A fantastic multiplayer experience brought down by polish issues and a disappointing campaign.
The first thing you might notice about the game, is just how absolutely gorgeous it is. This is in no small part to DICE's own Frostbite 2.0 engine that allows for spectacular visuals. From the way soldiers look appropriately dirty and battle worn, to the fantastic lighting and shadows and textures, the game really is amazing to look at and a contender for best graphics of 2011. But as amazing as the visuals are, DICE definitely didn't sacrifice anything to make them look so good, with explosions and effects looking great and the game running smoothly even on modest rigs. If you happen to have an amazing $2000 rig though, you can definitely appreciate the amazing visuals here.
As mentioned the effects are incredibly well done, with explosions that shake the screen and destroy terrain, to massive set pieces like a tower falling at the end of a multiplayer match or a building crumbling in single player. Its especially surprising that the game manages to maintain a smooth framerate on consoles (locked at 30fps) and not dip too much on PC while these effects are happening, which really shows how well DICE optimized the game.
Of course the crowning technical achievement by DICE definitely has to go to the sound design. Perfectly complimenting the great graphics, DICE has crafted some phenomenal war audio that makes you feel like you're in the thick of a real war. The weapons sound appropriately meaty with "ratatat" sounds of machine guns, explosions that cause a bit of shellshock and change impact at a distance, and the crack of a sniper rifle bullet echoing that lets you and your team know whether or not you have a Recon with his sights on you.
The multiplayer is easily the best mode of the game, and with years of multiplayer experience behind DICE this is no surprise. The multiplayer is split up into several modes with classic Conquest making a return, as well as fan favorite Rush from the Bad Company spin offs and several other modes that put a twist on the formula (Team Deathmatch, Squad Deathmatch, Squad Rush). Each of the modes have one thing in common, and that is the impersonal and large scale combat that goes on inside of them. The crowning mode is definitely 64 player Conquest, but even 32 player Rush or 16 player Squad Deathmatch can feel like epic battles with the great map design.
There are 9 maps at launch for players to mess around in, with tons of variety in locations and tactics. Unlike Bad Company 2, each map has access to every mode, which is both a blessing and a curse as some maps were definitely not designed for certain modes in mind and end up being completely unbalanced (such as Conquest in Operation Metro, which is only fun if you happen to be lucky enough to spawn on the Russian side). Still, when played with the appropriate mode in mind, the game is a blast and DICE did a commendable job of balancing a seemingly impossible to balance game.
Though some maps focus on smaller infantry combat and tactics (such as the mentioned Operation Metro), Battlefield 3 shines best in the large scale battles. Caspian Border is a perfect showcase of this in both Rush and Conquest, with Jets flying above fighting each other and taking shots at vehicles and infantry on the ground, as well as tanks and jeeps riding around and infantry taking cover behind hills and walls and in buildings that are bound to come down eventually in that match. Did I mention that almost no place is safe in Battlefield 3?
The Destruction mechanic is back from the Bad Company titles, but its implementation is a bit of a double edged sword. Though the mechanics are much less scripted this time and offer a wider variety of buildings to blow up, very few buildings are truly 100% destructible, and its often frustrating for one wall to come down with a simple grenade, and another similar wall to survive repeated tank shells and C4 blasts. Still, the mechanic adds a new layer to the combat and really ups the tension online.
The multiplayer offers an incredibly deep amount of customization and freedom, with a well done ranking system that will keep fans playing for years after release, and the promise of DLC to come (with the Back to Karkand pack up and running just a couple of months after release with a bevy of guns and maps to enjoy). The leveling system makes it feel like you are constantly contributing and earning new unlocks, with a new scope or weapon just around the corner, and going an entire match without unlocking anything is rare. Its also good to see that DICE didn't allow the freedom to mess with the tightly designed class based mechanics, with just a few changes from before.
The 4 main classes all fit their main functions, with assault being the main rifle toting soldier that holds either a grenade launcher or a med kit to assist his teammates, support holding a large Light Machine Gun to lay down suppressive fire and give his teammates ammunition, Recon holding a sniper rifle to provide cover to his teammates from a distance, and the Engineer being equipped for anti-vehicle warfare and a carbine for personal use. Each class is useful for a specific given situation, forcing you to communicate and use teamwork, but there is also incredible flexibility in each class allowing you to outfit them with a nice amount of different weapons, kits and gear to suit your needs. One example is the engineer, which features a bevy of different carbines, as well as non-class specific weapons such as shotguns and PDW's, and different class equipment ranging from anti-tank mines for laying down a defensive perimeter against incoming land vehicles, to stinger missiles for taking down pesky aircraft.
Of course with all this praise, there has to be a catch right? Well, sadly, yes, but how much of a catch depends on how much of the game you want to play.
The multiplayer is a blast, but launched in a buggy and somewhat unbalanced state. Many players reported being unable to play at all with random issues, as well as frequent bugs such as clipping and falling through the ground. Punkbuster also doesn't do a great job of stopping hackers in their tracks sadly, which makes one wonder why EA didn't put more effort into stopping these guys from ruining everyone's game.
Though these issues are fixable and not deal breaking, you might want to skip the campaign. The whole affair lasts around 5-6 hours and doesn't offer much you haven't seen before. In fact I'd say the game does a good job of taking what you've seen before, then watering it down and diluting the experience until you feel like you're barely even playing.
From a jet sequence that is basically a glorified turret mission with a hand holding bombing sequence at the end, to a multitude of consequence free quick time events that don't even allow you to fail. From the beginning you start crashing into a small subway train to take down terrorists about to nuke New York, and the game doesn't get any less linear or Michael Bay-ish then that.
At the very least, it serves as a tutorial for many of the mechanics you'll use in the much better multiplayer, and it's not a requirement. If you've played just about any decent first person shooter campaign before, you can feel free to skip this unless you want to explore every crevice of this game and see what joy you can derive here, if so, be warned.
The co-op fairs better, with much more open ended missions and a mix of teamwork and camaraderie you would get from the multiplayer, with set design and mission structure from the single player. Each one is short and feels ripped straight from Special Ops (the co-op component of Battlefield 3's competing series, Modern Warfare), but they're fun and varied at the least even if they don't quite live up to the standard put up by the influences. Plus they do offer a great way to unlock new weapons and gear for the multiplayer (even if some require an insane amount of replaying to unlock them).
Overall, Battlefield 3 is the pinnacle of DICE's game design. It's not perfect, and it doesn't revolutionize gaming, but it is a damn great sequel that lives up to the series name, and any competitive gamer worth his or her salt should definitely check this out.