Battlefield 3 Info
Battlefield 3 is a
First-Person Shooter developed by
DICE and published by
Electronic Arts. It utilizes the
Frostbite 2 engine. The game was released on October 26th, 2011 for the
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360 and
PC platforms. This is the 11th title in the
Battlefield Series and is a direct sequel to
Battlefield 2. The PC version is exclusive to EA's
digital distribution service
Origin, where users are required to authenticate with the
Battlelog service.
Battlefield 3 sold five million copies during the first week and received universal acclaim for its
multiplayer suite. In campaign mode, players take on the persona of various military roles including: a
special forces soldier, an
F-18 systems officer, and a
SPETSNAZ operative. The campaign takes place at various locations, including Iran, and follows the story of
Sergeant Blackburn and later,
Dimitri Mayakovsky.
Battlefield 3 Gameplay
Battlefield 3 is an experience spread across both
single-player and multiplayer, and includes a number features made popular in
Battlefield 2, such as fighter jets, 64-player online battles and
prone position.
Plot
Set in 2014, Sergeant Blackburn leads a five-man squad on a mission to locate, find and safely return a US squad investigating a possible IED, whose last known position was a market controlled by a hostile militia called the PLR. Blackburn and his squad are later sent to Tehran to apprehend a the leader of the PLR,
Al-Bashir. While investigating an underground vault in the target's suspected location, Blackburn and his team learn that the PLR acquired Russian portable nuclear devices, and that two of the three devices are missing. Being overrun, and requesting back-up, an M1 Abrams convoy led by Sergeant Miller is deployed to extract Blackburn's team. Miller facilitates Blackburn's helicopter extraction, but is captured when waiting for a Quick Reaction Force. Miller is promptly executed by Solomon and Al-Bashir, with the event being filmed.
Later, Blackburn and his squad manage to capture Al-Bashir, who realizes Solomon betrayed him and reveals his plot to detonate the nukes in Paris and New York, before dying from the wounds he sustained in his capture. Blackburn's team also gets a lead on an arms dealer,
Kaffarov, who was working with Solomon; however, while pursuing Kaffarov, the Americans encounter a large Russian force, who are also attempting to apprehend Kaffarov and are hostile towards the Americans. Almost all of Blackburn's squad is killed, while a Spetsnaz team led by
Dima assaults Kaffarov's villa. Dima successfully interrogates Kaffarov, and reveals
Solomon's plot to Blackburn. Blackburn's commanding officer arrives and to save Dima's life and let him escape, Blackburn shoots his CO. Due to this, Blackburn is captured and interrogated by agents within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and explains all of his previous operations to them in flashbacks. During Blackburn's capture, Dima attempts to stop the attack in Paris, but he is unsuccessful and his team is wounded in the resulting detonation. The CIA agents do not believe Blackburn's story, since Solomon is a CIA informant and there is no concrete proof of his involvement in the terrorist attacks. They instead believe that Russia is responsible for the attacks and that Dima had played Blackburn.
Left with no other option, Blackburn and surviving squad member
Montes break out of captivity to stop the attack in New York. Solomon shoots Montes, but Blackburn manages to kill Solomon in the resulting melee, as well as recovering the last nuclear device. In the epilogue, having been diagnosed with radiation poisoning, Dima writes about the efforts of both him and Blackburn to stop Solomon's plot. He then readies his gun when a knock is heard at his door.
Cooperative
The game's
cooperative mode was featured at
Gamescom 2011. The game was revealed to not have
split-screen co-op, as announced by DICE GM
Karl Magnus Troedsson.
Much to gamers pleasure, Battlefield 3's Battlelog
social network allowed players to compare statistics earned in the game's co-op mode.
Multiplayer
Battlefield 3's multiplayer is predominately team focused as players fill one of four classes and compete in different game types.
Classes
Assault: The Assault class is able to equip themselves with defibrillators and medkits, as was the case in
Battlefield 2142. A complete list of unlocks for this class can be found here
ps3.mmgn.com/...
Support: The Support class is able to resupply fellow team-members with extra ammunition and supplies. Adept at providing covering fire thanks to an arsenal of machine guns. A complete list of unlocks for this class can be found here
ps3.mmgn.com/...
Recon: The Recon class has access to sniper rifles, can spot enemies for their team-mates and place radio beacons that act as mobile spawn points. A complete list of unlocks for this class can be found here
ps3.mmgn.com/...
Engineer: The Engineer class can repair damaged vehicles and use explosives and rocket launchers to attack enemies. A complete list of unlocks for this class can be found here
ps3.mmgn.com/...
Game Modes
Conquest: A game mode which revolves around taking and holding onto control points placed around different parts of the map, with each control point being in the form of a flag.
Conquest Large: The same as Conquest, however with a larger amount of in-bounds area.
Rush: This mode plays attackers off against defenders. Attackers receive two points they must reach before planting bombs. It is the job of defenders to stop this, or to disarm the bombs should they be planted. When one set is taken, a new set will appear further down the map. This carries on until either the map is completed; otherwise the game ends if the attackers run out of lives without successfully planting the bombs.
Squad Rush: Like Rush, but with two teams of 4 and smaller map areas.
Squad Deathmatch: Simple killing-based game mode, where there are several small teams at once (squads of up to four people).
Team Deathmatch: Killing-based game mode, with two teams fighting it out to reach the kill limit first.
Critical Reception
Battlefield 3 has received generally positive reviews, scoring an 89/100 on Metacritic. Stephen Heller from
MMGN awarded the game an 8/10, praising the multiplayer aspect, yet was critical in regards to single-player and co-op.
we got served up a single-player campaign that is boring and contrived, and a co-op campaign that offers a similar experience. It lacks purpose and identity, and offers nothing more than a great looking, scripted experience."