First Impressions and Review (beta)

[WhiteWolf]

First Impressions and Review (beta) Quoted from a Friend on |ax| forums

"Rafterman" LAN_WROTE ...
Introduction

In a nutshell, this game is serious fun so far. If you read nothing else here, read that first line. It is glitchy, yes, but a blast to play. The map used for the beta, Operation M?tro, has a pretty good blend of terrain through the three fighting sections (Rush Mode). There's open area fighting, tight close-quarter combat, and urban sprawl. They had good reason to choose it for the beta, as it gives you a little taste of everything (except vehicles). The beta is a 3.9GB download (yes, that's almost as much as a standard DVD), but you'll get it pretty quickly if your Internet connection is up to the task.

How does it run?

I can only speak for my system, so everyone's will be different. That said, regarding my settings, the game automatically set my graphics options to "Ultra" for textures, "High" for everything else, and anisotropic filtering at a whopping 16x. All this at 1680x1050 resolution, no less. Again, for the record, I have an NVIDIA GTX 470 that is overclocked quite a bit, an AMD quad-core overclocked to 4GHz, and 8GB of RAM, so your results may vary. With my fan speed set manually via EVGA's Precision software to 80%, the card stays cool, running right around 67-70 degrees Celsius. With the game itself, Windows 7, Precision, Avast! Antivirus and Firefox running (you need a web browser open to view the server lists and join up), my system is using about 2.5 to 3GB of RAM from my 8GB total available. So, if you're not beefed up in that department yet, I recommend you upgrade, otherwise you'll probably have to make sure a lot of stuff is closed down before playing the game. I have V-sync turned on, so my FPS are limited to the refresh rate of my monitor, which is 60Hz. However, at the settings I mentioned above, I'm running right at 60FPS 99% of the time. I've experienced no ghosting, freezing, hiccups or lag. When you try to play the first time, the game will tell you that you'll need to update your video card's driver. I don't know what it is for ATI users, but for NVIDIA, it's the Geforce 285.38 driver update and is available from http://www.nvidia.com.

Once you find a server to play on, joining takes about 20-seconds or so, but once you're in, side switching at halftime and map rotations are quite fast. Granted, the servers are just playing the same map over and over, so the full game may take a little longer.

How does it look and sound?

Let me say that even in beta format, this game looks DAMN GOOD. Frostbite 2 is AMAZING. The smoke and effects are great, the terrain looks VERY realistic and the weapon sounds are fantastic. The guns just "feel" good to shoot. It does take a little longer to switch between weapons than Bad Company 2, but this is OK, as it's a little more realistic. No one drops their assault rifle and draws their sidearm THAT fast anyway, so this is a good balance. Lighting is a bit bright in spots at times, but is overall really well done. Full sunshine is bright like it should be and lights down in the subway only illuminate the areas they're supposed to, allowing a nice balance of shadows throughout. Buildings cast nice shadows too, with ample sunlight in the streets. This game is a definite treat for the senses. I don't know how many times I died because I was caught just standing there taking in the sights and sounds.

Here is a gallery of many HD screenshots from the beta: Click me!

And yes, it DOES really look that good on a capable machine!

How are the weapons?

Weapon sights are clear, with both iron and telescopic options drawing up sharp and fast. The machine guns have noticeable muzzle rise, a definite plus, and the semi-auto sniper rifles take a second for clean follow-up shots. If your aim is good, I think a one-shot, one-kill bolt action would be best for the recon class users, but the semi-autos provide a nice all-purpose weapon. Rockets sound loud and intimidating and grenade explosions are booming and bright. Hit boxes are pretty good and bullet impacts seem to register pretty clearly thus far. Again, you'll be much more accurate with a sniper rifle than with an RPK unloading 45 rounds as fast as possible. This game FORCES you to be a much smarter shooter. Otherwise, you won't do too well. The sprayers won't have nearly as much success here as they would in Call of Duty.

Conclusions

Teamwork is a MUST in Battlefield 3 and you clearly cannot win on the maps without working together. One-man wrecking crews will not be successful in this game. I imagine this to be even more true in maps that use vehicles extensively, especially the massive 64-player PC battles that will no doubt be epic unto themselves. Even lone snipers will not do that well without some sort of support. The team that communicates and covers each other will do very well for themselves.

Again, the game is glitchy, and many people have already found ways to get underneath the map. However, I'm sure this will be fixed with the full release next month. *edited name out* You can rank up as high as you want in the beta, but everyone will be reset to zero before the full release comes out. Your player name will carry over though. The beta is open to everyone this Thursday and will be running until October 10th.