The Battlefield 3 beta went live last night, for most people. I gave it a good romp on PC last night, and I'm pleased to say that my first impressions were mostly positive. I've decided to cover off some key points for those of you that haven't had a chance to play yet, or for those of you that have and are looking for an argument.First off, I think it's important to note that Origin - the application, not the service - isn't the devil like so many people were expecting. It's attractive, clean and it's relatively stable. There's really nothing to be too upset about, other than the fact you won't be able to use Steam, which is certainly the platform with a better feature set.
Battlelog however is a pleasant surprise. It has a plethora of nifty features and proves to be a very competent server browser, unlike Bad Company 2's in-game server browser. It's a throw-back to stand-alone server browser applications of yesteryear such as GameSpy 3D and All Seeing Eye - I for one welcome that move. Additionally you can create platoons, manage your soldier profile, look at results from your recent matches, track your unlock progress and much more.After choosing a server and loading in I spent a few minutes being confused about how to configure my controls or change my graphics settings. It turns out you actually have to deploy yourself into the map before being able to hit escape. And then you can't seem to bind mouse buttons anyway, which was the first obvious bug or oversight I came across. The UI specifically is presented in a very slick manner and appears generally well thought out.
On my i7 920 with 6GB of DDR3 and an Nvidia GTX 590 I was able to run BF3 on Ultra, and it's mighty smooth. That's quite an accomplishment considering how good it looks. Running it across all three of my screens wasn't as accommodating however and slumped into unplayable territory. I'm sure if I threw the detail down to medium or low it would be feasible but I haven't yet given that a run.Moving onto the gunplay: it feels great. While juggling class load-outs many times it became obvious there isn't a poor or even misleading weapon. There is an impressive balance amongst the arsenal and their handling is relative to their performance. Weapons that don't have much stopping power don't act or sound like it, but they act and sound apt. Having weapons in a first person shooter "feel" good is a task that evades many developers, but in my opinion they've hit the nail on the head with Battlefield 3.
You'll die a lot quicker than in Bad Company 2, but personally I like the skill required and intensity that swift encounters create. I don't mind dying at the hands of a well placed burst, which happens relatively regularly, but I really do mind having to unload most of a clip into someone to kill them - so this really suits my play style preference.For those worried about snipers, they're now highlighted for you with the brightest scope reflection imaginable. They're hard to not spot in the open and a burst of two of your rifle will drop them from range. Just ensure there is cover to pounce between as 1-3 sniper shots at medium range will be the end of you.
Movement is generally fluid, sharp and fast, definitely more-so than Bad Company 2 which felt a little "clunky". I may get a bit of grief for saying it, but the on-foot combat - which is all you get to do in the beta - positions itself closer the cleanliness of Call of Duty than any previous Battlefield title. It absolutely isn't Call of Duty, but I must stress my comparison is not a bad thing. Objectively speaking, being a fan of both franchises, Call of Duty does infantry combat very well.My only real gripe is that the beta is indeed on-foot only. There are no vehicles like we saw in the riveting Caspian Border multiplayer video. Operation Metro is purely man-on-man, but there are some diverse areas to trek through. The map gets better as you progress, moving from a generic open landscape into a very atmospheric cover-driven underground Metro network, and then into a Parisian metropolis.
Finally, I must mention that the audio is amazing, in typical DICE fashion. The sound of a rocket whizzing past your face in the tunnel of a train station is almost enough reason to ask to be shot at.
Stay tuned for our review when the game lands across all major platforms on October 25.
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