Battlefield 3

[Maniacal]

The latest entry in the Battlefield series is coming up, currently in alpha/beta but already looking damn good. The only Battlefield games I've played are Bad Company 2 (which I quite enjoyed) and BF1942, which I honestly regret buying because while I'm sure it was awesome when it came out it has NOT aged well and was kind of bad even in 2008 iirc, anyway I am quite looking forward to BF3.

There are a lot of various features, like 64 players for the PC
You will be able to drag wounded allies but only in SP.
Vehicles are of course in (including jets!) and many other things.

Someone describing everything in the first gameplay trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox_9jwcfHqs&feature=player_embedded

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/711179.html

http://twitter.com/repi/status/43350154291589120
Only 1 NVIDIA 580 ran the demo and its unoptimized so the game should have lower requirements than that. Windows XP will apparently not be supported.

Shamelessly stolen from CaptainFluffy's thread on the CnB forum:

General:
Developer: DICE
Publisher: EA
Release Date: Autumn 2011
Platforms : 360/PS3/PC with PC as lead development platform
Preorder Bonus: Includes a limited edition (At no extra cost) copy that contains BF3: Back to Karkand content pack. It includes classic BF2 weapons and vehicles, unique rewards, new achievements/trophies, four remastered BF2 maps, and more. Purchasable 1 month after lauch for those who do not preorder.
Game Engine: Frostbite 2.0 (New engine, BC2 was Frostbite 1.5)
Audio: Recorded new sounds (Less cinematic and more cleaner. So you can better hear things and access the situtation. Excerpt: "footsteps of a nearby soldier in the same house will be more audible than the shots being volleyed between two soldiers outside your window. It's also easier to hear the difference between when a vehicle is facing you and when it's moving in another direction. Subtle audio cues tip you off when your tank is strugglign to climb a steep hill, and rather than giving you a visual indicator, sound effects inform you when a gun is about to overheat.")
Motion Capture: EA Sports' ANT
Time Period: Modern / Near Future
Setting: North America, Europe, and Middle East (Ex. Paris, Tehran and New York)
Military Forces (Known so far): US (Marines), ? (PLR: People's Liberation and Resistance)


Game Features:
True succesor to BF2
Game Modes: Singleplayer Campagin, Co-Op mode (No details if its for campagin or another mode), and Multiplayer (Normal and Hardcore, DICE is making hardcore mode more harder)
Vehicles: Land, sea, and air (choppers and jets)
Player Functionaly: Prone, new form of 3D Spotting (No details yet), drag fallen soldiers to safety (Possibly singleplayer only), collecting dogtags from knife kills, feel impact from bullets and explosions
Weapon Functionaly: A more in depth bullet drop system, mount weapons to any terrain
Classes: 4 Classes (No details yet)
Unlocks: A lot more than BC2 (Reasoning: DICE didn't expect BC2 to do as good as it did. They also didn't expect many players ever reaching level 22, let alone so many that fast.)
Squads: Higher player cap and being redesigned (No details yet)
Kill Cam: Returning (No details yet, reasoning DICE wants players to be able to counter everything.)
Balancing: Better balance between vehicle/infantry (Says Dev)
Looking into, but not confirmed features: Video Capture (No Details yet) and Mod Tools (Creating mod tools for Frostbite would take too much manpower, focusing on the game first. Same deal with BC2)


PC Specifics:
System Requirements: Windows Vista/7 (No WinXP support, because Frosbite 2.0 was built for Dx11)
Player Cap: 64 Player Multiplayer (Reasoning from DICE: PC gamers complained a lot about not having it it)
Features: Eyefinity Support


Console Specifics:
Player Cap: 24 Player Multiplayer (Reasoning from DICE: Consolers didn't complain enough about it)

Things That Won't Be in the Game (confirmed by Devs):
BC2 Tracer Darts and Motion Sensor
Dolphin Diving or any form (Dropshot)
Hybrid Sights (Combination of using two optics on a weapon. One for long range and another for short range.
BF2:SF Ziplines and Grappling Hooks
Ability to drag wounded soldiers into cover is probably only going to be in the single player campaign.

EDIT: Someone filmed a brief gameplay segment from the GDC today:
http://rutube.ru/tracks/4170084.html?v=e4490d30c0f8c943ad72079ed12808c6

 

[Skwink]

Battlefield 1942 is the best multiplayer WWII game ever.

 

[cardgame]

Battlefield Vietnam was much better.

 

[Thrawn]

Except it's not a WWII game, which is what Skwink Caesar was talking about.

 

[Luckymoose]

I'm a long time fan of the series. I will pre-order the hell out of this and build a new gaming rig for it.

 

[Skwink]

Battlefield Vietnam was much better.

Vietnam is great too.

 

[NickyJ]

Battlefield 1942 is the best multiplayer WWII game ever.

Ditto. I hope this turns out well. I still love 1942 and BF2.

 

[Jos Ballenbak]

Will it beat the new COD, that is the real question. EA are in dire need of something succesfull.

 

[Luckymoose]

Never understood how anyone likes COD. Small maps, outdated graphics and gameplay, and crappy game modes.

 

[schlaufuchs]

Never understood how anyone likes COD. Small maps, outdated graphics and gameplay, and crappy game modes.

Not to mention incoherent storyline and the grenade-o-rama that is the upper difficulty levels.

 

[Loppan Torkel]

Battlefield 1942 is the best multiplayer WWII game ever.

My favorite mp-game ever. Great maps, balance, pace and gameplay. It's a much better era for vehicle based combat too. Destroyers, submarines, battleships, great airplane combat, the tanks were just right with the Shermans and Tigers, etc.

I'm looking forward to BF3, but a WW2 game in the Frostbite2 engine would be so much nicer.

 

[Hakim]

I'll most likely get it. More players in mp would have been nice but 64 will do.

Things That Won't Be in the Game (confirmed by Devs):
BC2 Tracer Darts and Motion Sensor
Dolphin Diving or any form (Dropshot)

Well, thank heavens for that.


Link to video.

 

[Maniacal]

Never understood how anyone likes COD. Small maps, outdated graphics and gameplay, and crappy game modes.

Because despite all that its still fun. It also sells best on the X-Box 360.

The CoD games used to be great, CoD:UO was awesome, though I didn't get to play it until a year or two ago CoD2 was fun as well. CoD4 was good but but the gameplay didn't really improve and it all went downhill from there.

Whereas it seems that the Battlefield series (1, 2, 2142, 3) is only getting better (with mixed results in its spin offs).

 

[cardgame]

This looks so fantastic

Too bad my graphics card is crap

 

[Nuka-sama]

I found Battlefield Vietnam on Amazon for $0.99, is it a good buy?

 

[Maniacal]

Not if you're paying shipping. As I said, the game hasn't aged well... and really has no singleplayer except against bots on the multiplayer maps.

 

[Luckymoose]

Single player is a BF game is not important. Bots and multiplayer are where it's at. I have faith in bot tech becoming more awesome.

 

[SuperJay]

I'll be all over BF3. I'm really looking forward to getting back into a team-based shooter.

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

Never understood how anyone likes COD. Small maps, outdated graphics and gameplay, and crappy game modes.

I don't understand why there is a need for comparison between these two franchise. COD is more of a arcade shooter, that is why some people prefer that type of style.

 

[Jos Ballenbak]

I made the comparison because of the commercial succes both games have. It's like the succes of a MMORPG game comparing to WoW. EA is a developer who had to do a lot of reorganisations the last few years and really need a financial best seller to sustain their franchises. If Battlefield just like MoH fails to make some money, I predict some dark times ahead for the employees of EA.