BF3: Battlefield 3

[Engineer]

Hey all, just wanted to let you know that Battlefield three is pretty much amazing.
I (miraculously) got invited to Alpha test it, and not only is it goddamn gorgeous-- the new Frostbite engine is very much comparable to an easier-on-the-processor CryEngine-- it is also unbelievably fun. As of this writing, there are still a few bugs with squad spawning and squad leadership in general, not to mention a few hitbox bugs, but overall, I would highly recommend that you preorder this game if you are in any way a fan of the series.

It's basically all the best elements of BFBC2 combined with a more-realistic/gritty feeling, the best elements of BF2, and some excellent class tweaks. For example, the medic function got moved over to the Assault class-- something that always bugged me in BFBC2-- and the LMG is back on the Support class, where it needed to be. The Engineer no longer has a terrible primary weapon, and the Sniper class is still pretty much the same thing, but with prone.

Anyone else as excited as I am for this thing?

 

[JocktheMotie]

I wish I saw this yesterday, I would have asked to invite you to play :/

I recorded some video of a match, was lucky I didn't crash. I frequently get stuck and spaz out because I'm trying to remember the terrible keybinds. X for crouch and Z for prone just don't work. I hate WASD.

The alpha made me pretty excited for the game. I had to run it with a lot of settings tuned down because I was one of those afflicted by the constant crashing, but it ran well decently on medium even for my 4 year old card [8800GT, will upgrade in fall]. The squad spawning issues definitely killed a lot of the attacker's ability to push, and I have to say the whole 3D spotting thing is a bit out of control. You'll see me swipe the horizon in the above video a lot, it's because I'm spamming Q for spots. Too effective to not use, unfortunately. Another minor complaint is that the Recon class seems less useful, they didn't have a teamwork ability/role and their weapon selection was a tad underpowered.

Overall, even in these 12v12 matches it was hectic, frenetic, and a lot of fun. Really looking forward to open beta, and I personally think it's going to blow MW3 out of the water in terms of the best multiplayer experience. Won't even be close.

What's your favourite class?

 

[Engineer]

My computer was terribly slow (something about needing to update to drivers that aren't available on the nVidia website), until I switched the graphics to low, and worked my way up gradually. It runs fine now, but as you said, it's still unstable (and they're stress-testing it currently now). I would agree about the 3D spotting... you press Q randomly and something a mile away will pop up-- and it's range seems to be anything on your screen, not just what's under the crosshair.

Considering that they're going to be emphasizing the big 64v64 matches on the PC version, and the formula works excellently in small-scale MCOM engagements, I think it's going to be quite an interesting experience. One that's difficult but still fun. As many of the guys during my time were saying, adjusting from thinking K/D matters to realizing that taking the objective is important is going to take some doing, and I feel like many COD players just won't find that very attractive. But really, who cares about them? This is going to be great.

My favorite class in BF2 was the Medic, and so I was greatly pleased to see that the Assault class in BF3 was basically a more badass medic. That's pretty much my favorite class now, though I'm also drawn to support. Enough has changed about the Sniper class that I didn't really want to play with it as much as I did in BC2-- as you said, they've gotten nerfed pretty hard in their weapons department.

 

[JocktheMotie]

I experienced a lot of Lone Wolves [myself included] but a lot of that had to do with how the some of the teamwork features weren't implemented or buggy, and mostly everyone was sort of dumped into the game and testing out a lot of things for themselves. The game definitely takes a different mindset than COD, which I like. For example, the squad leader needs to know to hang back a bit and be the "anchor" so teammates can spawn off of him and move up the battlefield. Communication is a bit difficult as well, I find it hard to let someone know I need ammo and I am oblivious so I don't notice to drop med packs. I need to be yelled at, hah.

I wish it didn't end today. Just...a little...more...time!

/withdrawal