Battlefield 3 Campaign - Very disappointing!

I finally got around to playing the BF3 campaign today. Much to my chagrin, they ripped out a ton of stuff from Call of Duty singleplayer, instead of going in an alternative direction.

Do we have nukes? Check. An interrogation scene? Check. Involvement of special forces and terrorists? Check.

The most disappointing aspect to the single player campaign is how contrived it feels. They ripped out a lot of elements from Call of Duty, contrary to what they said in the interviews. The developers claimed that the HBO miniseries "Generation Kill" was one of their main inspirations for the campaign, but I could see only a little bit of "Generation Kill" here and there in the squad banter. Particularly in the "Brother, America was founded by terrorists, for terrorists" line. The mostly faceless characters do not seem to bond much with each other, with the exception of the marines Montes and Blackburn, the two protagonists.

Furthermore, instead of making the campaign about a conventional war between the US and Iran, DICE thought that tossing in a bunch of Russian nukes stolen by terrorists would raise eyebrows. It didn't. It has been done before, by Call of Duty and so many other games. They could have spun the modern military FPS game in a different way by focusing on conventional warfare between two nation states, but no. It had to involve nukes, terrorists, and special forces units, and these three elements are used by so many other games that any attempt to give a game gravitas by involving these elements is lost because they have become cliches in and of themselves.

And lastly, the game is linear as hell. If it was better written, I wouldn't have minded, but damn, DICE could have turned the single player into another sandbox, like they did with the multiplayer.

DICE, if BF4 is set in modern times once again, please, please, make it about conventional warfare and the experiences of average soldiers, not soldiers tossed into situations where they have to act like ninjas.

I still want to play it.See how it holds up against MW3's campaign.

I still want to play it.See how it holds up against MW3's campaign.

freedomfreak

It's a bit more sombre and less bombastic than Call of Duty, but hardly anything like "Generation Kill".

[QUOTE="freedomfreak"]

I still want to play it.See how it holds up against MW3's campaign.

The_Capitalist

It's a bit more sombre and less bombastic than Call of Duty, but hardly anything like "Generation Kill".

If you're looking for a decent story in a modern military FPS, you're not doing it right at all.

Everyone hated the SP. I for one was actually pleasantly surprised. I loved it.

/hipster. :cool:

It was no better or worse than all of the other generic crappy fps campaigns out there. They are all bad. Its not like MW2 or MW3 had great campaigns. Don't even get me started with Blackops. In BF3 it was nothing more than a frostbite showcase.

But seriously, who buys BF3 for the campaign? I wish they had skipped the campaign altogether and dedicated all of their resources to the multiplayer.

It was no better or worse than all of the other generic crappy fps campaigns out there. They are all bad. Its not like MW2 or MW3 had great campaigns. Don't even get me started with Blackops. In BF3 it was nothing more than a frostbite showcase.

But seriously, who buys BF3 for the campaign? I wish they had skipped the campaign altogether and dedicated all of their resources to the multiplayer.

Mr_Ditters

They could have hired better writers, for one. And not be scared to make a game about a war between Iran and the US.

Yeah, it's not so great. But not many FPS campaigns are, particularly the Battlefield games.

I agree with every word you said. I only have a couple of missions left and I don't even really want to finish it. Like someone said earlier, battlefield has always been about the multiplayer and battlefield 3 excels at that. The campaign, not so much.

[QUOTE="Mr_Ditters"]

It was no better or worse than all of the other generic crappy fps campaigns out there. They are all bad. Its not like MW2 or MW3 had great campaigns. Don't even get me started with Blackops. In BF3 it was nothing more than a frostbite showcase.

But seriously, who buys BF3 for the campaign? I wish they had skipped the campaign altogether and dedicated all of their resources to the multiplayer.

The_Capitalist

They could have hired better writers, for one. And not be scared to make a game about a war between Iran and the US.

Iran were pissed enough with this game.

Best not wind them up further. I hear they're fairly mental down that way:

http://bf3blog.com/2011/11/battlefield-3-banned-in-iran/

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/4051/article/iranian-developers-working-on-retaliation-to-battlefield-3/

Among others.

There was a part in the game it told me to knife an enemy, so I tried to do so by getting behind him to slit his throat... I never noticed that I had to press the knife button a good distance away, so that the game could play an animation :|

Yeah the singleplayer sucks and is both highly derivative and astoundingly homogeneous for a game that features multiplayer that isn't.

To think DICE did a better job nailing the Battlefield formula in singleplayer with BF: Modern Combat.

Let that sink in for a second.

I enjoyed it. The plane section was exciting at first but seemed to drag on, that's really my only complaint about the campaign.

I went in expecting nonsense story and dumb AI guys to shoot. I was right, and I was not disappointed. Fun game.

[QUOTE="The_Capitalist"]

[QUOTE="Mr_Ditters"]

It was no better or worse than all of the other generic crappy fps campaigns out there. They are all bad. Its not like MW2 or MW3 had great campaigns. Don't even get me started with Blackops. In BF3 it was nothing more than a frostbite showcase.

But seriously, who buys BF3 for the campaign? I wish they had skipped the campaign altogether and dedicated all of their resources to the multiplayer.

balfe1990

They could have hired better writers, for one. And not be scared to make a game about a war between Iran and the US.

Iran were pissed enough with this game.

Best not wind them up further. I hear they're fairly mental down that way:

http://bf3blog.com/2011/11/battlefield-3-banned-in-iran/

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/4051/article/iranian-developers-working-on-retaliation-to-battlefield-3/

Among others.

My favorite was when the pres of Iran said that the movie 300 was american propaganda to make Persians (Iranians) look like homosexuals. That guy is a real piece of work.

But yeah the bad writing thing is a problem with all FPS campaigns I can think of. I am by no means a good writer, but give me one week and I'll come up with a better story than the crap they churn out.

I still want to play it.See how it holds up against MW3's campaign.

freedomfreak

[QUOTE="freedomfreak"]

I still want to play it.See how it holds up against MW3's campaign.

DeX2010

the pres of Iran said that the movie 300 was american propaganda to make Persians (Iranians) look like homosexuals.

Mr_Ditters

:lol:That is literally the most hilarious thing I've heard today. :lol:

[QUOTE="DeX2010"][QUOTE="freedomfreak"]

I still want to play it.See how it holds up against MW3's campaign.

freedomfreak

If you don't play multiplayer, there is no good reason to buy BF3.

[QUOTE="freedomfreak"][QUOTE="DeX2010"] It doesn't match any campaign, Linear, COD or otherwise. Its just boring as hell. At least in Modern Warfare we've sort of grown to love characters like Soap and Captain Price. Not in BF3. Its just a complete boring mess.Mr_Ditters

If you don't play multiplayer, there is no good reason to buy BF3.

[QUOTE="Mr_Ditters"]

[QUOTE="freedomfreak"] sadface. I will try to check it out but I have no interest in the mp so I would be spending about 50euros for a game with a short campaign.freedomfreak

If you don't play multiplayer, there is no good reason to buy BF3.

Just watch it on youtube. Or rent it for PS3.

[QUOTE="freedomfreak"][QUOTE="Mr_Ditters"]

If you don't play multiplayer, there is no good reason to buy BF3.

Mr_Ditters

Just watch it on youtube. Or rent it for PS3.

I don't understand all this hate or love for Russia.

It's funny you mentioned that in your topic, yesterday i went to see mission impossible ghost protocol and i just couldn't stop thinking "Russian nukes, for real? AGAIN? feels like the script writer just played the latest american shooter games..."

Wtv... seems like Americans will never get bored of them.

Yes its not a great SP. I enjoyed MW3's much more, the multiplayer is the greatest though ( BF3 )

[QUOTE="Mr_Ditters"]

[QUOTE="freedomfreak"] sadface. I will try to check it out but I have no interest in the mp so I would be spending about 50euros for a game with a short campaign.freedomfreak

If you don't play multiplayer, there is no good reason to buy BF3.

[QUOTE="freedomfreak"][QUOTE="Mr_Ditters"]

If you don't play multiplayer, there is no good reason to buy BF3.

DeX2010

[QUOTE="DeX2010"][QUOTE="freedomfreak"] Yeah,that's true,but I really want to check out dat campaign.I'll convince my brother to buy it for his ps3.freedomfreak

[QUOTE="freedomfreak"]

[QUOTE="DeX2010"] Take my advice, and rent it. I was lucky because I got it a few days after release. There was still an offer available so I got my money back when I traded it in.DeX2010

hehe. Anyway my basic point is, do not pay the full price for a 5 hour single player(which you probably will have to drag yourself through), and after that what you have left is basically a paperweight or at the very least a negative money. Since the store would take the game back at something like 60% of the retail price.DeX2010

DICE, if BF4 is set in modern times once again, please, please, make it about conventional warfare and the experiences of average soldiers, not soldiers tossed into situations where they have to act like ninjas.The_Capitalist

[QUOTE="The_Capitalist"]

[QUOTE="freedomfreak"]

I still want to play it.See how it holds up against MW3's campaign.

freedomfreak

It's a bit more sombre and less bombastic than Call of Duty, but hardly anything like "Generation Kill".

Yeah no **** it's the first time I've actually skipped cutscenes in a campaign, I couldn't care less about the story.

I thought the campaign was alright. And I'd rather be a supersoldier and feel like I saved everyone than just a random soldier who just follows orders and isn't anything that special. That's why I play single player: to feel like I'm the best soldier ever.

It was definitely one of the worse videogame single players I've experienced this gen, and considering how low the bar is for military FPS campaigns, it sucks to see DICE not even being able to reach the damn thing with a ladder.

It just rips off too much, makes too many polish mistakes, and its one big terrible addition that isn't even half as good as the worst IW CoD game or Bad Company title campaign. At least it meant DICE must have spent more time on the multiplayer, but they should have just axed single player if it was going to be so bad.

I couldn't even finish the first level it was so boring. BF3 is so god damn overrated.

I haven't played it yet, but it seems like it feels weak because the story is just soooo weak. Why don't they just keep it simple. Go here? Why? That's above your pay grade. Then at the end, BAM, all for US imperialism or some other stupid conspiracy type thing. You get the whole globe trotting experience and its a nice simple story to tie everything together. Then you have soldiers who are afraid to question what they are doing and are willing to sacrifice a lot for eachother.

Its a friggin FPS, just make a light story to tie some awesome missions together. Its not difficult.

I thought it was ok. There was only 2 sections that felt like they draged,but one had a pretty messed up ending to it.

[QUOTE="freedomfreak"]

I still want to play it.See how it holds up against MW3's campaign.

DeX2010

no just no. They are proboly the most forgetable characters of this gen and boring. Also nothing can top the trash that was MW2 both SP and MP.

[QUOTE="DeX2010"][QUOTE="freedomfreak"]

I still want to play it.See how it holds up against MW3's campaign.

finalfantasy94

no just no. They are proboly the most forgetable characters of this gen and boring. Also nothing can top the trash that was MW2 both SP and MP.

I still want to play it.See how it holds up against MW3's campaign.

freedomfreak