting enemy which was one beautiful executing stab. I was then instantly shot. New plan (and attempt 3), to spawn on a team mate who was infiltrating around the side of the base. Our entire squad spawned on him and we were able to systematically take out the enemy and plant the charge on the objective. We then set up defensive positions and held the position till the timer was up and the bomb exploded. Your team has won. It was a great victory. Now we were defending. I chose my sniper class and set up to snipe as the enemy attacked our positions. The sniping took some getting use to but once I was able to narrow in my cross hairs the fun began. My shots arc down as I shot the farther away. It took some skill to hit running targets or even a prone target (yes you can go prone now). Then...you've lost connection to the server. Alright find a new server and log in to another. Logged in and after some more intense play I once again lost connection to my server. Frustration sat in a little bit but was easily able to get into another server. The epic porportions of the battles looked amazing. Standing a top of a hill watching as tanks, planes, helicopters, and infantry fight was a breathe taking scene. The game looked beautiful. The connection issues were frustrating but other then the disconnection I never experienced lag in game. The weapons reacted as I would expect an assualt rifle would and sounded great. I didn't fall through the world or experience other strange Beta issues viewed before.
Now my experience with the game was short lived but from what I experienced I look forward to more to come. I enjoyed my moments of single player and enjoyed the moments I had fighting other BattleField 3 players. The enviroment was very breath taking at times and I enjoyed the mechanics of the game laid before me. Do I think this game is better then any CoD game that came before? No. Do I think CoD is a better game? No. I think both games have aspects that make it a wonderful game and I look forward to see what CoD4MW3 has to bring to the table. From what I've seen is two very enjoyable games are here to make our holidays bright. If you've enjoyed the previous Battlefield games and enjoy objective based Multiplayer then I think you will enjoy your time on BF3.
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