I think every gamer has one game which they know they will enjoy playing. For me and my gaming mates it's the Battlefield franchise. We've all been fans of it since the original, but since we got xbox 360s it really came together.
The engine with which they build their games with is truly great, the lighting, building destruction and character models are exquisite. The other reason we all love Battlefield so much is because Call of Duty sold out and became an epic piece of arcady rubbish. Again, we were all big fans of the original and Call of Duty 2, but then we lost track of it and ever since Modern Warfare took over the brand they've been rubbish. I, honestly, don't understand how CoD is the top selling game, it doesn't say much for the consumer. I do have complaints about Battlefield games, how they've become a little toned down, but CoD took that too far and any realistic appearances to the game are just a vaneer. This is not to say that I haven't enjoyed playing CoD games (this is where I start contradicting myself). I have spent whole evenings playing split screen online games of CoD with mates and that is a lot of fun, but I get a similar level of enjoyment from Xbox live arcade games! The graphics are rubbish, it's completely unrealistic, but it's a laugh to run around shooting people in a simple, unthinking, sort of way. Nice, quick easy fun, which leaves almost no lasting impression on you once you turn the game off.
Anyway, back to Battlefield! Now, I did just say above that Battlefield games seemed to be becoming more arcading, but I have felt that in it's latest incarnation, Battlefield 3, they have brought back an element of trying to be realistic - the sound, movement and weaponry all feels heightened and more difficult. When you look down the barrel of your gun your sight now wobbles, as it would in reality, and the sound of explosions and nearby gunfire can leave you stunned and disorientated. It's very impressive and makes the game very immersive and tactically challenging.
There are unrealistic elements, obviously, but most I feel are designed to encourage team play. The various different player roles (assault, engineer, support, recon) all have significantly different kit, some of which can compliment bits of kit taken by other roles, so you have to form squads and communicate to get the best out of them - our favourite at the moment is combining the recon classes SOFLAM (don't know what it stands for) with the engineers Javelin missile launcher. When you do this the Javelin can target aircraft, only once the SOFLAM has acquired it, and the missiles it fires are more effective (not realistic, but encourages team work).
The game as a whole feels like a good mix of realism with bits of unrealism to encourage team play and make the game a bit easier and enjoyable.
Now, it's not all roses, I have some serious complaints about the game. Firstly, forming a squad and trying to get into a game is an absolute nightmare! This was easy and worked every time in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, but they seem to have forgotten how to do it in Battlefield 3... Highly irritating and means if 4 of us are on we can't just have a quick blast on one game, it takes at least 10-15 minutes just to be able to get onto the same team and then form a squad in the game! Then sometimes the game crashes as you try to enter a game; this is particularly annoying when you have 4 people as you all need to start from scratch and restart the game. And finally, how can an engineer repair a helicopter when he's sat in the back, while the helo is in flight?! This is one bit of unrealism which is ludicrous and drives me and my friends up the wall!
Overall though, Battlefield 3 is the best multiplayer wargame out there at the moment, and before that it was Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and before that Bad Company 1... etc. You get the picture.
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