Battlefield 3

[msteelers]

So I take it everyone is going to be playing this over COD this year? I need to figure out which game to buy.

[Roman]

I don't think that has been established just yet.

[wonderpug]

So I take it everyone is going to be playing this over COD this year? I need to figure out which game to buy.

I really don't know now.  I didn't have the best first impression from playing the BF3 beta. 

[Harkonis]

playing the beta on 360 and PC makes me seriously consider skipping both CoD and BF3 this year.

[Razgon]

Isn't it fun, Hark?

[CeeKay]

playing the beta on 360 and PC makes me seriously consider skipping both CoD and BF3 this year.

I couldn't get the PC beta to even run last night-  instead of trying to figure it out I ended up playing Red Dead Redemption instead.

[Nonnahob]

I don't think that has been established just yet.

MW3 will probably have the most legs IMO.

I'll be buying BF3 w/ my amazon promotional credit and getting the game for $40. Then I'll turn around and trade it in after 2 weeks (assuming MW3 is all its being cracked up to be) back to Amazon for $40 credit.

I'm going to give the beta a shot over the weekend but the majority of what I've heard is pretty negative. I know a beta is for testing purposes and not so we can play a month early, but you can't expect to drum up a ton of excitement over something that doesn't function well either.

[msteelers]

I'll give the beta a shot over the weekend and see. Maybe I'll just register for gamefly this winter if both COD and BF3 are meh.

[Jarrodhk]

I'll be getting BF3 and playing the heck out of it. Hopefully others will also.

I may get MW3, but, 95% for the co-op missions.

[leo8877]

playing the beta on 360 and PC makes me seriously consider skipping both CoD and BF3 this year.

Kato said it was like BC:2, are you feeling otherwise?

[Jarrodhk]

It feels like BC2 with better gunplay and a lot of additions/improvements.

Having watched some Caspian Border game play, that Really looks good and fun. BF without vehicles is nice for variety, but, I love killing tanks as an engineer, and with the addition of Stingers and jets, now I can shoot down more aircraft as well!

Is it the second coming of FPS'? No. Does it feel like a really good and fun game? So far yes.

Of course I've always preferred the BF style of game play over COD style. I played several hundred hours of BF2 modern warfare on the 360 and loved it as well for all its myriad faults.

Aside from vehicles, I like that even if I'm having an off night for straight up fighting, I can still contribute (and get points) for dropping ammo, medkits, reviving, spotting, suppressing, serving as a forward spawn point, repairing vehicles, etc.

[leo8877]

I haven't been able to find time to log into the beta, but based on Jarrod's description I'm definitely in and already have this pre-ordered for months now.  I also logged hundreds of hours into BC2 and love this style of gameplay.

[Harkonis]

The map I played didn't feel very battlefield-y at all.  

Though it happened in BC2 as well, the squad spawn clown car didn't seem as bad in that one.  I'll be shooting a guy and then it's two guys, then three, then four.  They have to feel bad getting killed when they spawn, and I dislike that if I run out of ammo on the fourth guy, I die.  It feels too arcadey.

There is a mobile spawn device recon can use that works great, but it's somewhat marganilized (sp?!)  by the spawn on anyone in your squad mechanic.

The game is very lethal, and I like that.  Sniper scopes give off an exagerrated glare that's a bit much as well.  

Vehicle maps may be more fun, as well as different map in general.  This one is very easy for defenders to lock down the second set.

I'm also very, very ticked that after 1943, BC1, BC2 and MoH, Dice still won't let you back out at the end of a round, or even while dead.  You have to wait for the new round to load, start, then spawn, THEN quit.  It's bullshit and horribly designed.  

LMG's finally have a purpose and I felt were done really well.  Shotgun felt good too with a good/fair range for one shot kill and still effective with multiple shots at pretty realistic ranges.  


It's still likely to be better than CoD for the same reasons Jarrod mentioned.  CoD doesn't have the support tools that BF has.  They really picked a horrible map and it might kill excitement. 

Also, console version doesn't look very good at all.  PC looks pretty good.

[skystride]

How do you get a LMG?  Level up support?

[Harkonis]

I was referring the the long barrel that support starts with. (with bipod)  You probably get some LMG's later.

[Razgon]

Well, when I see Hark playing Titan instead of the BC3 beta via steam, I fear for the game!

[pingwrx]

After only playing a couple of round this feels just like BF BC2 only a little enhanced been their done that this will be a rental.

[Harkonis]

I played another round.  Yes you do unlock the heavier LMG's as you progress in Support.

The shotgun can be a beast, and the pistol is pretty useful.  Got off to a 12-1 start with the RPK then a pistol triple kill.  Rounded it up with a 6 kill in 15 second shotgun spree when I flanked behind all their shooters.  Ended the round at 50-18.  It was pretty fun, but I still really despise the way the spawning is working.  I like in RO2 where you can't spawn off the spawn-dude if he's within x meters of an objective.  That feels better. (plus you can only spawn on the squad leader in that one.)

I was defusing a charge and some fuckin idiot on our team kept pushing me off the point physically and it would reset the defuse timer.  He did it three times so I killed him and defused it.

[Harkonis]

Well, when I see Hark playing Titan instead of the BC3 beta via steam, I fear for the game!

TQ with Paths is pretty amaingly fun.  Sadly most of the masteries were reworked with teamwork in mind... and nobody plays coop anymore

[Jarrodhk]

Well, 38-14, 30k in medals. I'll take that.

Flash suppressors are really nice, and the UMP-45 is an extremely good gun.

[Cortilian]

Well, when I see Hark playing Titan instead of the BC3 beta via steam, I fear for the game!

TQ with Paths is pretty amaingly fun.  Sadly most of the masteries were reworked with teamwork in mind... and nobody plays coop anymore

Play Sacred 2 with me

[Jarrodhk]

Still don't understand how the T-ugs is supposed to work. I put one down... and it just sits there.

[USMC Kato]

Hopefully Dice can make it easy/easier to get friends or people in a party to join the same squad.  If not, it would be pretty stupid to be in a squad with just LMGs suppressing the enemy with nobody to actually cap and kill.

[Jarrodhk]

LMG's can kill too.

[Owain]

I just want to know who decided to put out a demo release that obviously has quite a few issues.  I would think if you are taking on COD and actively calling out Activision and thier developers you would want to put out the very best product you could and not something that shows as poorly as what is out there now. 

I for one am not impressed with the server issues, randomly falling through the ground and under the map, sound cutting out, etc. 

[ATB]

The lethality in this game is serious business. Played for only about 15 minutes. Had no idea what I was doing and died a lot.  I killed a few people and it was literally like 2 bullets and down they go.

Pretty sure I'm going to pass. A shame, as I've been waiting for this for a long time.

[Teggy]

Game feels deadlier (at least in the sense that I got killed very quickly a lot) and I fell under the map a bunch. But I love all the mantling and sliding/diving animations, the suppressing fire and the bipods.

[Harkonis]

I just want to know who decided to put out a demo release that obviously has quite a few issues.  I would think if you are taking on COD and actively calling out Activision and thier developers you would want to put out the very best product you could and not something that shows as poorly as what is out there now. 

I for one am not impressed with the server issues, randomly falling through the ground and under the map, sound cutting out, etc. 

it's not a demo Owain, it's an open beta

The lethality is one of the things I love about the game.  Also what might be the main reason I'm still getting it.

[msteelers]

I spent a few hours with the beta yesterday. The first few games were a little overwhelming. I would take two steps, hear a thwip, thwip and then I was dead. But after awhile I started to remember how to play a FPS, and wasnt completely useless.

I can see where the game will be fun, but why they chose to do the rush game mode is mind boggling to me. When I think of battlefield games I think of the game mode with various objectives throughout the map that you hold in order to win. So far this just doesn't feel like battlefield to me, and makes me want to bust out my copy of blops more than pre-order the new battlefield.

[Harkonis]

Rush was the poster child mode for both BC1 and BC2, this is really more like BC3 than BF3

[leo8877]

I think the underground part of the map is the weak part, the other parts are pretty fun.

[Teggy]

I really like Rush mode because I like team-oriented play, and good team can be really successful.

Steelers - conquest mode is definitely in the game, just not in this beta (at the moment). So you will be able to play a Battlefield 3 that feels like Battlefield 3 if you want. BC2 had conquest mode as well.

[Harkonis]

Rush does a better job of keeping pubbies together as a team though.  In Conquest people tend to randomly wander/camp points that aren't currently of any real value.

[ATB]

CancelEd my preorder...

[RuperT]

Rush does a better job of keeping pubbies together as a team though.  In Conquest people tend to randomly wander/camp points that aren't currently of any real value.

Not only that, destructible terrain means there's not much to attack/defend by the third or fourth flag change...
I haven't played the beta, and don't have plans to let it sour my excitement (ATB cancelled!) but has anyone seen any improvement in server autobalance from the last versions of BF?

[Razgon]

So, with the super fast respawning, the lack of any squad selections and the general feel of the game, this is more of a Team Deathmatch game now, and lacks any real team work - Is that correct? Its just spam respawn and shoot before others shoot you?

[leo8877]

So, with the super fast respawning, the lack of any squad selections and the general feel of the game, this is more of a Team Deathmatch game now, and lacks any real team work - Is that correct? Its just spam respawn and shoot before others shoot you?

But there are squads and you can use teamwork to complete objectives?

[Razgon]

Yes, but the squads are auto selected - no luck trying to play with friends. And with the super fast respawning anywhere, who cares if you die - you can get back instantly anyways and fire crazy bullets.

makes Teamwork hard when you are randomly thrown around

[msteelers]

Rush was the poster child mode for both BC1 and BC2, this is really more like BC3 than BF3

Ah. I didn't play those games, so this game mode is new to me.

Not only that, destructible terrain means there's not much to attack/defend by the third or fourth flag change...

I don't remember that being the case in 1943.

[Harkonis]

1943 didnt' have as much destructible terrain fwiw.

BF3 has more than  BC2, and in BC2 by the end of a round some objectives were just a concrete foundation in an open parking lot by the end.