Let’s get this straight, I love the Battlefield 3 beta. I’ve been playing it every moment that I’m not eating, sleeping, or working since it was released on Tuesday, September 27. I eagerly await the open beta that starts tomorrow to welcome a new whole crowd of players — both Battlefield veterans or just potentially interested gamers — into the experience. Since I started playing the Battlefield series with Battlefield 2 in a Gamefrog cafe that was located in a mall, I have never stopped wanting more of the series. This beta, as a representation of what is to come with the final release of the game, delivers almost everything I could want or expect.
Maps
As it currently stands, the only map available to everyone playing is Operation Metro for the rush game mode. The map has a variety of environments and is set in Paris. It begins with a wide-open area that favors snipers, flanking, and offers plenty of room to just look around and watch a war wage around you. The second area is an underground metro station with plenty of tight corners, low lighting, and tunnels that beg for an RPG to be fired, if only to watch the light it casts on all the surfaces as it flies past. The final type of environment is a set of two apartment buildings; this happens to be my favorite area of the map as it combines the close quarters of the tunnels with the streets and cross-building conflict that I have come to enjoy.
Arsenal
The weapons in the game sound and feel seemingly realistic. Specifically, Battlefield 3 offers a sound quality I have not heard before from a first person shooter. In terms of power and balance, there need not be any concern about sniper rifles or shotguns being overpowered as they have been in other shooters. They have been balanced very well by still packing a punch yet not being unstoppable or even feeling like a problem.
The assault rifles and carbines/SMGs will probably be your most reliable weapons as they offer considerable range but also the full auto capability for close quarters; their effective ranges can be easily modified by just flipping the weapon from full auto to semi-auto. Light machine guns are just pure engines of death. And optional bi-pods deployed on the floor make appearances along with a simple piece of cover that enables a player to become a turret capable of giving cover fire to his or her squad with ease. Finally and personally, my favorite weapon so far is the RPG. While there are no vehicles in the beta open to everyone yet the RPGs are still a blast to use to destroy cover, enemies, or that tree that looked at you the wrong way.
Classes
This iteration boasts four classes so far: Assault, Support, Engineer, and Recon. Each feels like they perform their roles just fine and each has enough balanced customization (at least at rank 11) so you can make yourself completely different from another player who uses the same class as you.
Initial Bugs and Drawbacks
There are quite a few aspects about the beta that I do not particularly enjoy, but many of those features are simply because it is a betaand thus is bound to have an approximate truck-load of problems. Some of the bothersome aspects would be the wide variety of bugs that you will experience while playing: sometimes the booming and glorious sound will all but disappear, other times you will get killed by what would appear to be the ground, and then in the killcam you see the corpse bugging out through the floor and arms waving every with direction. Furthermore, if you happen to crouch or go prone near a wall or a piece of cover you will often notice that either you or the cover is bouncing. And what FPS game beta with the ability to go prone would be complete without the bug of going into the ground?
Some of the aspects about the beta that have bothered me are not bugs, however. Some relate to the inability to leave a game unless you have spawned, so in between games you are stuck waiting through the intermission timer until the next game to quit. Other downsides of the beta would be the current restriction to one map and one game mode. My opinion of a “real” Battlefield match is the conquest game mode which has not made an appearance in the globally available beta yet. The startling lack of vehicles of any type in the Operation Metro map is also a disappointment but one I hope DICE will help with by releasing a vehicle on the map in a later beta build or into the open beta.
In fact, DICE has been letting certain gaming communities — specifically PC gaming communities — play on the Caspian Border map with the conquest game mode and have playable access to all the vehicles. Now, DICE changes the passwords to these “secret” game servers, but, the internet being what it is, other people have been getting on to taste the map, game mode, and vehicles. This limited release of the map, mode, and motorized transport makes me think that these are bound to appear to all participants at a later point in time.
Final Reactions and Encouragement
Everyone who can should play it as much as they can to help DICE/EA stress-test their servers and be aware that the open beta is slated to begin tomorrow, September 29, and run until October 10. While I’m quite aware of the bugs, lack of certain features, and unpolished details, I do love what I’ve been able to play of Battlefield 3 so far and eagerly await the full retail game release on October 25.
If you happen to be playing the beta on the Playstation 3 console and would like to try and play alongside me, send a friend request to Skyarrow210, and we can test it together. Microphones are appreciated as team communication brings a whole new level to Battlefield 3.