Battlefield 3 Beta - Your Thoughts?

[TacticalAssassin1]

So the Battlefield 3 beta is out either now or very soon depending where you live, who's played it? What's it like? Discuss the gameplay, glitches etc of it.
What are the changes from the Alpha?
What are your thoughts, Escapists?

Do you like what you see of Battlefield 3 in general?

[sub]I'd share my thoughts but I'm still running WinXP and thus can't play BF3. I'm upgrading my computer next week though, so hopefully I'll be able to play before the beta ends[/sub]

 

[N3vans]

It's pretty awesome, they put real effort into making the "EA servers not available" screen nice and shiny.

Oh god, they're at it again. I'm guessing noone else in Europe is playing yet? Either that or I'm just doing Origin wrong.

 

[TacticalAssassin1]

Yeah, I expect lots and lots of people are having a massive difficulty connecting, considering it's one of the more popular betas.

 

[Vrach]

Personally pissed as EA failed at delivering my early access code for ordering it on Origin. Their support has also been entirely useless during these 2 days, offering no help, leaving me in a waiting line for an hour for a chat and then throwing out a "no advisors available to speak to you" message. The mail I sent that was supposed to get an answer within 24 hours failed to get a reply as well. I really, really hate EA on the grounds of (failure at) worldwide publishing and customer support. And well, marketing, but I can deal with that (sad how all 3 are pretty much all they're supposed to be doing though, aside from actually financing the games).

That said, waiting for the open beta to start today and looking forward to it. Hearing good things, though it's a shame it's Operation Metro rather than one of the vehicle maps. But maybe that's for the best, not to spoil the best part of the game until it's fully out

 

[N3vans]

Either that or I'm just doing Origin wrong.

Origin is wrong.

True, I always thought the EA download manager was shite and now this is it with a different name. Unfortunately I'm only a PC gamer and it's the only way I'm going to be able to play Battlefield 3 :/

It's like EA saw Steam and thought, "Right chaps, lets make a more invasive, shittier version of that and force it on people if they want to play our games. Because we all know PC gamers are basically all dirty pirates anyway..."

 

[Smooth Operator]

Why can't you people add links important to your threads...

Love the interface... yes that is sarcasm, and the game looks like CoD more then ever before.

 

[CCountZero]

I'm guessing noone else in Europe is playing yet? Either that or I'm just doing Origin wrong.

Had the same problem when I started the pre-Beta two days ago.

I just came back an hour later, and it worked. No issues since.

--------------------------------------------------------------

As for the actual game, I'm having difficulty seeing what they changed from the Alpha actually.

Other than that, the Beta map (Operation Metro - Rush Mode) seems pretty well balanced.

Overall, I'm loving it.

Only complaint I have so far is that the starting semi-auto rifles for the Recon class get somewhat overpowered after you unlock some upgrades.

Once you got the Laser and the Foregrip, they become pretty damn lethal in close range, something which, from a balance perspective, shouldn't really be happening.

Using either the Mk11 or the SVD, I can routinely kill five people for every death, in close quarters. Hell, I've come up against three people a few times, and still come out on top, without scoping, but just using the laser to aim.
And then you still got the 12x ballistic scope for long range pwnage.

That shit needs nerfing.

 

[Cowabungaa]

It's pretty awesome, they put real effort into making the "EA servers not available" screen nice and shiny.

Oh god, they're at it again. I'm guessing noone else in Europe is playing yet? Either that or I'm just doing Origin wrong.

As far as I know, the beta starts at 14:00, so that would explain it. I can't find a download link yet anyway, and the one on the Battlefield site is greyed out.

 

[CCountZero]

Why can't you people add links important to your threads...

Love the interface... yes that is sarcasm, and the game looks like CoD more then ever before.

First of all, the guy playing in that video...
Doesn't really seem to have much clue what goes on.
I love that he just shoots his friend with a shotgun, and then poses the question that said friend might just have TK'd a guy.
I mean, if FF was on, might he not have killed him with that shotgun blast?

-------------------------------------

As for the interface, I think it's awesome.

The game takes some things from CoD, just like Bad Company did, but they put twists on all of them.

Like, you can still one-Knife kill a guy, but when you do, the game plays through a short animation, during which you can still be shot.
So it's not just a winning strategy, unless you can find people alone.
And if you can, the team who gets knifed deserves what they get.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Like, you can still one-Knife kill a guy, but when you do, the game plays through a short animation, during which you can still be shot.
So it's not just a winning strategy, unless you can find people alone.
And if you can, the team who gets knifed deserves what they get.

Is it also true that you have to select the knife as any other weapon? Just like in the olden days? Because I got that idea from another gameplay video, this one. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDcbaR1THPQ&feature=related] If it's true, then huzzah!

 

[wooty]

Still cant download this thing off psn yet, tried last night, tried just now but no luck. Getting frustrated on BF2 while I wait for its child to be delivered.

Edit: scratch what I jusy said, its downloading now, and at a pretty pacey speed too.

 

[silverbullet1989]

think i must be the only one who is enjoying it -_-
ive not had any problems with origin, or the new server browser on pc, i actually prefare it over loading a game up to look for them, its smoother and faster. The game its self runs rather smooth, i was very suprised, yes there are bugs, and things tht need nerfing like the glear off scopes, (needs to stay in but needs dimming, its like having a flash light stuck ontop of your scope) appart from that, i love the unlock system, the customization, the rush map is great and ive just been on caspian borders for an hour, jets are a bit meh but i never played with them in bf2, disapointed no transport choppers in that particular map, but appart from that its pretty solid action and i for one cant wait to get the game

 

[Korten12]

Like, you can still one-Knife kill a guy, but when you do, the game plays through a short animation, during which you can still be shot.
So it's not just a winning strategy, unless you can find people alone.
And if you can, the team who gets knifed deserves what they get.

Is it also true that you have to select the knife as any other weapon? Just like in the olden days? Because I got that idea from another gameplay video, this one. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDcbaR1THPQ&feature=related] If it's true, then huzzah!

If it's like the alpha, you can press a button to knife, or if you want take out your knife.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I've been playing it since the headstart and I have posted most of my thoughts on the beta forums. However to sum it up, I am extremely disappointed in the game so far. I sorta wish I Hadn't spent 120 dollars on it(Bought a copy for a friend too). I can only hope that a lot of the key issues get changed sometime before release.
It looks like a lot of the bugs from Alpha are still present, plus a lot of new ones. Automatic squad selection makes playing with friends a *****. A lot of things like scope glare and flashlights are annoying as hell and super gimmicky. Bullet damage is so high that you can basically wipe out the entire other team with one clip if you are good enough. It makes the game stupidly easy and you really don't need much skill. I am hoping they adjust it to be closer to BC2.
Rush is just as broken as a game mode as it was in BC2 also. I am sad they didn't choose Conquest as the beta mode.
The UI is also ugly as hell and hard to read. The colors are washed out and it makes it very hard to see things at a glance. Font is too small on a few things. The setup for adjusting loadouts is a nightmare and you can't even edit them between rounds.
Overall, a lot of work has to be done so make sure you post your thoughts in the beta forums so they are aware.
-EDIT-
Almost forgot, Origins / Battlelog are absolutely beyond terrible. I see what they are going for but server selection and such should be in game. For someone who swaps servers a lot, this is a nightmare.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Like, you can still one-Knife kill a guy, but when you do, the game plays through a short animation, during which you can still be shot.
So it's not just a winning strategy, unless you can find people alone.
And if you can, the team who gets knifed deserves what they get.

Is it also true that you have to select the knife as any other weapon? Just like in the olden days? Because I got that idea from another gameplay video, this one. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDcbaR1THPQ&feature=related] If it's true, then huzzah!

If it's like the alpha, you can press a button to knife, or take out your knife.

So what's the advantage of taking your knife out? A shorter kill animation?

 

[Korten12]

Like, you can still one-Knife kill a guy, but when you do, the game plays through a short animation, during which you can still be shot.
So it's not just a winning strategy, unless you can find people alone.
And if you can, the team who gets knifed deserves what they get.

Is it also true that you have to select the knife as any other weapon? Just like in the olden days? Because I got that idea from another gameplay video, this one. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDcbaR1THPQ&feature=related] If it's true, then huzzah!

If it's like the alpha, you can press a button to knife, or take out your knife.

So what's the advantage of taking your knife out? A shorter kill animation?

Can't really say, never took my knife out, only a couple of times but I was just testing it out. Sadly I am not in the beta to confirm if it is a shorter kill animation.

 

[PeePantz]

I've just wrapped up a couple of hours for the xbox beta, and so far, I'm very disappointed. First off, it looks like shit (not that I care really, after all, I love MAG). Not just let down from hype ugly, like generic fps on original xbox ugly. That's big because that was such a huge selling point from their perspective . I'm not sure if this is because it's in beta, but you'd think this close to launch it would look great.

Also, there is a massive amount of bugs such as constantly falling through the map. Once you do, you're a sitting duck. This happened to me throughout the game. Any type of little hole or caved in ground will cause you to fall into the map. Also, actions from before I died like press x to swap weapon, or 100 pts, would stay on the screen for an obnoxious amount of time post death. I can't diffuse the explosives, I'm still at my spawn point!

The controls have been pretty unresponsive. Running will randomly refuse to work and the spot system is out of whack. In addition, sometimes my gun just wouldn't fire for a moment, causing me to die due to the delay (not lag either).

One of my biggest gripes is they sped up the game. It's become similar in style to COD pace. Although it's still not nearly as sprint, get a couple of kills, get killed all in ten seconds, it's approaching that style quicker than I'd like it to.

I'm not sure why, but during my first couple of games, I was getting insta-killed as well. Not by snipers, but by umps. One shot, one kill. I think my k-d ratio was about 2-11 and 3-12 for the first couple of games. However, once I started to rank up, it got a lot better and soon my k-d ratio was between 2:1 and 3:1. It seems like they may have tied health into rank which I'm not a fan of.

Overall, I expected more, much more. I was so excited about this game, but I feel let down. I'll still purchase it with hopes of a great single player and fine tuned multiplayer.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

Just played for about 30 minutes.

My thoughts? If your team manages to lose while defending, you can pretty much just stop playing video games all together. You will never amount to anything.

It's one of the most lopsided multiplayer games I've seen. In Operation Metro, there are literally two choke points you just have to aim at. Two sets of stairs that the attacker can come from. It's literally impossible to get passed.

The beginning is also too open. You spawn in what is about the size of a football field of open grass and you have to run to cover. If the defenders manage to get to where you can see the fields, it's over.

snip.

To be fair, the only map that is being played right now is Operation Metro, and I've heard from multiple people that the other map that can be played with a special code is heads over tails superior.