Battlefield 3

[Surlyboi]

IR makes a huge difference on some of the darker/dustier maps.

[kildorn]

I looted someone's IR scoped MG. It felt a bit like cheating, but had issues at longer ranges. I need to unlock it for some gun, just so I'm not helpless when explosions start kicking dust up everywhere.

[Surlyboi]

I haven't unlocked an IR sniper scope. Pretty sure there isn't one. In MW2, it was pretty much tantamount to cheating. It made sniping so easy.

[caladein]

Nope, there isn't a zooming IR scope from what I saw.  All the 100 kill IR scopes are the same deal.

[Azazel]

Well, the CoD4 SP may have been good, relatively speaking, but it was still on rails. Coming from the perspective of RPGs such as Deus Ex and others that predate it, it was not exactly a work of literary genius. Now excuses are constantly made, as if developers of military shooters are somehow mentally challenged and we have to pat them on the back every time they manage to string up even the most basic narrative, but really, there's just no excuse for it, other than just simply acknowledging that these people do not give a flyin fuck about story, or world immersion, and realise that their audience wants one thing and one thing only; to shoot people in the face, repeatedly. This is an admirable activity, one that I engage in often, but at the same time, I'm not getting butt hurt that my imagination isn't transported to far off mystical lands of wonder.

Uhm, games like Deus Ex are almost a different subgenre to the current linear shooters that are the mainstay of the industry, and unfortunately, most seem to have gone for that linear, highly scripted experience these days. There are some "open" shooters like the new Wolfenstein that hark back to the early days of Quake etc (I never played Wolf-3d) but just as many or more are basically a long corridor, and have been for quite a few years now that I think of it.

There's also a big difference between no story, a story badly told (see Homefront), playing a Michael Bay movie (ie CoD) and "worldliness". I mean, Homefront I can talk about because I played it recently. It was an average shooter at best, but it's tight grip on making the player run through their naff story and naffer dialogue leads to a worse "story" experience than any CoD game I've played yet (disclaimer, haven't played/finished MW2 or Blops)...

[rk47]

IR makes a huge difference on some of the darker/dustier maps.

don't forget bushier.

It's really HARD to see these fuckers hiding in bushes. Especially in metro etc. By the time you spot the flash, they're already shooting and you're dead. Better to just scan from a distance and spot the fuckers before getting in close. The IR scope might be useless at long range since it sways and has pathetic zoom, but at least I have the advantage of spotting threats before firefight occur.

[Surlyboi]

Totally. Metro is notorious for the fuckers prone in the bushes.

[Azazel]

But is is balanced for prone? 

[Surlyboi]

Prone? Yes.

Lean? Not so much.

[rk47]

If you have a field of fire, proning is the shit. I saw one guy deploy a bipod on his MG and just cleaned house while perched on top of a hill.
However, getting up and running from grenade is another story. And you move sooooo slowly. Getting up is also half a second delay before your gun comes up.

I've unlocked all the assault guns and now moving on to the Support Class. I want that 200 round M249, rawr.

[Comstar]

I finished the single player today. Unlike MW2's offensively stupid plot, this plot was just stupid. The only thing I enjoyed about it was

.

It wasn't nearly as fun as the single player in MW2 was- in MW2 you had SOME choice. In this you had none. And I don't understand why they didn't have a couple of missions where you can actually use some of the vehicle's - I thought that was the POINT of a single player game for a multiplayer shooter - to learn how to use them. Thunder Run was nice and a good example of it, but it was the only one. The F18 part was the worst gameplay experience I have ever played. 

[rk47]

I'm going to work on Level 26 this week - Squad Specialization - Ammo is probably very useful. And maybe give this Russian acquired M16A (Trolling us Dice?) a spin.

[kildorn]

Totally. Metro is notorious for the fuckers prone in the bushes.

Metro? Metro is notorious for the fuckers prone at the top of escalators making metro/conquest the dumbest game mode ever.

MAYBE tied with Grand Bazaar/Rush. MAYBE.

[Sky]

One thing I love about f13: it saves me a lot of money. I begin to weaken in my resolve not to buy another online shooter and you guys are there to remind me why I don't buy them anymore.

Thanks!

[Pennilenko]

BF3 is awesome some of you people are bitchy ass sandy vaginas.

[Nebu]

One thing I love about f13: it saves me a lot of money. I begin to weaken in my resolve not to buy another online shooter and you guys are there to remind me why I don't buy them anymore.

Thanks!

Could not agree more.  I was on the edge of buying this game when all the talk of snipers with infrared scopes saved me.  I really REALLY hate snipers.

[Surlyboi]

You can't snipe with IR, I think that was the point.

That said, a good sniper will fuck up your day. Most of the snipers I've encountered haven't been good for much more than padding my k/d ratio.

[Sky]

I was thinking about a bunch of leveled-up kids hiding in the bushes and me just randomly dying left and right.

On the one hand, my fps skills are rusty (BF2) and even then I was getting tired of exploits (dolphin diving bunny hoppers etc). Throw in leveling and the deck is stacked against me, which wouldn't be real conducive to an enjoyable evening of relaxation.

[waffel]

Recon is a dying kit. All their gadgets require you to hide and 'look' through them, and they do nothing but allow spotting of vehicles. They have zero ways to destroy vehicles of any kind. They are usually not in the front lines, meaning they get zero mcom points and zero capture points. Finally, bulletdrop is exaggerated and scope wobble is constant unless you hold shift to steady the scope for a few seconds.

Oh, and shooting without a suppressor gives away your position, along with lense glare.

Out of all the classes in the game, I'm least killed by recon (and this is on a variety of maps)

Out of all the classes in the game, recon's generally get a lower amount of points and kills.

So yeah, not playing BF3 because of snipers is a ridiculous reason if I ever heard any. Hell, just about every assault/support/engineer rifle in the game has an 8x scope unlock and single shot capabilities.

[Surlyboi]

Recon can still be effective. They just made it a lot harder to make the lamers lose interest.

Which is fine by me.

[jakonovski]

"Lamer" is cool again? What's next, telefragging?

[snowwy]

"Lamer" is cool again? What's next, telefragging?

It's called Mortar :D

[Speedy Cerviche]

Totally. Metro is notorious for the fuckers prone in the bushes.

I haven't gotten around to buying this yet..but witht the engine, do bushes get cleared out by damage? like by grenades or other explosives?

[Surlyboi]

"Lamer" is cool again? What's next, telefragging?

I'm bringing it back!

[Sky]

Sometimes, a cad must be called out as such.

[AcidCat]

I haven't played an online FPS this addicting in a long time.

[Nebu]

So yeah, not playing BF3 because of snipers is a ridiculous reason if I ever heard any. Hell, just about every assault/support/engineer rifle in the game has an 8x scope unlock and single shot capabilities.

Ok.  How about I don't want to pay $60 to be reminded how much I suck at FPS games.  Does that work better? 

[kildorn]

Recon is a dying kit. All their gadgets require you to hide and 'look' through them, and they do nothing but allow spotting of vehicles. They have zero ways to destroy vehicles of any kind. They are usually not in the front lines, meaning they get zero mcom points and zero capture points. Finally, bulletdrop is exaggerated and scope wobble is constant unless you hold shift to steady the scope for a few seconds.

Oh, and shooting without a suppressor gives away your position, along with lense glare.

Out of all the classes in the game, I'm least killed by recon (and this is on a variety of maps)

Out of all the classes in the game, recon's generally get a lower amount of points and kills.

So yeah, not playing BF3 because of snipers is a ridiculous reason if I ever heard any. Hell, just about every assault/support/engineer rifle in the game has an 8x scope unlock and single shot capabilities.

Recons are pulled in the wrong direction by some of their unlocks. They're supposed to be designated marksmen, not snipers. Their semi autos without a scope turn into crazy accurate crazy damage battle rifles, or use PDWs/shotguns. The TUGS is awesome if you're near the front lines, same with the spawn radio.

The problem is they keep unlocking bigger scopes and thinking they need to hang back on a hill and snipe. If anything, my annoyance with their gadgets is how BF3 handles spawning. If I spawn as a recon with a TUGS and deploy it, we're cool. If I die and respawn with the TUGS equipped, my old one instantly dies. If I respawn as say an engineer, my old TUGS hangs out and happily detects people all game long. It needs to act like an ammo pack. Deployed until you place a new one.

[Engels]

So, can someone who has played BC2 and is now trying BF3 comment on the difference in the MP aspect of the game? I played the 'beta' of BF3, and I was a bit underwhelmed at how similar it was, at first blush. Slightly different gui, slightly better graphics, but essentially the exact same game. I'm not seeing a 'buy' here.

[Surlyboi]

Well, for one, a lot of the players from BC2 have moved on to BF3. 

That said, the core gameplay is similar, just some tweaks. Plus some of the maps are FUCKHUGE. As has been said by others, recon has been revamped a lot and is, if played well, more suited to the run-and-gun play style. The re-introduction of planes means that in the right hands, (or the wrong ones, if you're the opfor) games have the capacity to become a one-sided gankfest.

[slog]

I bought the game on Saturday, promptly lost power due to this stupid snowstorm, and still can't because the power is still off.

[NiX]

I bought the game on Saturday, promptly lost power due to this stupid snowstorm, and still can't because the power is still off.

...Snow? You live in the arctic!

[Surlyboi]

The entire fucking northeast apparently got hammered this weekend. A lot of my minions are cursing me for getting the hell out of dodge the day before all hell broke loose.

[ffc]

So, can someone who has played BC2 and is now trying BF3 comment on the difference in the MP aspect of the game? I played the 'beta' of BF3, and I was a bit underwhelmed at how similar it was, at first blush. Slightly different gui, slightly better graphics, but essentially the exact same game. I'm not seeing a 'buy' here.

Loved BC2, but I'm already over BF3.  I also didn't like the beta and after unlocking various gadgets I feel like I've done it all before (Am I flying?  I'm catching a rocket.  Is someone else flying?  I'm going to rocket them.  C4 walls, defib your squad, lay mines, etc.) with added rage inducers like flashlights powered by nuclear reactors and menu screens dissolving into static every time you want to switch a loadout.  However, I played BC2 so much I turned into Rambo so that contributed to my burnout grumpiness.

I do love the recon changes including the forward spawn beacon since it is the perfect solution if your squad is a bunch of campers / death traps.

[Sky]

The entire fucking northeast apparently got hammered this weekend. A lot of my minions are cursing me for getting the hell out of dodge the day before all hell broke loose.

I'm not northeast enough