If you look closely at the Battlefield 3 teaser (link below), at around 0:19 and 0:20, you can see a soldier in what appears to be WHOT. If that means we finally get thermal views on our UAV (if it's still a controllable vehicle) and tank/helicopter gunner views, or if we get the option for a thermal scope on our guns, that's great. I guess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7gG1P9d6_k&feature=player_embedded

I strongly feel that thermal modes on tank and helicopter gunners are needed, so as to counter the prone. If it is absolutely needed in an infantry class, limit it to only Assault.

Oh, and get rid of the 12x scope, will ya? That's the reason why so many people attempt to snipe in Bad Company 2. If they weren't granted the ability to look so far away, sniping wouldn't be as prevalent.

Anyways, yeah, can't wait. T - 8 days before the Battlefield 3 demonstration at this year's GDC.

We all know that a Battlefield 3 DLC ad has already leaked out to the world, and it's not even out yet! But, I thought we should do a little bit more detective work on the box art and advert cover.

First off, with the basics. It looks rather similar to Bad Company 2, implying it takes place within the same storyline (Bad Company did feature MEC), or has a similar art style, or both.

The soldier also is different from the other Battlefield games. Whereas in all previous Battlefield games, the soldiers were all professionally attired, in the cover art for this, the soldier out front has his sleeves rolled up, has a wristband, and has what appears to be a rag or balaclava around his neck (sorry, don't know what it is). This points towards the RPG-like character customization system supposedly within Battlefield 3.

If you look at the helicopters, they have spotlights streaming down, and the ground has plenty of lights and reflections, possibly indicating DICE's ability to create a magnificent lighting system that rivals even the likes of L.A. Noire's global illumination system and CryEngine 3. This should create a very interesting campaign experience, closer to Call of Duty than what we have now. Also, maybe there will be true nighttime maps, where spotlights on helicopters could be useful [during multiplayer]?

The background has lots of tall buildings, another indicator of the lighting system, but is also very reminiscent of U.S. soil. This, already evidenced by the inclusion of New York as one of it's locales, means that it most likely will be linked to the Bad Company story in one way or another. Also, if you think about it, Frostbite engine in a massive urban environment like Paris or New York? That indicates Frostbite has matured quite a bit, and who knows what'll come of it.

Also, look at the number of vehicles on the ad. Either that indicates a very epic campaign (see the cutscene at the end of Zero Dark Thirty if you want to see what DICE was envisioning) or a massive multiplayer mode. I count four vehicles (if you also count the Abrams that's cut off onto the right), three helicopters (all seemingly Blackhawks), one jet, and two soldiers. The vehicle on the left is a M1128 Mobile Gun System variant of the IAV Stryker, indicating that Armored Fighting Vehicles will be included in the roster as well.

And finally, at the very bottom, you can see in faint lettering, "Platform: PC, PEGI 18+," indicating that the Back To Karkhand expansion is PC-only, or to appease the dumb s**ts that can't read PC on the box itself. Also, PEGI 18+ indicates it'll probably have an "M for Mature" rating here in the States. That means the return of blood, language, and who knows what else.

That's about it. Can't wait for this release.

There's been a wealth of info released recently about the juggernaut Battlefield 3. There's been the teaser trailer, which didn't show much but confirm the modern day setting of Battlefield 3; no, where most of the info comes from is the blog post on Battlefield's blog.

But, let's start off with the cover art.It is clearly influenced by Bad Company 2, as the soldier standing in the middle has that flame erupting from his side, and there are multiple tanks (one M3A3 Bradley and one M1A2 Abrams) and soldiers following the soldier, apparently into battle. What this implies is that it'll have a similar art s.t.y.l.e as Bad Company 2, or at least borrow some elements, such as character models, vehicle models, and whatever advances were made with Frostbite 1.5.

Now, onto the meat of the package: the blog post. DICE has revealed that the PC version of Battlefield 3 will feature "the return of jets, prone, and 64-player multiplayer (on PC)". So, jets on all systems, prone (YESSSH!), and 64-players on PC. Again, with the implications. If jets are going to be universal, then there needs to be enough players on consoles. And 24 doesn't cut it, easily demonstrated by 1943's meager player count and the inclusion of planes. It didn't feel chaotic enough (it was fun though). So, player count is higher. Prone also points towards a bigger environment, and bigger environment leads to more players.

So this more players thing, what's your hard backed evidence? I've got nothing, but this is all implied. When Bad Company 2 was released on PC, it got a meager max player count of 32, half of what PC Battlefield fans usually enjoy. If all of a sudden servers have been upgraded to handle 64 players AND Frostbite 2.0, then consoles will earn the same treatment. Now, I don't expect 64 players yet, but an average max of 40-48 players and a minimum max of 32 players. Which makes more sense for jets and prone.

Not confirmed but previously leaked also includes 36 weapons total, 48 vehicles total, 8 maps total, 5 c.l.a.s.s.e.s total, and an RPG-like customization system, which was further backed by an article published by PC Gamer. The factions were previously thought of as NATO vs. MEC, but has recently changed to USMC against Russians (the Su-27 fighter plane can be seen in the teaser).

Also a single-player campaign WILL be included, featuring a US Marine fighting in battlefields (nice pun, eh?) such as Paris, Tehran, and New York. Previously through leaked documents it was presumed to take place all in a Middle Eastern locale. My two cents, I would've rather preferred the latter.

Either way, we're expecting a lot out of GDC 2011, which begins February 28th to March 4th. In that time, DICE will elaborate further on the changes between Frostbite 1.5 (Bad Company 2) and Frostbite 2.0 (Battlefield 3), as well as Battlefield 3 itself. In the months following that, DICE will steadily release information regarding this beast, because as it stands, they aregoing to buildthe best Battlefield game ever, and we'll do whatever it takes to make this the biggest launch in DICE's history.

I previously did a post about what Crysis 2 is lacking in. But now, I'm doing one about why Crysis 2 is the bombdiggity.

1) Dynamic combat

I absolutely love the suit power modes. Much better than Halo: Reach's system. Why? Because it actually allows dynamic combat, something missing in just about every multiplayer shooter out there. You pick a class, and then you're forced to stick with that class's role until you die. Here, you get all the abilities from the get-go, and each class only dictates your weapons and your suit modules, which change aspects of your guns and your abilities (like going in and out of stealth quicker). But this dynamic combat is just absolutely amazing. You can super jump on top of a green house, jump onto a higher floor, turn invisible, snap someone's neck, then turn into a giant Hulk with Armor mode, and then slide past a baddy and shoot him IN DA FACE.

2) Resource management

It gets you thinking on your feet because you have a limited amount of resources to gain the upperhand in battle. The maps are designed with these powers in focus. Sprint to an air duct, super jump onto the next level, cloak for a stealth kill, and then activate armor mode to mop up any survivors. You gain a new layer of strategy as you determine how you proceed through the match. It also gives a new sense of situational awareness, as not only are you watching your six, but you're also every direction, because anyone can sneak up with cloak, jump down, or sprint to you and get a kill. It provides a new dynamic, because you need to manage your abilities, giving the best of fast-paced combat and strategic combat.

3) Perfect time period

The near future setting and unique storyline make for a very interesting game. It is set close enough to the modern day to feature modern day weapons such as the A-10 Thunderbolt II (nicknamed the Warthog, as seen prominently throughout the multiplayer demo) and the UH-60 Blackhawk (as seen in the "The Wall" trailer). Crynet's futuristic human technology allows a bit more advanced tech, such as the Nanosuit and their helicopter, to be featured. And then there's the imminent human apocalypse brought on by these aliens, which have very advanced tech, such as their gunship, which looks totally bad***, fires like twenty rockets, and has a mounted gun underneath. Best of all three worlds?

4) Worldy immersion

Call of Duty 4 used it as a small detail in their multiplayer level The Bog. Basically, you saw anti-aircraft fire erupting in the distance. Bad Company 2 took it a step further with enhanced environmental effects (Harvest Day lightning), massive explosions (Isla Inocentes and Atacama Desert), and enemy units moving in the distance (Heavy Metal). But, Crytek has now allowed enemy AI to be scripted to fly throughout the map. Looking off into the distance, you might see an A-10 Thunderbolt II chase down an alien gunship, or a formation of UH-60 flying to their objective. It's immersion at its best. Also, the buildings and monstrous and does a good job at making you feel like a tiny ant.

5) The effing graphics

Yes, this is the final reason why this game is friggin' awesome. The graphics. No other console game can beat it. Not even your precious Killzone 3 or Uncharted 3, you PS3 fanboys. No, Crysis 2 has some of the best...actually, it has THE BEST graphics for any current generation console game. The HDR bloom lighting effect when exiting buildings is perfectly orchestrated. Character models are intricately detailed, but what's even more impressive is the amount of detail into the environments. Buildings look realistically destroyed, vehicles look impressively lifelike, and foliage are designed intelligently. Then you look off into the distance, and all you see is Manhattan's iconic urban jungle, destroyed. You can't get any better than that.

Crytek, get your **** together. I know this is a great game n' all, and I like it, but there's a few things that need major fixing. Considering this is your first foray into consoles, I'll give you some slack, but if you want your game to be remembered and earn that average 90 review score benchmark, your multiplayer needs to be memorable, but most importantly, working.

1) Power slide needs to be easier to use

I like the whole power slide ability. Better than Far Cry 2 in that you can shoot while sliding, but worse than Far Cry 2 in that a lot of times it leads me to just crouching. When I'm sprinting, a lot of times when pressing B I'll just go crouch, instead of sliding. That difference got me killed. Either I'm not doing it right, or the sliding is messed up. Fix it, because I can see so many used for this.

2) Tactical view needs a longer range and detects cloaked users

Tactical view is great, and supposedly detects cloaked people. But it doesn't. Make the range bigger so we can see when a cloaked shotgunner is running at us, or at least include a suit module that allows you to increase the range. Also, make sure that while cloaked, you still give off heat. Just because I'm invisible doesn't make me cold. It's probably the only way to detect a cloaked camper without being 2 seconds away from getting your face mashed in with 6 shotgun pellets.

3) Assault rifles need a bit more power

Machine guns chew through the Nano suits at medium range, shotguns at close range, and sniper rifles at medium range. SMGs aren't usable in the demo, so I don't know how they fare. But assault rifles feel a bit too weak. Not exactly useless, but I think it needs a bit more power. Just a tad bit more. I should be able to go through 2-3 enemies when shooting with decent accuracy a clip, not 1-2.

4) Melee needs to be consistent

Sometimes, melee takes one hit from the front or back to kill. Other times, it takes TWICE as much. Not good. I don't know if it has something to do with the hit boxes (see below), but it needs to be consistent.

5) Hit boxes need fixing

It's all over the place. I've been seeing enemy kill cams, and sometimes it takes like a few bullets to drop me, but when I'm shooting, it takes an entire clip. What the heck?

I'll do another post regarding the 5 things I do like about Crysis 2.

Not sure if this happened to everyone, or even if it was Crytek's fault, but something went wrong with the Crysis 2 demo. Not like a major glitch or something.

As I was playing, I was switched to a new lobby, but this time, in a new map, called Pier 67. It featured two boats crash landed into a pier, and it was probably on the south side of Manhattan Island. I felt like a tiny little ant compared to these humongous buildings off in the distance. It also showcased the first ever swimming capabilities within Crysis 2. Now this map only lasted for one match, but it sure was a nice change of pace from Skyline. There was a little shopping mall to tour around in, and the art style was drastically different from skyline. Whereas Skyline was all blue, Pier 67 was orange.

Also, on another note, it also showcased Crysis 2's ability for voting. Yes, there's voting in the game. Press LB for one option and RB for another (L1 and R1 on PS3, presumably). Whether or not voting is restricted to two options is out of my question.

Oh, and before some Microsoft representative stumbles upon this, I WAS NOT HACKING THE GAME FOR THE MAP. Either Crytek accidently released a map into the wild to test their voting abilities or whatever, or someone hacked the lobby for the map. The voting also resetted back to Skyline and Team Instant Action, so I wasn't given a second chance to play the map.

*NOTE* DON'T BOTHER WITH THE IGN PREVIEW OF THE DEMO. THEY'RE BIASED TOWARDS CALL OF DUTY, AND JUST POINT OUT THINGS THAT AREN'T IN LINE WITH CALL OF DUTY AND MAKE THEM SEEM BAD. IT'S NOT AS BAD AS THEY SAY. TRY IT OUT FOR YOURSELF.

I downloaded it. All 1.8 GB of it. Sure took up quite a bit on my hard drive, but I think it was worth it. I mean, this is Crysis 2 after all. I've been waiting a while to see what CryEngine on the consoles would look like, and here's my chance.

Starting off: the graphics. Are they any good? In a single word: yes. PS3 fanboys have attempted to compare Crysis 2 to Killzone 3, just because they can't bicker about anything else. I assure you, IT LOOKS MUCH BETTER. But all hate aside, Crysis 2 is possibly one of the most beautiful console games out there, and I can't even imagine PC with max settings. The textures are pure awesome, the lighting effects are great, the colors are saturated, guns are detailed, and shadows are just amazing. However, I feel that the explosions and smoke effects aren't as great as say Bad Company 2. I feel that game just excels with the smoke effects and explosions.

Okay, now down to gameplay. It's basically a mix between Call of Duty and Halo. You have armor abilities similar to Halo, in that you have Speed mode (sprinting and jumping), Armor mode (suit energy is converted to extra health), and Stealth mode (invisibility). There's a Power mode, but I'm not exactly sure what that is. You also have shields, health, suit modules, which are basically upgrades to your suit ala perks. The rest is nearly similar to Call of Duty. You get four primary classes and five custom classes. Custom classes can swap out weapons, side arms, grenades, and suit modules. Also, weapons can also be attached up to three attachments. These include scopes (red dot, ACOG, or laser), barrel attachments (suppressor), and under-barrel attachments (grenade launcher, gauss, shotgun, extended mags, or hologram).

You also get kill streaks, which right now range from Maximum Radar (UAV, 3 kills), Orbital Strike (laser that sweeps a designated path, 5 kills) and lastly Ceph Airstrike (calls in a gunship, 7 kills). Very reminiscent of Call of Duty 4. Of course, there's more, such as Radar Jammer (jams radar, presumably), Nanosuit Jammer (jams suit abilities, presumably), and Maximum Nanosuit (?). There's also 22 weapons FOR NOW. The final number may change in the final game.

But, quality wise? It's not something you'd remember. Whereas Halo features intense team work, even in casual matches, Crysis 2 is like a clusterf**k of people running around. No teamwork in sight. Of course, I had my mic turned off, but even in Bad Company 2, there was more teamwork with even less actual talk. It could've gone to the other end of the spectrum and had lightning quick gameplay like Call of Duty. But it doesn't, it's still rather slow. It's also not memorable in the fact that a lot of the game isn't balanced. People tend to run around and just punch each other in the face, the assault rifle (SCAR) takes waaaay too long to kill, and Stealth mode seems to be the only option. Hopefully, it gets ironed out before launch, but as of now, it doesn't seem very memorable. Of course, Crysis was never known for multiplayer. But in order to succeed in the console market, it needs a memorable multiplayer.

However, one thing they DID nail down was that CryEngine DOES work on consoles. I see no stutters in framerate, and it overall seems quite well integrated. Let's see how well the campaign fares and if they include the Sandbox, how well that transitions to consoles.

So, IGN released an article called Is Activision the Most Evil Company in the World? and I just feel like, once again, they are biased in their article.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/114/1142618p1.html

So, IGN decided to truly test our theories that Activision is the most evil company ever. I mean, after all, that's what most of us say on every message board relating to Call of Duty or any other Activision game. But, the whole article just seems biased, and I want to put my own point-of-view in here.

Since we specifically say "the most evil company ever", IGN had a right to compare it to some of the most evil corporations ever. The comparison to Halliburton is legit, since they make money off wars. That's evil.

However, calling BP an evil company is just unfair. BP is stupid, selfish, and greedy, but not evil. They didn't want to install a safety in their pipes to prevent this kind of situation from ever happening, even though it's literally pocket change to their company. But that's because their greedy. They had no control over when the oil rig was going to explode. It's not like the BP heads sat down together and then planned to detonate an oil rig. That's bad for business and their reputation. BP is greedy, but not evil.

The comparison to Pfizer is also out of the question. One of the comments wrote:

"Pfizer can't be held responsible for the use of a drug which clearly wasn't ready. If they had tested it on animals then 50 chimps or 50 dogs would appear in this article, Pfizer can't win in this situation. And who else is working on vaccines for Nigerian children?"

- WoodyNightshade

This comment is totally spot on. Who else is working on vaccines for Nigerian children? And should they have tested it on monkeys or any other animal, then it would be considered animal cruelty. This one incident looks bad on them, but in the long run, they're helping THE ENTIRE WORLD.

Comparing to Phillip Morris is also unfair. Okay, in the past it was simply horrid to think they'd deceive friends and family across the globe to make money. But, the consequences of smoking are RIGHT ON THE BOX. Should people be so stupid that they don't read the warnings strewn throughout the box, well, then that's their problem. We all know what happens when people smoke, yet we do it anyways.

And Cyberdyne? Really?

Okay, but what about their evil status? Activision is evil, in the gaming sense. BP, Pfizer, and whatnot have nothing to with gaming. But Activision does. And that's why their evil. Let's take a look at why they're NOT evil.

Road Tour Out of Activision's Office

This is a perfect example of Activision's stupidity. Harmonix makes a game called Guitar Hero, and Red Octane makes the peripherals. Instead of picking up on Harmonix, they get Red Octane. That's like buying a Big Mac, but only taking the plastic wrap. Look at all the great music games Harmonix has made since then. Rock Band 1-3 and Dance Central. While not exactly best sellers, they were very innovative and push the industry forward. Unlike Call of Duty and Guitar Hero, which do the exact opposite.

To Infinity Ward and Beyond

At first, it seemed to IGN that Activision was doing no good by filing a lawsuit against Jason West and Vince Zampella. But, after new court documents became available, it seemed West and Zampella were doing deals with EA, a breach of contract. However, what IGN left out was that Activision refused to pay the royalty dues for Modern Warfare 2. Both West and Zampella were most likely doing deals with EA because they weren't appreciative of the treatment of THEIR franchise and them as people.

So, I totally respect West and Zampella's notion to go and broker a deal with EA. And, when Activision fired them, most of the design studio's top talent left also to form Respawn Entertainment. Nice going Activision, firing the people who got you where you are, and then let them develop a game that will DWARF, MUTILATE, AND RAPE your franchise. That's like Bungie making an anti-Halo game with Activision. Great job Activision. Yet another sign of their stupidity.

Everything Good is Ruined Now

True. Tony Hawk is dead because they failed to innovate in time. Guitar Hero is dead because of rapid milking. Call of Duty will soon die as they have run out of things to do, and even IGN is recognizing the repetitiveness. Black Ops has received the lowest score ever for a Call of Duty game: 8.5.

Whereas rival EA is actually innovating. Not that they're any better, they're greedy as well. But it's because of .skate that Tony Hawk just died. It's because of Rock Band that Guitar Hero just died. And it's because of all their awesome shooters that Call of Duty will die. Battlefield has picked up many anti-CoD players, especially with the Bad Company series. Medal of Honor has picked up some people as well. And then their Respawn game will most likely blow us away. Again and again. EA just has it going.

So, About That Evil Thing...

In a worldly sense, no they're not evil. In a gaming sense, yes they are. Charging $60 a year for basically a new map pack (Call of Duty) isn't exactly the nicest thing to do. They're also very stupid, but because of their hypnotic games, so are their customers.

I had this idea a few weeks back. It was about having a mission editor in Halo: Reach. A place where anybody could come together and create their very own custom mission. After perfecting my idea, I posted on the B.net Optimatch forums, and it turns out, I'm not the only one that likes my idea.

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=54519264

If you think it's a great idea, go on over and show me my support. This would greatly increase the longevity of Halo: Reach and make it all the more better than other contemporary games. It would set a new trend, one that everyone will be trying to follow. And besides, who doesn't want to make D-day?

It's been a loooooong while ('bout four months) since my last Concepts blog post. How could I, though, with the imminent release of Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops? But, once again, revival.

So, previously I talked about a few new gameplay additions, primarily how suppression works, tertiary abilities, ferrying, and unit loadouts.

Suppression

Starting off with suppression, this is the default offensive tertiary ability for all combat units. Holding Y on an enemy unit will order your units to move into position and suppress that unit. Holding Y on an area will bring up a selection circle (like the one used for selecting units) where then you can select an area to suppress. The unit will sit there until an enemy unit enters the suppression field, at which point one of two effects will occur: a) the enemy is the correct unit designed to be suppressed and falls back automatically, or b) the enemy unit is not the correct unit designed to be suppressed and continues through without much harm. Knowing the correct type of unit your own unit is supposed to suppress is key strategy. For example, certain infantry can suppress other infantry, certain infantry can suppress vehicles, and certain infantry can suppress aerial vehicles. However, this suppression feature can be easily exploited (an entire team online uses a majority of their units to suppress a certain chokepoint), so there are two simple solutions. Either make the map design more complex, or divide the map into sectors and allow only three suppression vectors from each player. The second choice is easier to implement, as the first requires a LOT of pre-planning and constant revisions.

Tertiary Abilities

Okay, now onto tertiary abilities. Units already have a primary ability (X to move/attack enemy) and a secondary ability (Y to initiate secondary ability). Holding Y instead will trigger the tertiary ability, which adds a bit more flexibility to units. One aforementioned tertiary ability is suppression. Other tertiary abilities include ferrying, heal, escort, and deploy special item. Ferrying will be mentioned later on, but heal, escort, and deploy special item are of importance here. Heal can be assigned to specific units, like an infantry medic squad, to heal a unit similar to their own. While a Medic squad can heal infantry, a vehicle such as a Cyclops can only heal vehicles. Escort can be triggered by holding Y on a friendly unit, which the selected unit will then escort. Anywhere the VIP goes, the escort will go also. The escort ability also changes the AI, so when the VIP is taking damage, the escort will run/move in front to protect the VIP. The final ability is deploy special item. Certain units can equip a special item that pertains to their role. For example, the Gremlin can deploy an EMP grenade that renders all vehicle and aerial units within its vicinity immobile. The sniper team can drop motion sensors to detect any nearby enemies. These will allow more tacticality, as well as more cautious players, as certain units can bypass these special items and then disarm them.

[UPDATE] A new possible ability is hitch. Any unit capable of hitching can hitch a ride on a capable vehicle. For example, an infantry squad can hitch a ride on an Elephant, and a Warthog can hitch a ride on a Pelican.

Ferrying

Another important tertiary ability, ferrying becomes an option for those equipped to ferry. Examples would be the Troop Hog, Pelican, Falcon, and Elephant. Basically, when the "ferry" ability is chosen, holding Y down on an area will make a flag appear that will become the ferry location, and then another flag will appear for the ferrying destination. Any unit assigned to that ferry location will immediately be picked up and dropped off. This will allow a constant stream of enemies to the frontlines. This will serve as a viable replacement for the Troop Transport leader ability from the previous iteration. The Troop Hog can transport 1 infantry squad, as can the Falcon, but the Falcon is more expensive to produce. The Pelican can transport 3 infantry squads and/or 1 vehicle, and the Elephant can transport 5 squads and 3 light vehicles. While the Elephant has a bigger carrying capacity, the Pelican can travel faster, and is also prone to being shot down, whereas the Elephant is sturdy and can be upgraded for a faster travel speed. This allows more flexibility as players can opt for multiple ferrying routes to quickly transport units throughout the map. A unit selected for ferrying will also disappear off the unit population so a player isn't concerned with how many ferrying routes there are versus actual units.

Unit Loadouts

From the unit built menu that is accessed by selecting either the Barracks, Vehicle Depot, or Airpad, pressing Y on a unit will bring up another menu (when possible) to change the loadout of the unit. For example. The standard Warthog can swap to a regular machine gun (great vs. infantry, decent vs. aerial), a Gauss cannon (great vs. vehicles), a missile pod (great vs. aerial), or a troop carriage (great for ferrying). Or a Pelican switch from a troop bay (great for ferrying) to an ammunition storage pile (for dedicated gunship). Basically, this allows even MORE versatility than ever before. It will become a challenge to counter the right units simply because there are so many variants. And because of this versatility, it also eases the challenge of introducing a variety of units. Simply having different roles for the Warthog and Pelican can make all the difference.

All right, that's about it. Tune back next time for something like map design or something. Gotta plan it out.

ETA FOR NEXT BLOG POST: April 09, 2011