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Battlefield 3 (Post Launch)
Laserwolf
Member Posts: 2,383
So, I figured I'd throw some thoughts out here because the other more official BF3 forums are moving way too fast to get a word in edgewise, especially with all the complaining about the Server Disconnections.
My first impressions on my 360 version, at least for the Multiplayer, are generally positive. There is one map in particular where the US side spawns on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Sea and has to take Little Birds from the top deck or inflatable rafts from underneath to get to the mainland where the flags are. Reminded me a lot of Battlefield Desert Combat which is never a bad thing.
My biggest issue with the direction they are taking Battlefield 3 probably had more to do with just the general movement of the characters. I've said before (After playing the Beta) that choosing the realistic and animated movements over the more simple and less complicated movement system used in previous Battlefield games is a bad idea. Everything from jumping over barriers to crawling or even just running seems far too loose and kind of throws you off. It looks pretty enough when you swing your feet over a cement barrier and jump/slide over it, but it also sort of feels laggy by comparison to the simple jump mechanic of other FPS games.
JETS
Luckily I got to try out the jet before I quit for the evening and I'll admit that it's really fun to fly and feels a lot more realistic than jets in BF: DC or BF2. Unfortunately this also makes them extremely hard to do anything with other than just fly around the map with an occasional barrel roll thrown in. The cockpit view is always shaking no matter how fast you are going or high you are which gets old pretty fast and just doesn't make a lot of sense.
OTHER VEHICLES
As for other vehicles like the tanks or jeeps, they seems about the same as the ones found in previous Battlefield games with one major exception. Each one of them has a sort of turbo speed that you can initiate which makes the vehicle move almost twice as fast. I can understand why they thought this would be a good thing for the new majority of gamers who have zip patience, especially with the larger maps, but it feels and looks cheap and not entirely necessary. Tanks zooming across the map at ATV speeds look more like they are gliding on ice than actually driving. Apparently the speed is supposed to be a trade-off for maneuverability but that doesn't make a lot of sense because they were never very good at dodging fire anyway. Also, I didn't see anything on the other forums about this but if anyone else is having issues moving the turrets in ground vehicles(I keep rubber-banding back to center on every server and map) please let me know. It feels like lag but this happens without fail and even when nothing else seems to be lagging.
TEAM DEATH MATCH
For the first time that I'm aware of Battlefield now has a Team Deathmatch game mode. Honestly I'm a little bothered by this because it's clearly another bow to the CoD franchise and I worry it will steal away the majority of the population from the Conquer(Flag Capture) mode which I feel is the frachise's primary mode. For those interested, I tried it out on the Caspian Sea map because I was curious if they would modify the map to fit the mode. I didn't see any vehicles being used so it looks like Team Deathmatch is purely infantry which I suppose isn't as bad as it could be. In the end I know I'll always have plenty of full matches no matter which mode I play, and I realize that the more variety the better, but sometimes I miss the days when game Developers would stick to their guns. Though likely this decision was out of their hands.
FROSTBITE 2 and DESTRUCTION
Lastly, I feel as if their destruction system seems to have taken one or two steps back from the Frostbite Engine used for Bad Company 2. When I shoot a wall with an RPG it just sort of vanishes instead of crumbling in a cloud of dust and debris. I mean, sure they have an animation for the destruction, but it is a lot less involved and awe inspiring as in the previous engine.
CURRENT SERVER ISSUES (360)
Yes there are server issues including some lag (rubber-banding) and multiple server disconnections, but I'm not too worried about them. Of course the EA Server issues that have been going on for the last month or so aren't a great sign, but I'm still quite sure this is all related to launch and things will smooth out over the next few days.
*Oh, one other things since I hadn't been aware it was included until I stumbled on it. I found it interesting that they included the ability when joining a Multi-Player match to choose from a long list of servers that include info about the maps, number of players, and connection speed. Having switched to console shooters only around the time of Modern Warfare I haven't seen this sort of thing in a long awhile. I'm not entirely sure I'll utilize it instead of the just the Quick Launch which also lets me designate my game mode and map, but nice to see it.
Comments
Whelp, this didn't really seem to go anywhere but I suppose I should have kept to a more general forum. Oh well, it will let me sort of modify my impression of the game now that I've been playing it for a week.
Firstly the bugs I encountered on day one were gone for the most part on day two. The jet cockpit apparently wasn't supposed to vibrate constantly and other than a few sound glitches and menu problems the game is good to go. The server issues lasted another few days but I haven't had a problem with them for some time now.
I've got to say, I had no idea the vehicle combat, movement, and leveling up was as fantastic as it is. First off, each vehicle has multiple secondary weapons and secondary defenses that you are able to unlock as you get more kills and do more damage with them. It created a whole new sort of Rock-Paper-Scissors approach to vehicle combat that the previous Battlefields never had. The flying vehicles like Jets, Attack Choppers, and Scout Choppers all start with just machine guns or rockets that require manual aim. As you earn kills you will eventually unlock flares and heat seeking missiles. The flares will throw off the missile locks or stinger locks from the ground, but generally your enemy can get off at least two missiles for each launched flare. So each encounter requires you to cycle between heat seekers, machine guns, flares, at the same time forcing you to fly dangerously near or around obstacles to break missile locks.
If you have a gunner who has unlocked flares for the gunner seat of the attack chopper, they can also launch a flare which gives you a considerable advantage over an enemy(basically makes his heat seekers useless) but only as long you both work together to alternate the flares. This sort of cat and mouse mechanic leads to some great dogfights between both jets and choppers. Add to this the multiple other unlocks like stealth, faster reload, guided missiles for air to ground, and radar so you can see other jets and choppers more easily and you have the best vehicle combat out there right now. I'd even put it above BF1942 which is saying something considering that game had controllable aircraft carriers, destroyers, battleships, and submarines.
The ground vehicle combat is just as suprisingly good with all of the unlocks. I never really was a fan of tank combat in any of the previous Battlefields, but with all the tools available to you like the boost speed(which I've realized is a great tactical addition), smoke launchers, and multiple other weapon related unlocks you sort of feel like Batman with his utility belt.
The infantry combat still isn't really anything special to me, and I find it unfortunate that even with the server browser I don't get the option of choosing servers that play the larger vehicle maps 24/7 like I remember with BF1942 on PC. It's still pretty great, though I'd give the edge to CoD if you're interested only in infantry. Luckily only one map has absolutely no vehicles at all(the Demo Map) and so on the others I can at least mess around with the light Tanks and APCs.
One last point I'd like to make about Battlefield 3. They finally got the controls for Choppers right! I never enjoyed any gaming experience as much as I enjoyed flying helicopters, and especially the Little Bird, in Battlefield: Desert Combat. When Battlefield Vietnam launched with DICE's official Helicopter controls I was completely let down and at the same time amazed that they would not only mess with perfection but completely blow it at the same time. Their take on helicopter controls took most of the skill requirement away, and basically gave you a hovering rocket launcher. Battlefield 2 proved my concerns to be correct and showed that they were determined to go down the wrong path from that point forward. Bad Company 2's controls were the only other ones I got the chance to try my hand at and they were no better than BF2. Now finally BF3, and on console no less, has managed to start taking things in the right direction. The key is giving the player complete control of keeping the chopper in the air as well as allowing us to rotate it and tilt it in any direction. Desert Combat controls still felt better, but I'm convinced now that this is only because the keyboard allows for tighter movements than the joysticks on the 360 controller. In the end, I'm just thrilled to realize that my thumbs are doing the same zen-like unconscious dance that my middle three fingers used to do.