Battlefield 3 - PC & Console Differences (or lack thereof)
Yes, it has been Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 overkill over the past few months, but as two of the biggest games of the year, they definitely deserve the coverage.
Much of the coverage has been on the competition, be it Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3, or the PC vs. Console debate raging among the Battlefield crowd.
This time, instead of just throwing some assumptions to the wind, it's probably better to take a look at just how different the PC and console versions of Battlefield 3 will be, based on Dice's own details regarding the two versions.
64 player multiplayer on PC, 24 on console
Speaking to Gamezone, Dice's Patrick Bach has explained how the "biggest difference" between the console and PC versions of Battlefield 3 is the amount of players each game can host online.
There has been considerable backlash from console gamers regarding this, although the maximum number of players being at 24 is above what many games allow in online console matches.
Bach said that other things would need to be scaled down in order for the console version to allow 64 player matches, so console gamers probably shouldn't complain all that much considering they're getting an essentially identical game anyway.
Allowing 64-player matches on console
The PC and console versions of Battlefield 3 share all of the same traits: the same engine is being used and the same technology is being implemented. Everything from animations to sound and lighting are carried over from the PC game to the console version.
If Dice were to allow the console version to have 64 players online, it would obviously need to scale down certain things, meaning the number of differences between the PC and console versions would actually be greater than what it (supposedly) is now.
Does 64 player online make for a better experience than 24 player online?
That actually depends on the map design. Bach has stated that Dice is scaling down the number of the maps in the console versions, but that doesn't mean the style is any different, or that you have to approach them differently.
The developer hasn't gone to each map with a hacksaw, so don't worry about getting a smaller version of the experience. The changes made are to make the experience slightly more compact so as to compliment the size of players in game.
If you have a large map with 64 players, the action is going to be quick and intense because 64 players is a hell of a lot of gamers on one map. If you put 24 players on the exact same map, you end up with an area far too vast to make for a quick and action-packed experience, something one might argue is better suited to console gaming.
What Dice seems to be doing is creating a game on PC, and then molding it slightly to offer an experience better suited to consoles, without actually compromising the best aspects of the game. In attempting to scale down certain areas to a degree where they still feel on par with the PC equivalent, the developer is showcasing a distinctive interest in multiple markets and types of gamers, something gamers should be embracing instead of disgracing.
By Gaetano Prestia