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Battlefield 3: It’s 2014 and in this game, there are a number of baddies forming a hostile militia known as a the PLR and you, as Staff Sergeant Henry “Black” Blackburn, have to take your five-man squad on a mission to Tehran to wipe out the leader, Al-Bashir. While checking out the underground of the target’s location, you come across some Russian nukes that the PLR obtained. However, two out of the three are missing… I’m not going to reveal any more of the plot because (a) like a film you should really let it play out without being spoiled, and (b) you know you don’t care much for the plot and just want to get round to killing some baddies.
This game is basically a very linear first-person-shooter with some Bourne Conspiracy-style button bashing and set in a modern-day battlefield, with you starting off as Staff Sergeant Henry “Black” Blackburn, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and the game’s main protagonist. I was pleased with the quick reloading times, after you die, and also the gorgeous graphics, especially in some outdoor scenes, like the opening of the Going Hunting mission, on the deck of an aircraft carrier.
However, you can’t see them properly in a number of dark scenes during the game, thus losing it some points. I know you’re meant to be doing a lot of this under the cover of darkness, but in reality, it just drives you batty as you can’t see what you’re doing and the game’s overall visual effect is completely diminished.
Some things that annoyed me:
- It does feel rather bitty as you play it – run here and fight for a bit, then run there and fight for a bit more, and so on. It feels more like a series of set pieces than a game with a plot as a whole.
- I also accidentally stood up a few times when I meant to stay back down as I wasn’t sure if I was ‘proning’ (i.e. crouching along the ground as you go)
- The Going Hunting mission, when you’re flying in a fighter jet, feels completely uninvolving. You just point your joypad about a bit, fire a missile when you think you’re aiming correctly and then strike while the iron is hot, so to speak. And it either destroys the enemy plane or they deploy some countermeasures to fend off your weapon. So you shoot another at them, and generally destroy them at that point.
- It’s very similar in the next part of the mission when you have to aim at a few targets on the ground and fire SCUD missiles at them. Point, shoot – or rather aim – and then a fly-past of other fighters raze the baddies to the ground. In this section you’ll play as Lieutenant Jennifer “Colby” Hawkins, an F/A-18 NFO (Naval Flight Officer) responsible for manning her aircraft’s weapon systems.
- And, generally, you often feel disconnected while playing Battlefield 3. It’s not just involving in general.
- Oh, and there was a weird moment during the section, Mission: Uprising (around 10mins 40secs in to the footage on this review) where I got stuck.
Something stupid comes in the form of PETA’s reaction to the game, in which a scene where you’re prompted to kill a rat came under fire. PETA claimed the game “treats animals in a sadistic manner” and that it can have “a brutalising effect on the young male target audience.”. They are clearly idiots.
They should see my young nephew playing Grand Theft Auto 4! He shoots everyone in sight, yet has never killed a rat in his life! Besides, kids shouldn’t really be playing or watching this game. That’s why it has an 16-rating.
I’m a single-player guy, but when it comes to Multiplayer, the matches allow you to take on one of four roles:
Assault, Support, Engineer and Recon.
- The Assault class focuses on assault rifles and healing teammates.
The Support class focuses on LMGs and supplying ammunition.
The Engineer class focuses on supporting and destroying vehicles.
The Recon class focuses on sniping and spotting enemies.
Further info about this is as follows: The mechanics of the weapons have been changed to utilize the new engine: compatible weapons may have bipods attached which can then be deployed when in the prone position or near suitable scenery, and provide a significant boost to accuracy and recoil reduction. Suppressive fire from weapons blurs the vision and reduces the accuracy of those under fire. The Recon class can put a radio beacon anywhere on the map and all squad members will be able to spawn on the location of the beacon.
Also, several game modes are present, including Conquest, Rush, Squad Deathmatch, Squad Rush and for the first time since Battlefield 1942, Team Deathmatch.
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Important info:
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Price: £49.99 (Xbox 360, PS3); £34.99 (PC)
- Players: 1-2, co-op: 2, system link: 2, online multiplayer: 2
- HDTV options: 720p/1080i/1080p
- Features: voice
|
GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
8 8 7 6 |
| OVERALL | 7 |
Regular Edition:
Limited Edition:
Director: Tom Keegan
Producer: Lo Wallmo
Writers: David Goldfarb, Adrian Vershinin and Mikael Säker
Music: Jukka Rintamäki and Johan Skugge
Cast:
SSgt. Henry ‘Black’ Blackburn: Gideon Emery
Agent G.: Glenn Morshower
Agent W.: Thor Edgell
Solomon: Mark Ivanir
Faruk Al-Bashir: Ray Haratian
Amir Kaffarov: Endre Hules
Dimitri ‘Dima’ Mayakovsky: Oleg Taktarov
Kiril: Andrew Byron
Dimitri ‘Dima’ Mayakovsky: André Sogliuzzo
Vladimir: Ilia Volok
Ralph Pogosian: Travis Willingham
Cpt. Quinton Cole: David Harewood
Cpt. Joseph Brady: David Menkin
PFC David Montes: Ronan Summers
PFC Daniel Argent: Tristan Tait
Pvt. Jack Chaffin: Anthony Richard Denman
PLR General: Essa Zahir
PFC Christian Matkovic: William Meredith
Pilot Shark 4-6: Nathan Nolan
PLR Soldier #1: Davood Tafvizian
Sgt. Steve Campo: Eric Loren
PFC Ingham: Joshua Lenn
Sanders: Joseph May
Overwatch: Colin Stinton
AWACS/Squad Leader: Eric Meyers
HMVE Driver: Louis Parker
Russion Soldier #1: Alexander Mercury
PLR Soldier #2/Iranian Civilian: Kevin Niku
PLR Soldier #3: Shebly Niavarani
PLR Soldier #4: Omid Gholami
French Police: Thibault de Chazal
Engineer/Wingman: James Sobol Kelly
Commander: Mac McDonald
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.