TheBattlefieldfranchise has always had a largely fan-driven rivalry withCall of Dutywhen it comes to first-person shooter video games. If sales numbers are statistics to go by, the latter is clearly in the driver’s seat. Meanwhile, the latestBattlefieldtitle has been in a catastrophic state since its launch last year to a point thatEA dare not share anyBattlefield 2042sales data. Things are looking quite grim for such a prominent IP that was doing very well for itself a decade ago. Sadly, DICE threw out what worked with its older successful titles in favor of a new long-term strategy that hasn’t paid off so far.
There was a glimmer of greatness with the 2010 release ofBad Company 2,butBattlefield 3,released to critical acclaim a year later, sold 15 million units within a year, had a significant cultural impact, and would set the standard for future games to come.Battlefield 3made a splash in the gaming world after launching the same year as the highly anticipatedModern Warfare 3, yet still seeing great success on its own. The vast maps, combat realism, stellar voice acting, and the excellent singleplayer campaign ofBattlefield 3set the stage for a bright future, only for lackluster sequels to set the franchise back.
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Battlefield 3: Short And Sweet Single-Player Campaign
Battlefield 3has one of theshortest singleplayer campaigns in the FPS genre. WIth optimal play, a player can finish the 12 missions in a little over three hours. That said, the brevity of the story doesn’t take anything away from it. In some ways, the strength ofBattlefield 3’s campaign comes from its ability to condense an action-packed war thriller into a short time frame. The non-linear reverse order of the narrative adds to the uniqueness, and Dima would become an iconic enough character to be brought back inBattlefield 4.Unfortunately,Battlefield 4proceeded to unceremoniously kill Dima when he deserved a more dramatic sendoff like Soap’s death inModern Warfare 3.
Battlefield 3 also had a more realistic outlook on war. Unlike many other FPS games, the soldiers inBattlefield 3have a genuine sense of danger. In the “Kaffarov” mission, when one of the US Marines realizes that they were fighting Russian paratroopers, he started worrying about a potential nuclear war between the two superpowers, wondering whether his fellow soldiers were in over their heads. Of course, good storytelling is important in any campaign, butBattlefield 2042not having a traditional singleplayer campaigncontributed to its gradual slump, as it had no solid solo mode to fall back on.
The Impact Of Voice Acting In Battlefield
In terms of pure gameplay, voice acting isn’t the first priority. However, games where good writing meets good voice acting become etched into memories.Bad Company 2certainly had the most memorable banter, but it’s just as hard to forget the expletive-ridden snippets in theBattlefield 3multiplayer mode. EvenBattlefield 1had noteworthy voice acting, which makes theout of place soldier voice lines inBattlefield 2042absolutely inexcusable.
That said,Battlefield 3gets a lot of credit for having original Russian voice acting for the GRU unit in the game’s campaign. Most other titles would settle for English voice acting with a Russian accent that is usually typical in games featuring Russians, butBattlefield 3went the extra mile by including Russian dialogue with fluent Russian speakers voicing Dima, Vladimir, and Kiril.
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Battlefield 3’s Combat Immersion
A recurring criticism of modern FPS games stems from the increasing instinct from developers to design games in a futuristic setting. That instinct comes down to a fundamental misunderstanding of what makes for good game design in first-person shooters. Instead of trying to add science-fiction gimmicks like robot soldiers,Battlefield 3sticks to the basics, but in a way that exploits the full potential of contemporarycombined arms military doctrine.
The game brilliantly combined the on-foot combat that most FPS gameplay consists of with vehicular and aerial combat to great effect. Those may be mechanics that are taken for granted today, butBattlefield 3implemented them more proficiently than even some modern titles.
One aspect thatBattlefield 3excelled at, beyond purely combat, is in the destructible environments. This is another detail that other first-person shooters often omit. In most FPS games, the player can hide behind a wall or a door to shield themselves from explosives or sniper fire, but not inBattlefield 3.The game set the standard of no camping spot ever being truly safe. Disappointingly,Battlefield 2042is somewhat lacking in destruction, with mostmaps like Exposurenot set in urban environments.
Battlefield 3 Multiplayer Maps Tower Over Battlefield 2042 Maps
For a game that focuses purely on multiplayer gameplay, one would expectBattlefield 2042multiplayer maps to be excellent. Yet, David Goldfarb, the lead designer behindBad Company 2andBattlefield 3,evenlamented the maps inBattlefield 2042. He was especially critical about the lack of small infantry maps, questioning why the 128 player maps had no infantry accommodations.Battlefield 3showed the world what theBattlefieldsandbox experience really was all about, which is why Caspian Border remains one of the best multiplayer maps in the series.
However,Battlefield 2042did get a few things right, and one of them is large maps. That said, a lot of what works inBattlefield 2042had its roots inBattlefield 3. Aside from the map verticality and equipment, it’s no wonder that the most popular feature of the game is the Portal Mode, where players can enjoy maps from older games includingBattlefield 1943,Bad Company 2, andBattlefield 3. Otherwise,Battlefield 2042is viewed as a bug-riddled mess that pales in comparison to past entries in the franchise. For the nextBattlefieldgame,DICE should take the franchise back to its roots in order to match the standards set byBattlefield 3.
Battlefield 2042is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S
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