Battlefield 3

They really do not realize metro is popular because they loaded the game to the brim with unlocks and drew in the CoD kiddies with their edgy marketing campaign. I won't be buying it.

 

Well they probably made a lot of money from those CoD kiddies so what's your point?

 

There's an existing fanbase that has not been pleased with the game for months. I've heard the game's sales have slowed considerably since release -- that's why it was $30 on Black Friday and 40-50% off many subsequent times.

I suppose they can take the DLC sales from the existing fanbase for granted? That's somewhat typical of a popular franchise, but still. The patch notes surfacing are what kept BF3 on my hard drive, believe it or not.

The core of the game is very serviceable but the lack of any sort of proper back-end support for PC (bad netcode, no VoIP implemented beyond the friends list), reeks of a bait and switch.

Anyway there are two more packs they announced, and they look more intriguing than my silly kneejerk reaction. Something for everyone!

 

I'm excited for all 3 expansions (but I know traditional BF fans could care less about the "Close Quarters") ^_^

Of course, I would be!

Close Quarters (June) - Infantry based expansion with assignment/weapons as well as maps designed more on infantry combat. While a lot of people are thinking Operation Metro, it sounds like these maps will be more like Seine Crossing, Strike at Karkand, and Sharqi Peninsula. They will have more vertical combat and tons of destruction.

Armored Kill (September) - Vehicular warfare including the largest map in BF history (which sounds amazing on PC, and... will need lots of air combat if it's going to work on console imo). Not much else has been said, so they'll release more details later.

Endgame (December) - No details released yet, but I'm guessing it's the rumored expansion that will take place in the US.

If EA does a Season Pass for this, I'll get it for sure since I wouldn't mind a discount on the 3 things I know for sure I'm going to pickup.

Private Servers coming to consoles is nice for us console players! That said, really need private matchmaking as organized stacking between competitive teams is annoying.

Battlefieldo: Dice's 3 New DLC Expansion Packs

 

Warning: This will only turn off most traditional Battlefield Fans.

Here's a peak at a new map in Close Quarters. Personally, I'm fine with it but it's not enough of the map or destruction to know how this will play out.

However, it looks like a Rainbow 6 Map, which is fine for me because I like that game. But it's really what a lot of BF fans I know of don't want. We will see how it is in the end...



I really hope the maps in Close Quarters end up playing more like Seine Crossing Small, Strike at Karkand (favorite), or Sharqi Peninsula--based on the descriptions of the DLC that is.

 

HELLA DISSAPOINTED.

are you kidding me??!! more COD maps?? and even then we are gonna wait till JUNE for this POS!?!...as I battlefield fanboi ill buy for completeness sake... but cmon this dlc screams "hello COD fans, loot at me!".

...and the wait for the next and better dlc (armored fury) continues...

-_-

 

O dear god private servers for consoles, yes! The amount of times I've wanted to have a jet battle with someone...this will be so goddamn cool!

For the record the new map and BF maps in general remind me of Counter Strike. CoD maps are typically much more cluttered and chaotic. They could be trying to appeal to CoD players as BF3 is directly in competition with CoD. But it's still a very different game to CoD.

I hope they at least have some new guns with this.

 

They will have new guns. Here's a bullet list of what was mentioned for Close Quarters (though implied in all expansions--they stated these are not merely map packs, etc...).

Key Features:

• Get plunged into frantic and relentless infantry combat
• Check your corners as death can come from any angle
• HD destruction lets you reduce entire locales to ruin
• Earn new weapons and bring them back to the base game
• Complete new assignments and equip unique dog tags
• Play in new ways, mixing team play and instant action

Have to admit the video reminds me a bit of Office hehe. Still really reminds me of Rainbow 6 also ^_^

Looking forward to seeing what level of destruction they will put in Close Quarters. It can be a really unique experience if enough destruction is allowed in the map designs.

There will be new assignments to unlock weapons that will work on all maps (at least I assume so because of the "base game" statement).

Private servers on consoles is going to be a wonderful thing!

 

Well, that high-rise reminds me of Mirror's Edge That can't be too bad, right? If they add dual pistols then I can just pretend it's Nakatomi Plaza from Die Hard. I do get a CS vibe (de_vertigo anyone!? haha), although CS is its own thing and the premise is entirely different.

By the by, I'd really like to see them add the BF2 factions just to make the game more topical. I'm not sure why they're dodging controversy this time...BF2 was banned in China and Chinese players had no trouble getting ahold of it regardless. EA also welcomed it when Iran banned BF3 , because they assumed all the Iranian gamers were pirating it...ugh

If DICE is going to follow through and make the sequel to Mirror's Edge they mentioned on Frostbite 2 I'll be a happy man. Mirror's Edge was really interesting, if short, game. They just needed to tone down all the shooty bits.

 

Loved Mirror's Edge (But still wondering why the new Spidey-flick had to copy the ME trailer for the film trailer...) ^_^

I hope they do make that sequel!

Again, I'm looking forward to seeing how far they'll let the destruction go on these Close Quarters maps.

With Armored Kill, will they answer the question: "How do you make dogfighting very relevant to Conquest?"

That would be pretty awesome in my book. A map with lots of dogfighting and a lot of objective-purpose for the dogfighting ^_^

Then again... once in a blue-moon, I encounter a Jet that truly becomes a threat to all ground forces in the game. It's rare, but it's pretty terrifying when you see it happening. But again, once in a blue moon... Maybe it's a console thing because of number of players...

 

I think they should replace one of the F/A 18 Hornet/Flanker/F-35(discontinued project for the US Marines, now, actually) jets with the A10 and the Frogfoot in Conq, but that's just me.

This is godlike - perfect music too:

 

Mirrors edge was pretty brilliant. The ending was pants though. It ended all happy but in reality she was totally screwed. There she is stuck on a massive sky scraper with swat advanced up the stairs while the only guy who could've proved her innocence just went down in flames. Cue credits, that's a wrap. Wait....what?

 

http://getbblog.com/

This is a browser plugin for battlelog. It has all the smythic weapons data integrated into the pages and stuff. Required to make battlelog useful imo!

BTW! People are going to be very upset about how much better PDWs and Shotties are in the upcoming patch, and that CQC DLC will only aggravate it. Can't wait for the delicious tears.

 

Can't wait to watch all the scrubs try this for a hour.

 

Ok, I took the plunge and ordered the game off Amazon for 30 bucks. What do I need to know? Can anybody break it down simply?

 

It's pretty straightforward to get into if you're familiar with FPS games. Chanchai posted a huge article from r/bf3 with some info about basic BF3 tactics.

Just make sure to join a squad each game and communicate what you can. sudden_de started a VFDC platoon!

 

Because it's you, Josh, I took the time to write all this out ^_^ It's a primer and I hope it helps you find your feet in this game. This game has an incredible amount to learn if you are not highly experienced in shooters.... this just goes over the very beginning of multiplayer.

1) Campaign is... what it is (it's not great, I don't think it's that bad, but it's certainly no Call of Duty or Half-Life or memorable single player FPS).

2) Co-Op is okay. Great way to train helicopter (mission 2) but I recommend not touching a helicopter until at least rank 10 on multiplayer.

3) Multiplayer is the heart of Battlefield. The game was built multiplayer first and it's the real experience in this game. The rest of this post is about multiplayer.

* IMPORTANT: Battlefield is a teamwork heavy game. Even in public solo games, the game is still more or less defined by teamwork. Kill/Death Ratio has some importance, but it is not as important as overall teamwork and a focus on the objective. There is no kill stealing in Battlefield because it doesn't matter who killed the enemy--everyone who attacked the soldier will be rewarded. The scoring system encourages teamwork and the victory conditions and map designs encourage teamwork. Having the best player does not guarantee team victory (though it helps a lot and can be key). Your best performance, scores, and wins will be earned by a combination of securing objectives, killing enemies, and supporting teammates.

* Battlefield is an intense experience, but because of its open nature it can be a "slower moving" experience compared to arena and corridor shooters. Patient play is rewarded, moreso if it is forward moving and objective-focus. However, there is a lot of room and justification for passive play as well and they are not completely unhelpful--you definitely don't want too many campers on your team, but a good long range support/sniper/vehicle can go a long way for a team (as long as there are still a lot more forward moving units on the field).

* It is my belief that everyone that can play videogames, can find a successful role in Battlefield. They can find ways of playing successfully and many many ways to enjoy what this game has to offer.

4) Assuming you have never played Battlefield, expect to die a lot at first. However, do not worry so much about your deaths in the beginning, just come to grips with the game and learn how to increase your score as you play (and die)--killing is not the only way to score points. You will get better as you play, and things that feel so random and so straight out of the beginning of Saving Private Ryan will get better and you will improve and come to understand the flow of things!

*For Josh: If it helps... I don't know Jiujitsu, but I imagine you were taken down a lot or choked out a lot on the road to understanding and becoming a better grappler. Fortunately, Battlefield is a game, and so if you're dying a lot it's just the lumps you learn from and YOU WILL GET BETTER if you stick with it ^_^

Like Virtua Fighter, Battlefield does not only reward the skilled or gifted. Training can improve your skills a lot and you can overcome a lot of skill barriers through understanding and clever, coordinated play. Call of Duty, Counterstrike, Quake, and Unreal Tournament are games where skill really separates the best from the rest. Battlefield is where the rest, if smart and trained enough, can fight back. The better team generally wins.

5) Aside from the basics of FPS controls, you need to understand how to "Spot/Mark" enemies. To Spot an enemy, aim at them and press the "Back/Select" button. If you do this correctly, a red/orange triangle should appear above the enemy soldier(s) head(s). You can spot more than one soldier at a time. However, mashing the spot button does not work well because you an "overheat" the spot mechanic. It takes a few tries to get your first spot, I recommend doing it first while "Aiming Down Sights" (holding L Trigger).

6) Next you need to know how to identify soldiers, here is the guide to that.

* If a soldier has a green indicator, he is your squadmate. Squads are groups of up to 4 soldiers in the same team. You can spawn on squadmates (do it while he is safe and near a place you want to be). By default, your only voice communication should be with squadmates only. Your heads up display will also show you which direction your squadmates are.

* If a soldier has a blue indicator, he is your teammate, but he is not in your squad. Teammates are good guys, but if they are out of your screen you will not have an indicator telling you where they are except for the minimap. By default, you do not voice chat with teammates.

* If a soldier has a red indicator, he is an enemy and is visible or "spotted" for your team. A red indicator (a mark) appears on an enemy if they have been spotted by a teammate or they are firing a loud weapon without a suppressor. Red = Bad. Motion sensors will also pulse a mark on enemy units that are moving in the full upright position or running--it will not mark them if they are crouching, lying still, or in the prone position.

* If a soldier has no indicator, he is an enemy. However, he has not been spotted and he is not blasting a loud weapon without a suppressor. No indicator = BAD!

7) Most people including myself recommend starting with the Assault or Engineer class. I recommend starting assault and playing engineer class when a tank is ruining your day. If an air vehicle is ruining your day, try to avoid it for now and focus on the ground.

8) Gadgets are important to understand and are the most unique things about each class. You equip your gadgets by pressing left or right on the d-pad. Except for the Engineer, you will have to unlock your second gadget (so your first gadget which is "left" on the d-pad should be unlocked by default).

* Assault class tosses medikits which greatly speed up health recovery. You get a lot of bonus points when teammates just walk by these while their health is less than 100. Tip: Toss these in positions of cover where you notice teammates strafing left and right behind--usually a corner, sometimes a box. Understanding why your teammates are strafing behind the wall or box will help you be a better player. It is also good to toss medikits on objective points.

* Engineers have an RPG ("left") which is good for fighting tanks and blowing holes through walls as well as a repair torch ("right") which can repair vehicles, slow kill enemy vehicles (this is actually not useless, but you probably won't use this much till you get much more comfortable with the game), and even slow kill enemies for fun (not recommended except for an assignment in Back to Karkand expansion).

* Support class tosses ammo packs which refill ammo for teammates (and yourself). Follow the same tip for Assault Class on where to throw an ammo pack. Ammo packs rack you up a lot of points because people will almost always have less than maxed out ammo.

* Recon class starts with a Radio Beacon (Right on the D-Pad). I don't recommend Recon class to anyone starting out Battlefield, it's a more advanced class imo (and an underappreciated one), but radio beacons are wonderful because they function as mobile spawn points in ANY mode, including modes where squad spawning is not available.

9) Modes: There are three general team modes in Battlefield. Conquest, Rush, and Team Deathmatch. Conquest is the mode that most defines Battlefield, but Rush has also become a mode that also really represents Battlefield. Team Deathmatch is a new addition and it's not quite traditional Battlefield (though I do like it a lot, it is my least favorite of all modes in Battlefield 3). I will talk about Conquest and Rush just to give you a quick rundown so you aren't completely lost.

10) Conquest - Conquest is more or less the father of "Dominion/Domination/Arathi Basin." There are two teams, multiple flags, and each team has a lot of respawn tickets. Respawn tickets are used up when soldiers respawn (which is why killing enemies is one way to "drain tickets"). Respawn Tickets are also drained when one team has completely captured more than half of the flags on the map and holds those flags. The ticket drain in this situation is fast and so it is ideal to hold the majority of flags while trying to kill the enemy. The rest is self-explanatory. This mode is often defined by open warfare, having to defend or attack multiple entry points to an area, and often times vehicle combat too. It's pure Battlefield. On your heads up display you want to look for the flags which are lettered and are indicated by squares and diamonds. Blue means they belong to your team, red means the enemy has captured them, and white means they are neutral. Try to make sure most are blue. Above all, try to understand what your team is doing, and eventually understand what your team should be doing. You have to work with your team just as much as they should work with you. On consoles, Conquest can sometimes be a game of running flags--but it can also be a capture and hold game where a frontline is established and the winning team should keep the battle at the frontlines while the losing team must find a way to either breach or sneak capture a flag. Conquest is over when one team loses all respawn tickets.

11) Rush - My favorite mode, especially because I mostly play on console. Assuming you have played Counter Strike... it's like 3-5 counterstrike maps linked together. Each "map" is a "zone." And in each "zone" are two bomb sites called "MCOMM Stations" (each marked A or B). There are two "MCOMM Stations" in each zone. You have an Attacking team and a Defending Team. The Attacking Team's goal is to arm and destroy every MCOMM station. To progress from one zone to the next, the attacking team must destroy both MCOMM Stations in a zone. When this is done, the whole battle is shifted to the next zone and Attackers get a full refill of their respawn tickets. The Attacking Team wins once they have destroyed every MCOMM Station. The Defenders must prevent a zone from losing both MCOMM Stations and drain the attacking team's respawn tickets. The Defenders have unlimited respawns. Beyond the ticket refill from clearing a zone, or the loss of tickets when attackers die, the respawn tickets also drain over time.

In RUSH, you need to figure out if you are on the Attacking Team or the Defending team. You also need to look on your screen for the big A and the big B to know where the MCOMM Stations are. If an A or a B is flashing, then that MCOMM is armed and ready to explode.

12) Recommendations: I personally recommend Conquest mode first. It's less intense and you are given a lot of room to learn general combat. It's much more friendly for beginners, though it can be really slow for a player who does not know where they are going. I used to take new to BF3 friends with me on Rush games because I prefer it and it forces you to focus and learn the game faster, but almost all of my friends preferred learning on Conquest because they were able to play at their pace. So I recommend Conquest first. Also, while each soldier matters in Conquest, a good player can pickup the slack for a not so good player a bit more in Conquest. In Rush, the intensity can make a beginner feel like they have no positive impact on the game for quite awhile.

Combat Tips: Hurry to critical objectives--get to them fast! HOWEVER, if you encounter an enemy or you know you are about to encounter an enemy, PLAY CAREFULLY. Remember, go from cover to cover--be patient at each place of cover! When going around a corner, peek first before you decide to move forward. Use walls and boxes to protect you--keep them between you and the enemy. Learn to fire from the hip (fire while not aiming) and learn to fire while aiming--BOTH ARE IMPORTANT. Try not to empty your clip--switch to your secondary if you are about to run your clip empty, reload AFTER you find temporary shelter. Don't try to kill someone without proper ammo ready. Learn to shoot in small bursts.

Also, at least through the first 10 ranks I would advise that you focus just on infantry and ground vehicles. If you use a tank, try to get a teammate to join you in the tank, you can learn from playing and from observing how your teammate does things in their role in the tank.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND USING AIR VEHICLES AT ALL during the first 10 ranks if this is your first Battlefield. You will either ruin someone's day by crashing a helicopter (which you can train in Co-Op mission 2) in a serious multiplayer match, or you might be contributing almost nothing while you try to figure out how to fly a jet. There will come a time to learn these vehicles, but if this is your first Battlefield, you have a lot to learn about the ground before you even touch the sky.

Almost all positive actions give you points:
* Grab/Arm/Disarm an objective = lots of points (typically 200 points plus some more)
* Kill an enemy = 100 points
* Do X damage to enemy before teammate kills him = X points (yeah, you can get 99 assist points!)
* You also get points for healing teammates, resupplying teammates, spotting an enemy who gets killed while marked (cool huh?), suppressing an enemy who gets killed by a teammate (suppression = bullets you shoot at enemies that barely miss but cause their screen to blue and their accuracy to drop, you can mess up snipers a bit with suppressive fire), reviving an enemy (your first Assault Unlock are defibrilators which let you revive teammates!), and there are a bunch more ways to get points.

HAVE FUN, STICK WITH THIS GAME, BE PATIENT, TRUST ME--YOU WILL BE REWARDED! And the game is just wonderful to play with friends and voicechat!

 

Just realized you got this on PC! Umm... Well wish I could help you more, but you do have the greater experience of BF3 ^_^

I will let PC friends know if/when I upgrade my system to handle BF3!

 

Does anyone know when the new patch is dropping? The huge one that changes just about everything...