Battlefield 3 (video game)

[CoinReturn]

IrW5TRGLLlE

BF3 is this month's Game Informer cover story, and details have started to leak out:


Battlefield 3 leaps ahead of the competition with the power of Frostbite™ 2, the next instalment of DICE’s cutting-edge game engine. This state-of-the-art technology is the foundation on which Battlefield 3 is built, delivering superior visual quality, a grand sense of scale, massive destruction, dynamic audio and incredibly lifelike character animations. As bullets whiz by, walls crumble, and explosions throw you to the ground, the battlefield feels more alive and interactive than ever before. In Battlefield 3, players step into the role of the elite U.S. Marines where they will experience heart-pounding single player missions and competitive multiplayer actions ranging across diverse locations from around the globe including Paris, Tehran and New York

Battlefield 3 features:

* Frostbite 2 – Battlefield 3 introduces Frostbite 2, the incredible technology that takes animation, destruction, lighting, scale and audio to new heights. Built upon this powerful game engine, Battlefield 3 immerses players physically and emotionally to the world around them like never before.
* Feel the Battle — Feel the impact of bullets and explosions, drag your fallen comrades into safety, and mount your weapon on almost any part of the terrain. Battlefield 3’s cutting edge animation, spectacular visuals and real as hell battle gameplay attack your senses and make you feel the visceral warriors experience like no other FPS.
* Unparalleled Vehicle Warfare — The best online vehicle warfare experience gets even better with a fitting sonic boom as fighter jets headline impressive lineup of land, air and sea vehicles.
* Urban Combat — Take the fight to iconic and unexpected places in the USA, Middle East, and Europe including claustrophobic streets, metropolitan downtowns, and open, vehicle-friendly landscapes as you fight your way through the war of tomorrow.

Sounding good so far! This Fall is going to be packed with great games.

[Tricky]

Man I'm looking forward to this, I'm playing Bad Company 2 a lot at the moment which is awesome, but I miss the huge open maps and aircraft of Battlefield 2! I can see some PC upgrading being required this year...

[MikePizzoff]

I bet our console versions will get neglected and not feature the fighter jets. :(

Either way, I love the Battlefield series so I'll be picking this up on day 1.

[Tricky]

I love the squad play on the Battlefield series, if you get in a team that look out for each other its really rewarding! Sometimes its good to go off on your own fragging every enemy you come across, but its better when your supporting a team who also support you, endless fun!

[SymphonicX]

Man I'm looking forward to this, I'm playing Bad Company 2 a lot at the moment which is awesome, but I miss the huge open maps and aircraft of Battlefield 2! I can see some PC upgrading being required this year...


wow, so you think BFBC2 is less open? I've never played B2 - but I think I played a demo once - I thought BFBC2 was amazing...I'm still playing it. It's just AMAZING.

I take back everything bad I said about it - well, not everything. The servers are still suffering massive issues and there are some really silly coding in the game such as not being able to quit a lobby and stuff. But by and large, it's just amazing. My favourite game since Rainbow Six Vegas. Glad you're enjoying it too - theres a lot of play you can get out of it (I must be at 170 hours by now..)

[MikePizzoff]

The servers are still suffering massive issues and there are some really silly coding in the game such as not being able to quit a lobby and stuff.

Ugggh, not being able to back out of games in between maps is possibly one of the most frustrating things I've ever experienced on a first person shooter.

[Tricky]

wow, so you think BFBC2 is less open? I've never played B2 - but I think I played a demo once - I thought BFBC2 was amazing...I'm still playing it. It's just AMAZING.


Yeah, dont get me wrong the maps in BFBC2 are big, especially the Harvest day & Heavy Metal ones, but in Battlefield 2 they were much bigger, they had to be to incorporate the fighter jets and 64 players. Battlefield 3 will be the same I think, huge maps where you have room for flying fast aircraft around :cool:

[SymphonicX]

Yeah, dont get me wrong the maps in BFBC2 are big, especially the Harvest day & Heavy Metal ones, but in Battlefield 2 they were much bigger, they had to be to incorporate the fighter jets and 64 players. Battlefield 3 will be the same I think, huge maps where you have room for flying fast aircraft around :cool:

I'm sold on it already....! What a great game - great series it seems. The destruction elements are impossible to put into words, its just fantastic

[CoinReturn]

More good news. If you remember, DICE released a "Gold Edition" of Bad Company 2 for no extra charge for those who preordered, and it contained a few extra weapons. They're doing it again this time with BF3, except the bonuses are way, way better; classic maps and weapons from BF2, including "Back to Karkand":

http://www.abload.de/img/container_bgr_enjmci.jpg


This themed expansion pack features four legendary maps from Battlefield 2 boldly re-imagined with Frostbite 2 physics, destruction and visuals. Completing the package are classic Battlefield 2 weapons and vehicles, unique rewards, new achievements/trophies, and more. For those who don't pre-order to secure the limited edition, Battlfield 3: Back To Karkand expansion content will be available for purchase approximately one month after the game's release.

[SymphonicX]

This might be my first ever pre-order....

[CoinReturn]

Details and scans from Game Informer:

-Aiming for CY Q4 2011 release
-Concept for BF3 has been in the works for years, waiting on proper tech to seamlessly come together
-Frosbite 2.0 is the culmination of this tech, entirely re-written
-Lighting sounds neat, one "probe" contains more lighting information than an entire BFBC2 level.
-Level destruction is going to be "believable" but basically everything is destructible.
-Character animations powered by ANT, what EA Sports uses.
-AI characters and multiplayer characters have different animation sets
-No more "gliding" animations that look off, animation realism is a focus
-Captured their own war audios (bullets, tanks, helicopters, etc) at different distances to ensure realism
-Better audio cues for certain actions, more easily able to listen for threats
-Plan on better, more immediate post release content
-More unlocks than BFBC2
-Dice trying to find a good balance between customization of your character and not having "pink rabbit hat(s)"
-4 classes
-Will talk about squads "later"
-Looking into a theater mode but can't talk about it
-Will have co-op
-There will be a kill-cam but it can be turned off
-BF3's team is almost twice as big as the team for BFBC2
-They want the pacing of the single player mode to be balanced, with highs and lows. Makes the comparison to a song vs a guitar solo.
-Part of the single player mode takes place in Sulaymaniyah - Iraqi Kurdistan.
-"Fuck" will be used often, so M rated for sure
-There will be an earthquake in a level. The destruction sounds very impressive. 7 story building collapses, looks very well done
-Significant narrative that goes with the SP mode
-More than one setting, you're not in the middle east for the whole game
-PC version is lead version
-Why 64 players for PC only? No complains from the console crowd.
-No mod tools at release. Maybe none down the line either. Frosbite 2.0 is complex and mods tools would have to be dumbed down, so does Dice really want to put their time to that or would it be better spent elsewhere?
-Original story, not based on Bad Company at all.

http://images.gamersverse.com/misc/1297141633509.jpg

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Frostbite 2.0 sounds amazing.

[SymphonicX]

my first ever pre-order!!! roll on autumn!!

[Eyebiter]

EA wants to charge for maps as DLC? Well that explains why they don't want to release mod tools. Why help the community if you can soak your player base for remakes of classic Battlefield maps.

Hope they find a better anti-cheat system than Punkbuster.

[CoinReturn]

First gameplay teaser:

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I'm hyped! :hyper:

[MinionZombie]

First gameplay teaser:

wi2tae2PmmU

I'm hyped! :hyper:

Fuck I hate these cock-teasing teaser trailers where you literally almost see sod all. :|

Still haven't played Bad Company 2 yet, come to think of it. I enjoyed Battlefield 2, so I will no doubt play this at some point - will it just be multiplayer (with a bots option), or will it have a single player storymode as well? By the looks of that trailer, it must surely have SP - which is what appeals to me. Multiplayer can jog on. :D

[ProfessorChaos]

here's another video with more footage...
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holy crap, i'm impressed. will likely check this one out....dunno though, CoD:MW was really atmospheric and at times gave me flashbacks of my trip to the sandbox, even causing me to have some vivid nightmares...this may be too realistic, judging by this trailer....the animation of those marines running, lighting, etc, are over-the-top compared to anything i've seen in a game yet.

[MinionZombie]

here's another video with more footage...
Ubb9oL7jtXE

holy crap, i'm impressed. will likely check this one out....dunno though, CoD:MW was really atmospheric and at times gave me flashbacks of my trip to the sandbox, even causing me to have some vivid nightmares...this may be too realistic, judging by this trailer....the animation of those marines running, lighting, etc, are over-the-top compared to anything i've seen in a game yet.

Ah, you beat me to it - I was about to post this video. :)

Looks damn good - I take it that it's going to have a Single Player portion? I don't know an awful lot about the game, but this certainly looks like a Single Player portion of gameplay at least. Has a great look to it as well, visually very impressive, but also - as you say - in terms of motion capture. Perhaps this will do what Medal of Honor apparently failed to do (I say apparently as I've not personally played it yet, but will probably do so when it's at bargain bin prices).

Any idea when this is coming out?

[CoinReturn]

Wow, I've been playing a lot of Bad Company 2 lately but that trailer is on a whole different level. All they're shown so far is singleplayer footage and BF3 is easily in my top 3 anticipated games this year.

Look for it to hit between September and November, Minion. DICE has said repeatedly that they aim to take down CoD, so it'll probably release right alongside Modern Warfare 3.

[MinionZombie]

MW3 versus BF3 eh? SMACKDOWN!!! :D

And I'll play both of them.

If they're going to launch sooner, they don't want to leave to short a gap, as COD fanboys they're hoping to win over might very well say "nah, I'm saving my money for COD", but then at the same time you don't want to leave a huge window as you might do very well, but you could end up becoming yesterday's news as soon as MW3 comes along. Interesting.

MoH for instance didn't do COD numbers, but it did well in its own right - but methinks MW3 will be a better game by far, just going on impressions of the former from the net, and interest in the latter ... also from the net.

[MinionZombie]

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There's a full 12 minute reveal coming April 17th - and I can't wait.

These videos make the game look boss-as-fuck, and I for one am very interested. Here's hoping the single player campaign lasts decidedly longer than 5/6 hours, though! It's something which has become a frustrating trend in shooters of late.

[Tricky]

Battlefield has always been about the multiplayer, Bad Company 2 has got me back into online gaming after quite a long hiatus so I absolutely cannot wait for BF3, it will indeed be boss!

[MinionZombie]

But with Bad Company came single player action ... speaking of which, I should have Bad Company 2 sometime soon. Got it for the PC at long last, but I won't be playing it online (don't have the rig I sometimes game with online, and wireless I don't care for - not that it works properly in my neck of the woods anyway) ... but I'm looking forward to some shooter action, as I've not really been gaming much for the past several weeks (aside from a bit of a bash on PGR4 earlier this month).

[MikePizzoff]

:hyper: FUCK YEAH! Been a huge fan of the Battlefield games for some time now. My buddy and I have been playing Bad Company 2 since it's release... yeah, we STILL play it online (surprise for FPS'). The fact that they give out free maps (that are actually really good) is a HUGE plus, which the CoD franchise needs to take a look at.

[CoinReturn]

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http://h5.abload.de/img/bf3-2c8pk.gif

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http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=bf3-1qjg3.gif

Updated "Back to Karkand" maps:

http://www.abload.de/img/bf3-1rmo2.gif

http://www.abload.de/img/bf3-2586v.gif

http://www.abload.de/img/bf3-34kse.gif

Wake Island from BF1942/1943:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2011/137/960869_20110518_screen001.jpg


In conclusion:


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Er5F2N6dkbg/S-NN1QXHZ_I/AAAAAAAAAH4/aAIfpQTPE1s/s320/I_came.jpg

[SymphonicX]

Battlefield has always knocked seven shades of shit out of COD for me....BF has the edge, without a doubt. Explosive scenery, buildings toppling down, great vehicles, weapons, upgrades etc...that's multiplayer anyway - the singleplayer to the BFBC games have been, well...rubbish. by comparison to MW1 i'd even go as far as to say, embarassing, (terrible "comedy", silly stereotypical characters, ridiculous plots and sparsely populated areas with nothing to do) but with BF, you don't really buy it for the singleplayer...

I cancelled my pre-order for this game for the PC version rather than the xbox...just a shame it'll only support keyboard/mouse combos...

[Mitchified]

the singleplayer to the BFBC games have been, well...rubbish. by comparison to MW1 i'd even go as far as to say, embarassing

To be fair, these kinds of shooters always seem to have poor single player experiences. If you're looking for single player FPS, you look to franchises like Resistance, F.E.A.R, and Crysis, as well as more off-beat games like Borderlands. Stating that Call of Duty has a better single player experience than Battlefield is kind of like saying that vomit is better than poo; while the vomit smells slightly better, they both stink.

That's why I'll be passing on Battlefield 3, incidentally. At this point, the multiplayer FPS market is so oversaturated that I couldn't give less of a crap about a new game in that genre. I'll be waiting for FEAR 3 and Resistance 3 to get my FPS fix instead.

[MinionZombie]

To be fair, these kinds of shooters always seem to have poor single player experiences. If you're looking for single player FPS, you look to franchises like Resistance, F.E.A.R, and Crysis, as well as more off-beat games like Borderlands. Stating that Call of Duty has a better single player experience than Battlefield is kind of like saying that vomit is better than poo; while the vomit smells slightly better, they both stink.

That's why I'll be passing on Battlefield 3, incidentally. At this point, the multiplayer FPS market is so oversaturated that I couldn't give less of a crap about a new game in that genre. I'll be waiting for FEAR 3 and Resistance 3 to get my FPS fix instead.

I'll definitely be playing Battlfield 3 - as always - exclusively in singler player mode. It looks pretty darn boss to me.

However, the single player of Crysis wasn't all-that to be honest. There were some good moments, but it wasn't amazing, or particularly stand out and the characters were mostly cut-outs of stereotypes and the plot in general wasn't so hot. The gameplay was solid, and it looked the part, and had some good action spectacles in it, but as a plot with characters it was mediocre.

Modern Warfare, on the other hand, really gripped me - and how can you not love Captain Price? Modern Warfare 2 - now, there was some GARGANTUAN plot holes squatted throughout that game, however the single player experience was an action thrill unlike most ... and we got more Captain Price, but also Soap (who you played in MW1) was now a fleshed out solider (with a killer look about him, just like Ghost). However shooters aren't about subtle plotting, this isn't L.A. Noire we're talking about here, but in terms of an action spectacle, they do a solid job ... even with MW2's woeful lack of plotting sense at certain points. It was more like a playable action movie - at which it did quite well. I connected to it only on a visceral level, and on a "DRAMATIC!!!" level with the rising music and double-crossings and so on ... however Red Dead Redemption made me feel compassion and pity and more for the main character, and various other characters throughout, but that's part of the package when it comes to a game like RDR.

FPS games don't generally rouse passionate involvement, but at times you can experience something like it in some of the best examples ... but by design they're for generating an action thrill. A rush of adrenaline. An experience.

[Mitchified]

I'm not saying that the Crysis series is fantastic or anything like that. I'm saying that it presents a more unique overall single player experience than, say, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Which, in my opinion, it does. No, the story isn't exactly on par with a novel, but the mechanics of the game and the map layouts are much stronger while CoD: MW is basically a tacked-on single player campaign in a game obviously designed for a multiplayer experience. For my money, the only Call of Duty that's come out somewhat recently that can claim to have a solid single player campaign is World at War, and even that is pushing it.

Sadly, the CoD route is the common one at the moment. All the CoDs (ESPECIALLY Black Ops), Battlefield 2, Homefront, etc. are all just bland single player games (and in the case of Homefront, bland multiplayer as well, but that's another topic entirely). Games like Resistance, BioShock, and F.E.A.R. are sadly few and far between. Unless Battlefield 3 is radically different from its predecessors (and actually different from them, not just the designing company saying that it is), it's just going to be another missed opportunity.

[CoinReturn]

It's at times like these where I wonder which portion of Duke Nukem Forever is going to be better, SP or MP. It's a traditional shooter, so you'd expect the multiplayer offerings to be the main attraction, but it's also very character-driven with iconic locations and enemies, much like Halo.

Anyway, I'm getting off track, but it seems no matter what kind of shooter fan you are, there will be enough of a selection this year for anyone with an itchy trigger finger!

[SymphonicX]

To be fair, these kinds of shooters always seem to have poor single player experiences. If you're looking for single player FPS, you look to franchises like Resistance, F.E.A.R, and Crysis, as well as more off-beat games like Borderlands. Stating that Call of Duty has a better single player experience than Battlefield is kind of like saying that vomit is better than poo; while the vomit smells slightly better, they both stink.

That's why I'll be passing on Battlefield 3, incidentally. At this point, the multiplayer FPS market is so oversaturated that I couldn't give less of a crap about a new game in that genre. I'll be waiting for FEAR 3 and Resistance 3 to get my FPS fix instead.

Fair enough - although I disagree with the single player puke vs poo argument - COD MW1 and COD2, in particular, were just fantastic, life changingly brilliant single player games - COD2 especially...And look at Rainbow Six Vegas - oft overlooked nowdays cos its fairly old by comparison - but Vegas 1's single player was probably my favourite of any shooter ever released - what a fantastic experience...!

[CoinReturn]

PC requirements released, hope your rigs are ready:

http://www.abload.de/img/bf3rp9f.png

[Tricky]

Looks like its a forced upgrade for me in the next few months. This game will keep me going through the cold dark winter months, so I have to have it, best be doing a mobo & processor shop!

[SymphonicX]

Think I'll piss through this one tbh...!

Xeon Quad 2.83ghz 12mb cache
4gb Ram
Geforce GTX590

However, ram might need a few extra sticks....I can max it out at 128gb so I don't think I've got many issues here. There's also room for another quad core....

My issue is going to be the lack of gamepad support for online mp - if it doesn't have gamepad only servers, I'm sticking to SP games....

[Tricky]

Think I'll piss through this one tbh...!

Xeon Quad 2.83ghz 12mb cache
4gb Ram
Geforce GTX590

However, ram might need a few extra sticks....I can max it out at 128gb so I don't think I've got many issues here. There's also room for another quad core....

My issue is going to be the lack of gamepad support for online mp - if it doesn't have gamepad only servers, I'm sticking to SP games....

Bloody hell sounds like a £3k+ rig you have there dude! :eek: My rig was about the highest spec you could get 3/4 years ago, way behind now though!

[SymphonicX]

if I maxed it out it'd probably be about an 8k rig in the shops - but you know, spend a bit here and there and you can get a good deal on kit like this.

The PC itself cost me £800! Graphics card = £700....those the two biggest bits on there...I'd never go domestic PC again, server towers or high end video editing platforms for me!

[CoinReturn]

BF3 multiplayer alpha invites are being sent out, and a few videos have been showing up:

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Official multiplayer gameplay:

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[MikePizzoff]

Fuck, those videos are amazing. I'm even more pumped now.

If you pre-order the game at Gamestop, you'll automatically receive the Back To Karkand expansion pack for free. It includes new/extra achievements, weapons/vehicles from BF2, and 4 [awesome] maps from BF2: Strike At Karkand, Gulf Of Oman, Sharqi Peninsula, and my personal favorite, Wake Island.

[CoinReturn]

JETS! :hyper:

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[Tricky]

Jets were always awesome in Battlefield 2, they took some mastering, but once you got it you could rack up awesome scores, and everyone on the other team hated you! Only problem is you always get people who cant wait their turn for the jet, so they'd team kill you to get it first, used to piss me off no end!

[AcesandEights]

It looks incredible, as it has each time I've seen a clip.

Do you guys feel, or have you heard, if they are likely to stick to the late October release?

[CoinReturn]

It looks incredible, as it has each time I've seen a clip.

Do you guys feel, or have you heard, if they are likely to stick to the late October release?

At this point the release date seems set in stone.

October 25 for North America
October 27 for Australia
October 28 for Europe

[AcesandEights]

At this point the release date seems set in stone.

October 25 for North America
October 27 for Australia
October 28 for Europe

Just figured I'd try and double check to reassure myself. This Fall will definitely make up for this Summer's paltry offerings.

[Mr. Clean]

Heck yeah.

COD should lose it's ass off this year. Battlefield has definately brung something new to the table this time along with an eariler release.

[MikePizzoff]

I am sooo excited for this game. Got it pre-ordered. Even though we've had Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for over a year now, and my buddies and I still play it multiple times a week. You know what the life span of the Call Of Duty games are for me/us? About 2 months. That says something. Battlefield 3 will have us playing for a couple years, probably.

This month's issue of Game Informer has a poll asking what game people are most excited about this year. Battlefield 3 got a vote of 10.8%, whereas MW3 received a vote of 6.5% (Skyrim had first place with 32%, but that's irrelevant). I'm really excited to see BF3's fanbase growing, however I'm very nervous we're going to see a lot of the little kids and immature dorks that play CoD migrate over into Battlefield, which would be awful.

[Mr. Clean]

however I'm very nervous we're going to see a lot of the little kids and immature dorks that play CoD migrate over into Battlefield, which would be awful.

Yeah, I don't expect most of them until after Christmas though....I would imagine PC doesn't gain too many of them types either.

[Tricky]

Yeah, I don't expect most of them until after Christmas though....I would imagine PC doesn't gain too many of them types either.

What the PC lacks in immature console kid attitudes, it makes up for with aimbots and hackers which are equally frustrating. The good thing on the PC though is far more choice of servers, so you find a good one with regular players with good attitudes, save it in favourites and your sorted

[Mr. Clean]

What the PC lacks in immature console kid attitudes, it makes up for with aimbots and hackers which are equally frustrating. The good thing on the PC though is far more choice of servers, so you find a good one with regular players with good attitudes, save it in favourites and your sorted

lol I been out of pc gaming too long....I had forgot about the aimbots and hacks. I sometimes still suspect people of hacking on consoles sometimes but not sure how they do it or even if they are able to cheat.

[CoinReturn]

Good news for console versions:

http://twitter.com/#!/smcinnis

Just heard from DICE that even the console versions of Battlefield 3 will have server browsers.

[MikePizzoff]

Good news for console versions:

http://twitter.com/#!/smcinnis

Awesome. I don't think there has been a lick of bad news about this game in the past umpteen months. [knock on wood]

I've been attempting to play less Bad Company 2 because it's making the wait for BF3 seem to agonizingly crawl by.

[MikePizzoff]

There has been news on BF3 practically every single day and just about all of it makes me even more excited. :hyper::hyper::hyper: This was just released yesterday:

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[CoinReturn]

Pre-order to receive the Physical Warfare Pack:

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[MikePizzoff]

For my birthday, I decided to reserve and pay-in-full my copy of BF3 at Gamestop. This comes with the Back To Karkand map pack, of 4 classic BF2 maps. :hyper:

Coin, you gotta start playing with me and my buds. There's 5 of us, plus a random guy we became friends with via XBL. We use mics, too. Either wait until BF3 to join us or test us out now, on BC2. We're pretty goofy sometimes (IE: 4 of us randomly ganging up on the other 1 and turning him into an X-mas tree via tracers) so be warned.

[CoinReturn]

Definitely man, I've been playing BC2 quite a bit lately, mostly in preparation for things like this:

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I wish they'd announce the beta date already.

[MikePizzoff]

I've heard rumors that they'd be quietly releasing the beta next week. Doubt it's gonna happen but, fingers are crossed.

-- -------- Post added 15-Sep-2011 at 08:19 AM ---------- Previous post was 09-Sep-2011 at 06:58 PM ----------

Beat release of Sept 20th with the Paris map??? Only time will tell.

-- -------- Post added 21-Sep-2011 at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was 15-Sep-2011 at 08:19 AM ----------

Open beta launches next Thursday!!!

[MikePizzoff]

The open beta is out as of now, if anyone wants to bitch about how they're never going to get the game ready in time for release, like half of the internet is ding. Idiots. Some people just don't understand what "beta" means...

[Tricky]

Just when my PC appears to have died as well, gutted :(

[MikePizzoff]

Sorry to hear that. So far it's blowing my mind and is the most fun I've had playing a FPS in a while. There are a bunch of bugs and graphic issues, but it's a beta so whatever.

[Tricky]

Yeah I was just browsing the net last night and it froze up on me, I had to hit reset as ctrl+alt+delete wouldnt work, and now when it boots up even though all the fans and everything else sound like they are running fine, my monitor just says "no signal", cant figure it out! I cant smell any burned components or anything and it didnt make any noises when it froze. Shouldnt be a virus either is my scanner is always on. I'm going to blast it out with an airline tonight as when i took the side off it was very dusty in there so maybe I've got some overheating issues, it must be 12 months since I last gave it a blast out. Failing that I'm wondering if my main board has died, it shouldnt be my graphics card as its a powerful one and is only around 15 months old!

[MinionZombie]

Yeah I was just browsing the net last night and it froze up on me, I had to hit reset as ctrl+alt+delete wouldnt work, and now when it boots up even though all the fans and everything else sound like they are running fine, my monitor just says "no signal", cant figure it out! I cant smell any burned components or anything and it didnt make any noises when it froze. Shouldnt be a virus either is my scanner is always on. I'm going to blast it out with an airline tonight as when i took the side off it was very dusty in there so maybe I've got some overheating issues, it must be 12 months since I last gave it a blast out. Failing that I'm wondering if my main board has died, it shouldnt be my graphics card as its a powerful one and is only around 15 months old!

Couldn't be anything silly like it somehow managed to select a different screen resolution or whatever that can't be viewed? Probably nothing to do with it, it's just I remember one time with my Quad Core when I first got it I had the screen set for a widescreen monitor, but then moved it to the normal 4x3 monitor and it wouldn't show anything beyond an "out of range" message, so I had to rejig it on the widescreen monitor before returning again to the 4x3 one. Just a thought that passed my mind, but probably not anything to do with this issue - I hope you get it sorted soon (and easily, and cheaply!)

[Mr. Clean]

The open beta is out as of now, if anyone wants to bitch about how they're never going to get the game ready in time for release, like half of the internet is ding. Idiots. Some people just don't understand what "beta" means...

Amen!

-- -------- Post added at 08:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:44 PM ----------

I had alot of fun on the beta while it lasted on Xbox. Once it's up again I will enjoy it some more. The squading with friends was kind of annoying me though but like it has been said..."it's beta so whatever"

[MikePizzoff]

Mr Clean, I'll have to remember to add you next time I'm on. You're going to be picking up the full game, right?

[Mr. Clean]

Mr Clean, I'll have to remember to add you next time I'm on. You're going to be picking up the full game, right?

Oh Yeah. I already made one friend on Beta. The more the merrier!

Already preordered it before Beta came out. I just hope I get my 50" plasma back before Oct 25. I was playing beta on a 32ish POS T.V and struggling to adjust to non-HD quality. I was getting soooo pissed when I couldn't see the guy hiding in the bushes killing me because of the tv quality. :lol:

[ProfessorChaos]

so, i tried the beta, and it really didn't strike me as being all that different from BF:BC2. what's so new and updated about this?

not bashing it, i just wasn't that impressed with it. probably gonna sit this one out.

[AcesandEights]

Yeah, downloaded it yesterday and played off and on throughout the day. Man, am I rusty, but the game is damned fun. Hope to play with some of you guys.


so, i tried the beta, and it really didn't strike me as being all that different from BF:BC2. what's so new and updated about this?

not bashing it, i just wasn't that impressed with it. probably gonna sit this one out.

I kind of got the same impression, myself. Some cool tweaks and I'll be all about just being able to play new maps with better options, but it seemed more of the same to me (again, not a bad thing necessarily).

[ProfessorChaos]

like i said, i'm not knocking on it, or claiming CoD dominance over battlefield or anything like that. i didn't really give it a lot of time, but i suppose it could be fun. when aces and i teamed up on some BC2, it was a good time, but i really don't like playing the same map twice (particularly when matches last like 30 mins each), and only having limited classes, game types, and crappy squad options make me drift towards the CoD franchise.

i'm not buying MW3, mind you, as i've got too many other games to play these days to purchase something like that. plus i've still got tons of zombie mayhem in black ops to catch up on.

probably no new FPS games for me anytime soon.

[Tricky]

Are you guys playing the PC version or on the consoles then? I'm just wondering how demanding it is on the ol' hardware, my recently deceased PC is being reincarnated at the moment with a Phenom II quad core (955 black edition) but other than that my system is staying on the old spec, 4gb ram & a GTX275 gfx card, so will BF3 run ok on that or is it a "rich kid spec" game?

[MinionZombie]

Are you guys playing the PC version or on the consoles then? I'm just wondering how demanding it is on the ol' hardware, my recently deceased PC is being reincarnated at the moment with a Phenom II quad core (955 black edition) but other than that my system is staying on the old spec, 4gb ram & a GTX275 gfx card, so will BF3 run ok on that or is it a "rich kid spec" game?

Christ, if a game can't run on that, it's piss-poorly optimised, I'd have thought.

[Tricky]

Christ, if a game can't run on that, it's piss-poorly optimised, I'd have thought.

I hope thats the case, bad company 2 was running on max settings without a hitch prior to my mobo dying so if like people are saying this is very similar then I'll have no problem with this upgraded rig when I get it back. Its just from watching the teaser trailers it looked to be very "next gen" in terms of graphics, so I was thinking my 4 year old rig may struggle with it, but I have no choice but to upgrade now. I'm not too happy about it as I cant really afford it, but I'm sure once I'm ripping all the latest games a new one I'll forget about the price....:cool:

[SymphonicX]

A friend of mine is running this game on a Phenom 3.2ghz quad with a GTX460 and 8gb DDR3 and it get's "highest" settings.
I'm playing it on a GTX590 and it obviously runs at Ultra settings, with no hitches.

But in the beta, high and ultra mode look similar and to be honest, the graphics are piss-poor on this game from what I've seen so far. The beta is without destruction, too.

The multiplayer "battlelog" thing means you access the MP games through a web browser - it's buggy, too complicated, and you have to disable your virus scanner to make it see party invites.

Gamepad support is in the beta, with no aim assist - still its possible to play the game and enjoy it with a gamepad - if this makes it to the final release, I'll most probably buy it. But if it stays remotely the same as this horrendous beta, Dice can fuck off. They always sell out their customers and I'd put real money on the final release being very similar to this pile of unplayable crap.

-- -------- Post added at 08:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:39 AM ----------

as you can tell I'm far from impressed regarding this game. I know it's just a beta, but we're technically days from release and this is how they whet the appetites of the hardcore fans?

I could talk for hours about that battlelog. What an unbelievable abortion it is. Couple that with the fact that not all the gamepad buttons are mapped, you can't navigate menus with it, plus my consistent bug across all games that "hides" the mouse pointer in game menus (any help on that one??) means i have to ALT+Tab into windowed mode to change class.

F**k it, this game unforunately, at the moment, f**king sucks. It looks like Call of Duty 2 and plays like Army of Two. I genuinely hate it. So this has left me waiting for online reviews and opinions of mates who know how picky I am with my £39.99. DICE have been consistently inconsistent since day one. If it's not "no points after death" it's all the servers closing after midnight. This game has displayed all the same traits that DICE have put in their games since I've started playing BF. They make no efforts to fix things, never communicate with their customer base, and basically leave everyone to rot with a buggy game.

[MikePizzoff]

In one week and 16 hours I will be playing the shit out of this game!

Sym, you can't be that upset over the Beta. It was a TRUE Beta, not what companies have started doing over the past several years, and a demo which they disguise as a beta. Also, that build of the game was finished in late August, giving them nearly 2 whole months of time to continue working [around the clock] on stuff. On top of it all, I saw a list of shit they had already fixed at the end of Beta and it was everything I had complained about/seen complained about, and then some.

Also, what is buggy about Bad Company 2? Maybe it's because I play it on XBOX, but I've experienced several updates for it. Even one a few months ago, which is surprising considering how close to BF3 it was. DICE does care about their customers... notice how they released FREE map packs for Bad Company 2. Think you'll ever see Infinity Ward/Treyarch/Activision do this?

I know I'm sounding like a fanboy, but I'm not; I've bought every CoD game since CoD4. (however, I'm pretty certain I'm done with that franchise)

[SymphonicX]

In one week and 16 hours I will be playing the shit out of this game!

Sym, you can't be that upset over the Beta. It was a TRUE Beta, not what companies have started doing over the past several years, and a demo which they disguise as a beta. Also, that build of the game was finished in late August, giving them nearly 2 whole months of time to continue working [around the clock] on stuff. On top of it all, I saw a list of shit they had already fixed at the end of Beta and it was everything I had complained about/seen complained about, and then some.

Also, what is buggy about Bad Company 2? Maybe it's because I play it on XBOX, but I've experienced several updates for it. Even one a few months ago, which is surprising considering how close to BF3 it was. DICE does care about their customers... notice how they released FREE map packs for Bad Company 2. Think you'll ever see Infinity Ward/Treyarch/Activision do this?

I know I'm sounding like a fanboy, but I'm not; I've bought every CoD game since CoD4. (however, I'm pretty certain I'm done with that franchise)

Yeah I know its a beta and all that...its just that, to be completely honest, even if the game had the graphics of The Witcher 2 I would still find the thing unplayable.

It's horrible through and through. The new class system is horrible, the team spawning is horrible, the maps they chose to get me excited (the train station one and the 64 player bigger one) are to be honest, rubbish, boring, bland, just plainly uninteresting environments - destructive or not.

BFBC2 was massively buggy BUT...it was an AMAZING game. I hate COD games, they are the worst example of an over commercialised gaming industry built solely to satisfy 12 year old boys. BFBC2 is far more adult - but even with that it was bugged out to fuck. No points after death rule springs to mind - with the first YEAR of the game being played and losing thousands and thousands of points because a tank with four people rolled over your landmine just after you took a completely unrelated shot in the head somewhere else. And yeah...I was playing BFBC2 on the xbox 360....:(

It was things like that, and the team points exploits, the spawn camping, the over abundance of snipers, and the worst of all of them - and this is a problem still evident in the BF3 beta AND bfbc2 - is that you can't under any circumstances, join a game with more than 4 people in it after 23:30pm. Ridiculous.

Avoiding this game like the proverbial plague. Pre-order cancelled a LONG time ago, and am glad I did. Skyrim FTW! Dice, in my opinion, just don't give a fuck. They release "free" map packs that were already on the disk. They incentivised the used game market to buy it new by offering these free maps thereby harming the used game market further (not that this is the only time this has happened, but straw, donkeys, backs). The game modes with BFBC2 were limited and always have been, and most of their new "maps" were just new versions of old maps in different game modes.


They also removed the suicide bomber thing for a while, not sure if they put it back in. But what a great idea, load up an ATV with C4, drive into the enemy base and blow yourself and everyone up around you...it's not like that's not a really clever way of adding a new level into the game. But nah...Dice didn't like that one!

yeah, not impressed unfortunately...I'll for sure, 100% be skipping this game...also the gamepad thing is a pain in the bottom to me, and that issue aint gonna be fixed by anyone. The PC games industry is more than happy to let a massive amount of people fall by the wayside simply because they want a superior quality gaming experience. The amount of people plugging in xbox controllers to their PCs whilst playing games on a 50" plasma TV connected to their PC, is more than anyone really cares to consider. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people use an xbox gamepad to play PC games. Gamepad only servers would have been nice. But no.

And don't even start me on that abortion that is the battlelog. HTML based web server browsing and partying that doesn't for even a second work properly with an anti-virus installed. Awful.

[CoinReturn]

I'm so hyped! The beta compared to the full release is like night and day according to those who've played it at recent expos and press events. Kharg Island and Damavand Peak sound like awesome maps, the latter containing a 500m base jump down the side of a cliff to secure objectives. :D

Also, if you're planning on playing the 360 version, it comes with 2 disks, singleplayer and multiplayer. If you install the singleplayer disk, it allows the 360 to stream high resolution textures to the multiplayer portion, so free up some hard drive space!

One more week!

[MikePizzoff]

Sym, I guess Dice/EA really just left the PC in the dust, then? Because I get tons of after-death kills/points nearly every time I play. I also get kills/killed by an ATV loaded with C4.

Also, in BF3's defense on the squad spawning thing. Again, it was just beta - that's nothing like how it is in the final version.

I just hope you have a change of heart after you see the final game in motion.

Anyway, this next video is for Coin and MrClean

Rjd7QW-pVxM

[SymphonicX]

yeah it took them about a year but they finally reinstated Points after Death - due to about 700 pages of threads on their website demanding it....!

I dunno, too many hurdles for me to overcome on this one.... a massive shame, I'm quite down about it....but it's £40 that I could spend on, quite frankly, getting a tramp to cut my bollocks off, fashion a cunt, and stick it to my forehead...for a far more gratifying experience :) :D

[MikePizzoff]

:lol: Well I have faith that you'll change your mind. Especially after you hear how many times I kick Coin and MrClean's asses.

[CoinReturn]

New multilayer trailer, looking unbelievably good:

FRqfFfuVuNE

I came.

[MikePizzoff]

Oh man, Monday is going to feel like an eternity.

[AcesandEights]

Oh man, Monday is going to feel like an eternity.

They always do, you'll manage :p

[Mr. Clean]

:lol: Well I have faith that you'll change your mind. Especially after you hear how many times I kick Coin and MrClean's asses.

Hold the phone...

After I get done kicking YOUR teeth in....maybe...just maybe...I'll extend a hand so we can join forces :lol:

[MikePizzoff]

Hold the phone...

After I get done kicking YOUR teeth in....maybe...just maybe...I'll extend a hand so we can join forces :lol:

I accept the challenge! Hopefully this time around we can set up private games without needing 8 people.

Anyway, if you guys are looking to join a "clan" (we aren't serious in any way), then you're welcome to use iLL as your clan tag.

[CoinReturn]

Reviews have hit the web this morning, and BF3 is sitting at 93 on Metacritic. Most criticize the singleplayer as tedious and mediocre, but who buys a Battlefield for singleplayer anyway? 16 hours to go!

[Tricky]

Any of you hogs gonna be playing this on the PC then? I cant wait, I bummed the bejesus out of Battlefield 2 years ago, and I've been playing Bad Company 2 a lot over the past 12 months :cool: I've noticed the servers have been very busy over the weekend, everyone honing their skills ready to try and rank up as quickly as possible I imagine! I agree the single player isnt really why people buy battlefield games, although it will still be worth a blast through I'm sure, bad Company 2's single player was a fun distraction even if it was just a series of shooting galleries and set pieces. I'm hoping you can play jet missions offline to practice as my flying skills are very rusty, but I was awesome on BF2, used to get no end of abuse for my bombing runs :evil:

[MikePizzoff]

11 hours to go!!! My night class is going to be hell!

For you guys on here with XBL that haven't already added me - my tag is MasterUnholyWar. I'll be on at about 12:20 am.

[MinionZombie]

Reviews have hit the web this morning, and BF3 is sitting at 93 on Metacritic. Most criticize the singleplayer as tedious and mediocre, but who buys a Battlefield for singleplayer anyway? 16 hours to go!

Erm, me. :lol:

Only because I don't do online play. That said, the plots for Bad Company 1 and 2 were fairly generic and boring ... it was just an excuse to blow up buildings and experience some great sound design ... so, BF3, methinks I'll wait until it's properly cheap. I'd imagine it'll be a better SP experience that BC1 and BC2 (although I had fun with both of them regardless), but I ain't splashing out £40 on it - no chance.

[Tricky]

I know and understand your reasons for not playing online MZ, but damn its a shame you won't get to experience Battlefield online! A hpotd squad would rule!

[MikePizzoff]

Guys, join my platoon: Menudo Death Squad

PS - Game rules.

[Mr. Clean]

I hate to say this but I was struggling a little last night. I think it's just a low level hickup....plus I wasn't use to all the vehicles and snipers :|

[SymphonicX]

Has anyone had a real stab at the PC version yet?

How are the connectivity issues? How about in-game bugs? Is the Battlelog still there and does partying up with friends require a 15 minute attempt, adapt, and overcome session?

I had a browse of the forums which are unsurprisingly full of people either complaining about the game, or trying to sort out some sort of networking issue with it - but that's always been the case with BF games. Very poor support IMO, but you also get this when a new COD comes out, so if anyone's played it and has an opinion of the PC version, I'd love to hear what your experiences are. Especially with the gamepad.

Actually fuck it, some gamepad support questions too:

Read that controller vibration doesn't work?
Gamepad only servers or no? I suspect, no.
Whilst playing online with a controller, are you getting as destroyed as you'd thought you would or does it hold out enough to actually be playable?
Do in game options change to controller layout? (ie: press RB to throw grenade rather than "press G to throw grenade")


Also regarding the console versions - how is that all playing out? There's a 2nd disc or something with textures or something? Does 32 players per team seem a bit small on those maps? What about graphically, does it blow compared to the PC captures we've seen the last year or so?

[Tricky]

I bought it yesterday but due to other commitments & the fact it took an age to install, I only got about 20 mins on it. I liked what I saw, I had a go on Caspian Border and the Seine crossing levels & was impressed by the scale of the maps. It seemed a little disjointed but I think that was down to me rushing to play it before I had to go out, being unsure how the game worked compared to previous ones and trying to work out what the best key bindings were. Graphics wise its very pretty, my PC is happiest running it on all high settings, it stutters a bit if I try it on ultra which I'm guessing is because of my GTX275, from what I've read on the forums its best suited to the 500 series cards but they can drop in price a bit before I go down that route. Anyway it still looks very nice! I'm going to go and have a few hours on it now so I'll be back with further impressions later!


Right then I was playing this until a stupid time in the morning so now feeling knackered at work, but having played all the maps now I have to say its awesome! had some great battles and found the jets suprisingly easy to fly in this one, the destruction is pretty cool, not vastly different to Bad Company 2 but works well. Sound effects are great, really meaty sounding guns and explosions, and some rather nice visual effects. Considering the game has only been out a couple of days I'm suprised how quickly some people have leveled up with rank & weapon unlocks, some of these people must have been playing it non stop since the minute it was released!! I got killed by one guy who had over 800 sniper kills on his record already!! I ranked up a few times last night though & unlocked a few nice gadgets. Cant wait to get home & play a bit more now!

-- -------- Post added 02-Nov-2011 at 11:28 PM ---------- Previous post was 30-Oct-2011 at 07:10 PM ----------

So is any of you hogs playing this on the PC? My battlelog tag is Trickster1982 if any of you folk fancy teaming up for a few rounds!

[MikePizzoff]

Been playing the SHIT out of this. So much fun! I've been involved in some seriously intense and epic battles. Love it when I'm running through the desert toward an M-Com station as I'm watching my teammates have a dogfight against enemy jets, high in the sky above me.

My only wish is that there were more maps. Oh well, Back To Karkand comes out in a few weeks so we'll have 4 more maps to enjoy, and from what I've heard they plan on releasing map packs every few months.

[MikePizzoff]

Back To Karkand releases tomorrow! I wish it were coming out at midnight tonight, but XBL probably won't have it up til like 10am.

[Tricky]

Back To Karkand releases tomorrow! I wish it were coming out at midnight tonight, but XBL probably won't have it up til like 10am.

I'll have to wait till I've got all my xmas shopping done to buy it, but its looking good! The only problem with BF3 is it came out so close to Skyrim, I bought both games but keep neglecting BF3 in favour of buggering off for hours on quests!

[MikePizzoff]

I'll have to wait till I've got all my xmas shopping done to buy it, but its looking good! The only problem with BF3 is it came out so close to Skyrim, I bought both games but keep neglecting BF3 in favour of buggering off for hours on quests!

Ah, you didn't pre-order BF3? If you did, you'll get Karkand for free.

[CoinReturn]

Can't wait for Karkand! Skyrim has pulled me away from BF3, but I'll be back for good starting tomorrow.

[Mr. Clean]

maybe I'll play some this weekend....My new job has been keeping me busy and I haven't felt like getting involved with games that could lead to me getting pissed off so I've been dicking around with Marvel Ultimate Alliance(I beat it back when I was a PC gamer and picked it up for xbox a year or so ago for the achievements)