Battlefield 3 (360/PS3/PC)

[charlesr]

I might be on later.

I've changed to Rush for a bit - maybe that's why the ammo and meds are improved.

[PeteJ]

430mb patch now up for PC, should be out soon for consoles. Loads of much needed fixes:

http://www.vg247.com/2011/11/22/dice-ships-out-massive-battlefield-3-pc-patch/

[Mr_Skinny]

The patch thread on the BF3 forum is up to 88 pages as I type this, all of it slating the patch. Such as -

-No flashlight nerf as promised.
-Aircraft now free to rape with impunity!
-Decreased game stability
-etc etc etc

Not sounding good

[PeteJ]

I can't even get in a game now! Joining server...

Tried rebooting etc but not getting anywhere. Might just be picking servers that haven't been updated mind.

[PeteJ]

Still can't play post-patch. Looks like loads of other people are getting the same
"feedback" thread on official forum is up to 268 pages already, lol.

[EvilBoris]

Time for a new game tomorrow, I like the look of this ahead of MW3, it looks the better game. Without me trawling through both threads, is this the better single player game? Not interested in online.

Bf3's single player has been pretty lame so far , I enjoyed MW3 far more and I'm not even a fan of COD. Better than both is bad Company 2's campaign, I'd go buy that on the cheap.

The SP in BF3 is clearly an afterthought polished up a bit

[Digfox]

Bf3's multiplayer has been pretty lame so far , I enjoyed MW3 far more and I'm not even a fan of COD. Better than both is bad Company 2's campaign, I'd go buy that on the cheap.

The SP in BF3 is clearly an afterthought polished up a bit

100% agree with you. Loved BC2's SP in comparison to this.

[BaronSqwelch]

another vote for both Bad Company 2 and MW3 single player over this. I was the opposite to Charlesr...the villa/shooting gallery level is where I finally gave up and quit the campaign. I never enjoyed a single minute of it for some reason.

[PeteJ]

You may as well have finished it from that point to be honest, you were about half an hour from the end!

I honestly feel that Dice and EA have screwed up massively with BF3. Masses of potential wasted on rushing it out to beat MW3 to the shelves, if they had launched it in March when the majority of players had become bored of CoD then it would have been better for everyone. Still good in multiplayer but it isn't as good as BF2 or BFBC2.

[Matt]

I certainly don't enjoy it as much as I used to BF2. Possibly because BF2 was the first "military" FPS I got into, whereas these days they're nine in 10 titles. I think it's mainly because in BF2 had "possibilities". You could do some crazy **** and witnessed some crazy ****. Some of that was caused by having 64 players, which exponentially increases the chance of Random Crazy Cool **** happening compared to 24 players.

I'm undecided if it's better than BC2. I think on the whole, BC2 had better maps. There was more destruction in BC2; I'd say it was too easy to take a building down in that, and would be happy with something inbetween BC2 and BF3. The map pack has "enhanced destructability", whatever that means. It would be cool as **** to take down some of the taller buildings in the map pack, but I suspect that isn't likely Knocking a 10 story building down and taking out a team (including team damage) would be awesome! I imagine a large reason there is less destructability in BF3 is the CoD like maps, rather than the open Anything Goes style of BC2.

While I complained about blowing up of mcoms in BC2, I wasn't against it so much as I felt it was too easy. Once they patched it, it was great. Another way BF3 feels limited - not one mcom in a building you can demolish. Then again, the vehicles are much better, and spawn killing helo wankers aren't a problem

Saying all that, I am enjoying BF3 immensely. Need a few more open maps, a patch or two (bloody flashlights being brighter than the sun is annoying) and it could be brilliant. I'm now at the stage I've started unlocking squad perks, which adds another welcome layer of teamwork and cooperation.

And I agree that EA / Dice have probably damaged the brand more than anything, and subsequent BF4 / BC3 sales may suffer as a result of a crappy singleplayer experience. I'd not insult Dice but saying it was "an afterthought", they clearly spent a lot of time and resources on it, but it's still crap. Should have halved the development costs and just made it multiplayer. And sold it for half the price

[Mr_Skinny]

New patch coming on Tuesday -

We will release an update to the PC version of BF3 on Dec 6th -- that is, Tuesday morning around 8AM GMT next week. This coincides with an upgrade of many of our central systems which will be down for some hours starting around that time.

It will be both a client update -- approximately 2GB in size -- and a server update.

The client/server combination will be incompatible with older clients/servers. All players will be prompted to download the update once it has been released. All RSP companies will begin upgrading their servers at the same time.

The client update is large because it contains most of the content for Back to Karkand. This is not ideal, so we aim to make potential DLC content in the future as optional downloads.



Bugfixes:
Fixed a problem with spawn timer now showing blue border on startup and lost spawn point
Fixed a problem where player who joined queuing on End of round got spawn screen stuck on screen, but unable to do anything with it untill next round loaded
Fixed a problem where camera would change to 3rd person on killcam when killcam was turned off in server settings
Fixed stat references on several dogtags
Fixed for surveillance ribbon not counting TUGS
Fixed a missing combat area lines on the minimap for Grand Bazaar conquest small
Moved a tank spawn in US base on Caspian Border so it would not be destroyed by a falling tree
Fixed a problem where placing C4 with the russians soldier was playing US faction VO
Fixed a problem where TV guided missiles could be shot into its own helicopter and destroy it
Fixed a problem when attempting to fire lock on weapons without a target
Tweaked the chat, it should now be a bit easier to read
Fixed several vehicles that did not properly shoot rockets and guns towards their predictive sights
Fixed the G17 Supressed Laser not working properly
Added alternate HUD colors to help colorblinds
Added a network interpolation setting. This allows users with good bandwidth reduce latency, but might increase some stuttering. The user can find what works best for his connection by tweaking the slider.
Increased the Spawn protection radius on TDM
Fixed a problem with smoke on land vehicles, Missiles should now miss more often
Fixed a problem where users could end up with IRNV scope in any vehicle
Fixed a problem where player dies if vaulting over a ledge and into water while sprinting
Fixed several crashes and increased general stability
Fixed a problem where the user was unable to revive two players that have the bodies one over the other
Fixed so you can assign an axis and use as a digital input. This makes it possible for the player (on pc) to assign one of the sticks on a gameped to be used for throttle/brake.
Fixed a problem with the Kill camera acting up when suiciding from parachute
Fixed air radar was showing to much. now lasertagged, heatsignature above threshold, enemy missiles and capture points are only visible on air radar
Fixed a problem where the game would enter a technical hang if the user pressed pause menu and tilde at the same time
Fixed a problem where you could get green flashes on screen
You can now reassign cycle weapons
Fixed so the weapon zooms automatically after bipod deploy is gone when using zoom toggle
Fixed a problem where the parachute would stay stuck in air if the owner was killed


Balance Tweaks:
Fixed several weapons so they are properly suppressed and hide the player on the minimap when fired.
Tweaked Tactical Light so it is not as blinding over longer ranges.
Tweaked the IRNV scope so it is limited to usage only at close range.
Reduced heat masking effectiveness of Spec Ops Camo.
Fixed a bug where Ammo spec would give additional 40mm grenades instead of Frag spec.
Increased the number of additional 40mm grenades from Frag spec.
Fixed so AT mines only live for 20 seconds after a player dies to prevent infinite mines. (We want to make a different fix in the future, it?s in JIRA).
Increased the Time to Live on sniper caliber rounds to allow extreme distance shots.
Fixed several weapon descriptions, calibers, and fire rates. The weapons themselves have not changed.
Fixed so the M9 and MP443 pistol can be equipped by the opposing faction when it is unlocked at 100 kills.
Fixed Laser Guided Missiles missing their targets if the target is moving too fast.
Reduced the effectiveness of Stealth on Air Vehicles.
Reduced the effectiveness of Beam Scanning for Jets.
Reduced the damage done to Armored Vehicles and Infantry from AA guns.
Increased the damage RPGs and Tank shells do to AA vehicles.
Slightly decreased the accuracy for all weapons on fully automatic, burst fire is now preferable at mid to long range.
Increased the effective accuracy of long bursts for LMGs when using a bipod.
Slightly increased the range of the 44magnum bullets.
Increased the close range damage of 4.6x30mm and 5.7x28mm bullets.
Increased the reload time of the Mortar from 3.5sec to 4.8sec and increased the time it takes before a shell hits the ground.
Reduced the aimed accuracy bonus given by a Suppressor for the MP7, P90, PP2000, PP-19, and UMP45.
Increased the range and FOV for designating targets with the SOFLAM and vehicle Laser Designators.
Decreased the effectiveness of 12g FRAG ammo when equipped on semi-automatic and automatic shotguns.
Slightly Increased the power of Fighter Jet Cannons against all vehicle targets, especially Helicopters.
Decreased the power of Miniguns against Jets and Helicopters.
Increased the power of Stingers against Jets.
Flares reload times for Jets and Helicopter Gunners have been increased.
Tweaked the AN94 so its burst fire better conveys the real world advantage offered by this weapon.
Added Single Shot to the AN94 as an available fire mode.
Slightly increased the recoil on the M416 and removed the Burst Fire mode (this weapon incorrectly had burst fire, which was not authentic).
Tweaked the spawns for TDM on Kharg Island, Grand Bazaar, Caspian Border, Seine Crossing, Operation Firestorm, Damavand Peak and Noshahar Canals
Moved a tank spawn in US base on Caspian Border so it would not be destroyed by a falling tree
Tweaked the Gas station Capture area on Conquest on Caspian Border
Tweaked the max vehicle height on Noshahar Canals



Also, it will once again be possible to reduce the number of players required to start a round to 1 both in ranked and unranked mode. We changed it back after getting a lot of negative feedback from both individuals and the RSP companies.

Our plan is to introduce a warm-up mode, where players can move about and play the game, but with scoring disabled; then, when the number of players goes above the threshold -- that's when the real round starts.

Although I find BF3 doesn't 'feel' as good as BF2 & BFBC2, I'm still enjoying it, but the game desperately needs more/better maps. Karkand pack can't come soon enough!

[charlesr]

Played 3 of the Karkand maps and they are brilliant so far. Lots of high rise buildings and some great tactical rabbit warrens.

Still no "go back to server select" on the score screen though, even though it has been tweaked (it shows number tickets left at the end and also shows progress of the "assignments").

[Rossco]

Started playing this again today for first time in about 6 weeks. Love it but man am I crap now.

Was getting serious lag though and kept getting kicked out somehow, internet on PC was perfect though and would download at full 30Mb if I tried so dunno if servers were flakey for anyone else today?

Damnit, Headlines not First Play!

[FelixofMars]

Funny I enjoyed Black Ops, I can't be bothered to complete this. I have to say this is one of the few BF games I just really feel disappointed in. Shame because visually its much better than the likes of COD. The story was just really ill conceived and the multiplayer is a bit too much like COD and no likeable maps.

Worse still, and moreso than COD it requires you to play to unlock stuff that provides you and your squad extra benefits.

I am really missing Bad Company now, I will have to fire it up again.

Black Ops was one of the worst single player games I've ever played, although Battlefield 3's campaign isn't that bad its still pretty poor. Extremely buggy and linear, even more obviously so than the CoD campaigns. I did find the story itself was quite well done but it isn't anything special.
Not tried MW3 but I imagine it's the better SP game.

[Btang84]

Even though it's been out for a week on the PS3, I've only had one or two goes on it and just played 3 of the new maps. The problem now is that people have seemingly deserted the game. Before, the servers were full and it was regularly 12 v 12 but that's dropped significantly and we can't be bothered to leave the game and make a squad, get into another server only for the next game to be near-empty once more.

Did have one go on Wake Island and that was mayhem. There are some disgustingly good Viper pilots around and they'll just stay in the skies for the entirety of the game. People are also finally spotting! Had some games when the mini-map was full of red arrows, hadn't seen that at all in the first month of play in the game.