Okay Geek Farm
Will Battlefield 3 be worth your time?
Alex TretropDownload this EpisodeSubscribe on iTunesRSS FeedFollow on Twitter
So, Battlefield 3 just got a proper gameplay trailer and it’s looking absolutely goregeous. It’s apparently pre-alpha and if that’s the case, that’s pretty unbelieveable. The demo, as per usual with these kinds of things, was in an extremely controlled environment, everything perfectly planned to show off the engine, gameplay and sound design. The question, at least to me, isn’t will it be successful, it’s where and how it will be successful.
EA is desperately trying to topple Call of Duty from it’s throne. They’ve tried it with Medal of Honor and that didn’t work. They tried it with BFBC2 and, even though it was a better game, it still didn’t succeed because it’s a fundamentally different game, it’s strengths were in it’s team oriented,vehicle based gameplay. So now they’ve forced to bring out the big guns so to speak. The idea that Battlefield 3 is coming is pretty awesome but will it be successful? From one trailer and only a little bit of info, I’m predicting a resounding yes. Here’s why:
1. DICE’s primary focus is the PC!
It’s truly fantastic to see a developer assuming that it will be getting the most sales from the PC market. Battlefield 2 was the best team-based multiplayer game ever and it’s great to see that they aren’t “consolifying” the experience. If you treat the PC well, you’ll absolutely be more successful and let’s be honest here, shooters on consoles aren’t good experiences because your reaction time is severely hampered by the inaccurate use of the controller, as well as the constant whining of five year olds and graphics that aren’t nearly as good as what a high end PC can pump out. DICE’s core audience is on the PC for this game and it’s great that they have the brains to realize that.
It’s also important to note that when they say “PC is our primary focus” DICE has a good enough track record that I can totally believe them. Unlike other titles, like Call of Duty or even Crysis 2 (if the PC demo is anything to go by), you know DICE will deliver the options PC gamers need to properly play their games, be it with specific graphics options, mouse configurations and keybindings.
2. The engine looks incredible!
Let’s not beat around the bush here. Regardless of the fact that it may or may not have been a pre-alpha build of the game, the Frostbite 2 engine is looking incredible. The environments all look believeable, with the addition of the dog and other cars just adding to the immersion. When the soldiers move into a building, the lighting is crisp, smooth and just looks plain great, with the rays of light from the windows adding depth to the scene, making it much more believable. Even the shadows on the models are fantastic. Put simply, it just looks great all around. I still think that some work could be done to the player models, to make their run animations look a little less silly and their speech work a little more noticeable, since their mouths don’t really seem to be moving, but these are all small critiscims, especially critiscims against a trailer of all things.
3. The Gunplay and Sound Design is just as good as they’ve been in the past!
If there’s something DICE got right with BFBC2, it’s their sound design and weapon usage. In the trailer, the only gun they used looked and sounded real, with the bullets having a nice amount of weight and noise to them. DICE is good at making some great looking explosions as well and hopefully we’ll be seeing the destruction features of Frostbite 2 in action sooner rather than later.
Final Thoughts
Colour me excited for Battlefield 3, it’s looking great. It has the internet buzzing with it’s awesome graphics, attention to detail and because of the fact that Yes! Battlefield 3 is finally coming out. I can’t wait to see more and I hope the final product is as awesome as it looks because if Call of Duty has any competition coming up from the horizon, it’s Battlefield 3 and let’s be honest, it probably isn’t going to be pretty.
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