Well, Day 1 of the Open Beta for Battlefield 3 is officially here. I received my e-mail invitation this morning and have been playing it for a few hours so I'm going to write up a small review of the things I've experienced thus far.
First off, remember that this is a BETA! There are going to be flaws, glitches, etc. This is what betas are for; to test and fix. Now, with that being said, there are only a few flaws I've experienced so far. One of the biggest ones is the sound. The sound (when you can hear it) is amazing, the best I've heard in a video game so far, I think (by the way, I use Turtle Beach headsets or a surround sound system so I can get the best of both worlds). Sometimes, though, the sounds cuts out completely or almost completely and it's as if you can't even hear yourself walking/running even when it's dead silent in the background. This isn't a huge recurring problem, but it's definitely necessary for hearing enemies around you and to get the full experience BF3 has to offer. The second "glitch" I've noticed is that when people die their bodies kind of float slightly off the ground and move. Now, I'm not sure if this happens all the time or just at random times, but I have seen it happen a few times although I don't always stop to look at the dead bodies all the time as there are bullets flying, grenades being throw, and rockets blowing everything up around you so it's not always a good idea to stop and admire your surroundings. Lastly, I'm not entirely sure this is even a "glitch" or if it's just been something on my end, but it seems as if the M16 and M4 are more powerful guns than the AK-47 and Ak-74u. Why I say this is because in my last several matches I had instances where I was shooting someone with one of the AK's even before they turned towards me and they kill me in a few shots. It was getting frustrating, but that also could have been because my team was horrible and seemed not to know what BF was and how to play. Again, I don't know if that was on my end or if it was something in the game so if you play it just look out for that.
Now, onto all of the things I wasn't too fond of so far. The first thing was the first set of M-COM Stations on Operation Metro, which is the only map available in the Beta (Rush is also the only game mode available right now). I don't mind Rush, but the way this map is setup is not to my liking. The first pair of M-COM Stations are set outside in what looks like a park by a lake. It's a big map with a lot of places to hide and such so you really have to check your corners once you get playing. The thing that I don't like about this area is that it's too open for me, meaning there is a lot of space for snipers to setup and pick you off. Keep in mind, EA and DICE put in the ability to go prone (lay down) in BF3 so now snipers can lay in bushes and it's extremely difficult to spot them. Right now I'm partial to the addition of prone. I love the ability to do it myself, but I'm not going to be using it to just camp in one spot. I'll use it to reload or to regain health or something of that nature. Now, if you're using the Support Kit, by all means lay down, open up the tripod, and lay down some covering fire, but there's no need to sit there the whole game.
The second/third thing (since I kind of added going prone with the first pair of M-COM Station locations) is the third and final pair of M-COM Station locations. Well, the locations aren't bad, but the buildings on the other side of the subway have way to many windows and doorways to get into buildings making it extremely difficult to defend those M-COM Stations. I don't like camping, but I do like the ability to stop for a moment to reload, regain health, drop ammo/health kits, or just to pick off offenders/defenders if they're crowding in one area (I've done this a few times already and, boy, is it fun). Besides those things, though, I don't really have anything else I didn't really like.
Now here comes the good stuff and there is a bunch of them. First, let's start off with the graphics and sound/s. Let me say, the trailers/previews showed exactly what to expect. The graphics are outstanding and the sounds are just as amazing. When you can hear the sounds, you hear everything going on from footsteps, gun shots, explosions, yelling, all the way down to the last sound someone makes before they die. DICE has always had a good feel for adding great dialogue and the multiplayer is no exception. There are some funny lines you'll hear so keep an ear out for them if you're able to. They also help in finding enemies as your teammates might say they're pinned down or something of that sort. You really need to listen as much as you're looking and feeling (if you have vibrate enabled for your controller you'll be able to feel explosions and when you get hit by gun fire). I really haven't had much time to look for shadows and whatnot, but the graphics as a whole are great. Things such as bushes could use some work, though, as they look more like paper than vegetation.
Destruction 2.0. Now this is something I was looking forward to. I got to witness a glimpse of this for a few matches where we were able to put huge holes into the sides of buildings and to also remove a pillar in the subway (that was pretty cool being on both sides as it took away cover from an enemy and was also cool how it was able to be chipped away by bullets and explosions). I can't wait to see it in its full glory, though.
As for the map, the subway is definitely the best part of it all, for me at least. It has close and medium range distances for firefights as well as a lot of places to get in and out of combat, which comes in handy a lot. If you're getting shot at, your cover is getting small, and you can't find the shooter, find a place where you can get out of that area and maybe flank the enemy. I've done it a few times and it works beautifully. I could go on and on about the many different areas of the subway, but that's going to take too long. Just know there is a subway train, platforms, stairways, a few small corridors, and the subway tunnel you can navigate around. The subway train goes straight through the middle and there's platforms on both sides with the corridors and stairs on one side.
As for the weapons, I haven't unlocked them all, but I did get the M16A4, M4A1, AK-47M, AKS-74u, SVD sniper rifle, MP443 pistol, 870MCS shotgun, combat knife (tab the knife button to stab an enemy, hold to keep the knife out = awesome addition), RPK-74M LMG, G17C pistol, M1911 pistol, M1911 Silenced pistol, M9 pistol, MK11 MOD 0, PP-2000, FIM-92 Stinger, and the ever popular RPG rocket launcher. Those are the weapons I've unlocked so far, but I don't know if there any others so I will keep this updated.
As for the equipment, this is what is said to be in the game: M67 grenade, T-UGS (looks like some sort of trip mine or sensor of some sort, not exactly sure), SOFLAM (no idea what that is, but it's not in the Beta), M18 claymore (oh boy, I can't wait to get my claymores), M224 mortars (not in Beta), C4, MAV (not in Beta), M15 AT Mine, Defibrillator, and EOD Bot. Let me say that I've had a lot of fun with the rockets. They're not too powerful, but enough to kill enemies too close to each other. I've gotten a few multi-kills with rockets and that's always awesome (don't worry, I only do it once in a while when I can't get a clean shot at someone or there are multiple enemies).
Weapon Customizations: these are awesome. From bipods to laser sights to flashlights, anything you'd like to put on your weapons you can. They have different scopes to choose from, but you have to unlock them so that's pretty cool to have. Laser sights help when hip firing at close quarters. You can also toggle between single shot and automatic, which is awesome, but make sure you know how to do that before getting into combat as you don't want to be holding the trigger down and only one bullet fires (lol, I did this and had no idea what happened, then I figured out how to toggle between the two; on XBOX 360, press DOWN on the D-PAD; UP on the D-PAD toggles your laser/flashlight customizations on/off; LEFT on the D-PAD brings out your rocket launcher if you have one; and RIGHT on the D-PAD brings out your tool if you have one, such as the vehicle repair tool).
Another thing I personally liked that EA/DICE changed was that you can no longer just aim anywhere and continually click SELECT to Spot enemies. If you do this more then, I think, 3 times in a row without finding someone it doesn't work. It gives you an audible sound that informs you of that. If you do spot someone, a yellow triangle will appear above their head and on the mini map. SPOT WHENEVER YOU CAN AS THIS HELPS NOT ONLY YOURSELF, BUT YOUR WHOLE TEAM!!!
OK, I think that just about wraps up everything I experienced so far. As I said, I will update this with anything new I run into if I do and I apologize for making this kind of long. The BF3 Beta is pretty awesome so far so I'm a little excited about it and for everyone to be able to experience it themselves when the Open Beta comes out on September 29th, 2011.
IMPORTANT DATES!
SEPTEMBER 27, 2011: EARLY OPEN BETA FOR PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT MEDAL OF HONOR
SEPTEMBER 29, 2011: OPEN BETA FOR EVERYONE ON XBL, PSN, AND PC
OCTOBER 25, 2011: OFFICIAL RETAIL RELEASE FOR BATTLEFIELD 3
As always,
Happy Gaming!
GeNiO
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