Star Wars: Battlefront 3

[01101010]

I'd rather have a class system than the power up stuff, but I understand that is not how this game is going to be. I like to specialize and dislike the random power-ups I find on the battlefield. I run over to them and then it is a gamble as to what you get.... this time, infantry turret! this time thermal WTFLOLO grenade! this time vehicle turret? I get the idea that if you put icons on them, people will actively avoid the dumb ones so this works to avoid that. But if you have shitty power-ups people actually avoid, you should probably take them out of the game.

The vehicle transformation I can live with...It is a cheap way out, but I am ok with it.

Flying is pointless - you do loops or figure 8s and loldogfight other flying things. They could take the flying out of the game and I doubt it would make a difference overall.

This game like most other BF games, is horrible on the spawn points. In theory they should work, but getting insta-gibbed as soon as you pop up is frustrating. At least there is no increased spawn timer for repeated deaths.

It is chaotic fun for a weekend, and I doubt I throw money at this based on what I have played. Can't say I would buy it on bargain bin price later given the game population would be slim by then. Live and die by the online.

[Sky]

What Merusk said + freaking Star Wars.

[Ruvaldt]

Played this last night with a few beers and had a great time.  The audio is really fantastic and I think I even heard a few Wilhelm screams.  The visuals are equally amazing.  Cooldowns are fine.  Fast respawns are fine, though I think they need to do some work on respawn locations.  The theme is brilliant.  I actually said "Is that Darth fucking Vader?" out loud while playing and it gave my wife a chuckle.  Then Darth fucking Vader cut me down like the filthy rebel I was.  In fact, the entire Hoth battle was like a dream come true.

My complaints are few.  The UI looks cheaply made and it breaks the theme.  Some of this comes from the fact that it was clearly designed with consoles in mind, but the appearance, in general, is just bad and looks like it was slapped together.  Using the right mouse button's aim function for anything other than sniping is useless.  In fact, my performance was markedly improved after I just stopped using it and just started running and gunning everything.  Also, I really miss classes.  If this was just one step closer to the original Battlefront games in that regard I think they'd have me for a day one purchase.

I like it.  I'm not sure if I $60 like it though.

[HaemishM]

If you look at this like a serious dudebro shooter, you will fucking hate it. It is LCD fun floaty arcade shooting and it's actually pretty fun. I have no problems with the powerups, grenade and sniper cooldowns, etc. I would say that the sniper rifle (the cycler) is a bit weird. It's not a one-shot kill unless you get a headshot or your target has already taken a hit. So one exploit/trick is to start shooting with your regular weapon and when you have a good bead/have scored a hit on the target quickly switch mid shooting to the cycler. Since your default weapon and the cycler are both on the #3 by default, it's pretty simple. BAM, instakill, no scoping or headshot required. I haven't gotten to play as one of the Jedi yet, but I have been mowed down by them plenty. They make for a fun bit of variation. Piloting the X-Wing/A-Wing/Tie Fighters is actually really simple - it does not require "skills" like the Battlefield fliers.

And maybe it's just my childhood speaking but tooling around in an AT-AT/AT-ST and wrecking shit is just... FUCKING... AWESOME. It may be some of the most fun 90 seconds you'll ever have and it's over way too soon. I'm not sure it would have the same effect if it were not Star Wars themed but it is so there. I also don't know how long before that gets old.

Which is where the negatives are. I don't know how much longevity this has. Once the initial OOOO STAR WARS wears off, the actual gameplay seems a bit thin on the ground. Now, this can certainly be alleviated by new maps, and if EA is smart, they will have already had a team working on the first $15 expansion before this sees the light of day. If it's just a one and done game, I don't expect there'll be much of a community to play it with once it reaches the more doable price of $30 (no way I'm spending $60 on this). Their matchmaking is fucking horrible. To play with my friends, everyone has to enter the game and be invited to a party, and then one person joins a game which sends an invite to the party. Only sometimes, not everyone can see everyone else that's in the game meaning they have to quit the game and then re-enter and hope they get seen by a person in the party. And even when in a group, sometimes it just throws the first 2 or 3 who accepted the game invite into the game even if the server fills up after that, meaning 1 or 2 people in your party are left in the queue with their thumbs up their asses. It also doesn't seem to do any sort of auto-balancing and sometimes people from the same party will end up on the other side with no way to switch sides in game. This is basic, community-building QOL stuff and I assume it's this way because LOLBETA but that shit better get fixed quick.

[Nija]

Close your eyes and pretend this doesn't have a Starwas theme. How does the game stand up without that crutch?

It's shovelware.

edit: skip my post and see the one above me.

[Ruvaldt]

Close your eyes and pretend this doesn't have a Starwas theme. How does the game stand up without that crutch?

It absolutely doesn't stand up without the theme.  I won't disagree with that.  If you don't have some affection for Star Wars you're probably not going to find the fun here.

It does have the Star Wars theme though, and if that contributes to whether or not the game is fun for someone it's a valid reason.  Especially since the audio and visuals are very well crafted and fitting for the theme, apart from the UI.

[Nija]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnJc9oVXI6I

[Trippy]

It really is a Battlefield game.

[HaemishM]

What's even worse is when you pickup the hero or vehicle powerup, activate it and in the time it takes the animation to fire, you get one-shotted from across the board by some dickhead named pwnernaut.

True story, bro.

[Nebu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnJc9oVXI6I

Awesome.   

[01101010]

It absolutely doesn't stand up without the theme.  I won't disagree with that.  If you don't have some affection for Star Wars you're probably not going to find the fun here.

It does have the Star Wars theme though, and if that contributes to whether or not the game is fun for someone it's a valid reason.  Especially since the audio and visuals are very well crafted and fitting for the theme, apart from the UI.

The sounds and environment are fantastic. I loaded up the survival mission single player when I finally installed just to get a feel for the shooty bit and movement and was just mystified by the level of detail on the game and I am on a PS4. Having the sandpeople howls in the background and the blaster sounds... yep. Sold on that. Not sold on the gameplay part though. It does what it do, but it does it so basically that it is forgettable.

And that video clip made me smile to no end.

[Nija]

Okay, okay, they MAY be on to something here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnqtUAg4hkw

You guys know that I'm easily entertained. These videos are going to give me a heart attack.

[Nebu]

You guys know that I'm easily entertained. These videos are going to give me a heart attack.

Apparently I'm easily entertained as well.  That was hilarious.

[HaemishM]

I am dying laughing at that. Because I can totally see being the poor sap blasting the shit out of Skywalker impotently only to exhale heavily when he gets the boot.

[taolurker]

already are wall hacks and aim bots.. Was fun while it lasted.

[Sky]

Really that's the strongest reason to avoid what is an otherwise fun genre. People are broken.

[Comstar]

i'm having fun on Hoth, but I doubt I'd play it past the weekend.

[Azazel]

Just played 2 rounds of the tutorial stage and 3 of Hoth on PS4 ...after I got past the STAR WARS!!!!! of it, it just seemed like unrewarding, spammy, weak combat. Getting a vehicle was down to luck, the TIEs and AT-STs seem to control like shit, and somehow there are already X-Wing fighter Aces out there that just fucking destroy me.

I'm very happy the beta came out though. Just saved me a hundred bucks based on the graphics and STAR WARS!!!

[rk47]

Just played 2 rounds of the tutorial stage and 3 of Hoth on PS4 ...after I got past the STAR WARS!!!!! of it, it just seemed like unrewarding, spammy, weak combat. Getting a vehicle was down to luck, the TIEs and AT-STs seem to control like shit, and somehow there are already X-Wing fighter Aces out there that just fucking destroy me.

I'm very happy the beta came out though. Just saved me a hundred bucks based on the graphics and STAR WARS!!!

The dominance of the Empire's ground forces is determined by how good the air games are actually. So...yeah your TIE pilots were obviously not up to par and the X-Wings got the game = rekt for Vehicles. If the Snowspeeders/X-Wings weren't checking you, that usually means gg for the Rebels since the Chicken Walkers can only be countered by focus fire & Anti-Vehicle turrets. If the game actually allowed squad leaders to 'call out target' ala BF3, it'd be a less of a problem for Rebels to coordinate.
It's how Battlefield games are actually. At least the skill ceiling for the air vehicle isn't as high as Battlefield.

[Azazel]

I've been playing Battlefield since the beta for 1942. This, comparatively, is beautiful garbage.

[Falconeer]

I agree, but the problem is that compared to Battlefield 1942 all the other Battlefield are beautiful garbage.

[Sky]

42 really was the best. Though I imagine playing on private servers and competition with a decent clan colors my vision of that. The elements were so much more balanced (nade spam aside), slow planes that you could shoot down if you hit the engine with the regular MG, slow enough it was relatively easy to line up a snipe shot on the pilot, etc. It was the last game I put in that much time, BF2 was a great game but the air game got ridiculous.

[Pennilenko]

Instead of spending money on this, I spent it on Armored Warfare. So my gaming budget is depleted.

[Speedy Cerviche]

42 really was the best. Though I imagine playing on private servers and competition with a decent clan colors my vision of that. The elements were so much more balanced (nade spam aside), slow planes that you could shoot down if you hit the engine with the regular MG, slow enough it was relatively easy to line up a snipe shot on the pilot, etc. It was the last game I put in that much time, BF2 was a great game but the air game got ridiculous.

It had a great gameplay balance too on most maps. A nice mix of intense firefights around key spots, but because the weapon lethality was slightly lower than say counterstrike, it wasn't just a grinder, but also ways for a good player to go commando and make a huge impact. Then they hired a bunch of people off that stupid Desert Combat mod which was popular because they cranked up the weapon lethality and super weapon factor (air planes that dominated map), and the whizbang factor won out over more subtle balance.

[Sky]

Ah, yeah DC! Forgot about that. Definitely what killed it. We lost a lot of our clan to DC servers, too; so it actually knifed 42 itself. 42 played a lot slower, and that helped tactics out a lot.

There were some great plane maps that were a lot of fun to fly (I was a pilot/engy mostly) and encouraged dogfighting and using the combos of dogfighter/bomber.

[Merusk]

I played all last night and this morning. Had a lot of fun but with this single game mode I'm not convinced to buy. I find it entertaining but it's certainly not a game I'd put a lot of focus on. Especially with FO4 coming out at the same time.

Also, wtf is up with the guys able to get 44+ kills and only 3 deaths. I'm ready to believe the aimbot claims since there's only ever one or two guys that can do that while the rest of the teams are down at the 15-20 kill range with far more deaths.

[01101010]

I played all last night and this morning. Had a lot of fun but with this single game mode I'm not convinced to buy. I find it entertaining but it's certainly not a game I'd put a lot of focus on. Especially with FO4 coming out at the same time.

Also, wtf is up with the guys able to get 44+ kills and only 3 deaths. I'm ready to believe the aimbot claims since there's only ever one or two guys that can do that while the rest of the teams are down at the 15-20 kill range with far more deaths.

Imperials = AT-AT you just grab those power-ups over and over again and it is god mode for a certain time limit. Orbital strikes, AI and AArmor guns to AoE anything moving. Not hard to get up into that range and beyond.

[rk47]

[taolurker]

Also, wtf is up with the guys able to get 44+ kills and only 3 deaths. I'm ready to believe the aimbot claims since there's only ever one or two guys that can do that while the rest of the teams are down at the 15-20 kill range with far more deaths.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIhx33faJ1Q&feature=youtu.be

[Samprimary]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrWl4XJ1pT8

[Azazel]

I agree, but the problem is that compared to Battlefield 1942 all the other Battlefield are beautiful garbage.

So, so wrong. 1942 was magnificent, true, but unless you live your entire life with nostalgia-tinted glasses, you should be able to recognise that many in the franchise have been great games as well. DC (mod), BF2 and 3 - both flawed in different ways but still great, BF4 a good but not great game, and BFBC2, which was the best in the line since 1942/DC despite a misstep in the class system.

[Azazel]

42 really was the best. Though I imagine playing on private servers and competition with a decent clan colors my vision of that. The elements were so much more balanced (nade spam aside), slow planes that you could shoot down if you hit the engine with the regular MG, slow enough it was relatively easy to line up a snipe shot on the pilot, etc. It was the last game I put in that much time, BF2 was a great game but the air game got ridiculous.

It had a great gameplay balance too on most maps. A nice mix of intense firefights around key spots, but because the weapon lethality was slightly lower than say counterstrike, it wasn't just a grinder, but also ways for a good player to go commando and make a huge impact. Then they hired a bunch of people off that stupid Desert Combat mod which was popular because they cranked up the weapon lethality and super weapon factor (air planes that dominated map), and the whizbang factor won out over more subtle balance.

Desert Combat was fantastic. I was no good with planes myself, but I was fucking good at taking them out with direct-fire stingers.  I understand that a lot of people didn't like the changes to the base game that DC brought in, but I always found it equal but different. Of course, we played a lot of both DC and 1942 with 2-3 players in the same room, so I enjoyed the benefits of teamwork and friends in both, so coordinated base attacks and defence along with things like little bird drop-offs were the usual order of the day.

[Surlyboi]

Also, wtf is up with the guys able to get 44+ kills and only 3 deaths. I'm ready to believe the aimbot claims since there's only ever one or two guys that can do that while the rest of the teams are down at the 15-20 kill range with far more deaths.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIhx33faJ1Q&feature=youtu.be

Seriously, fuck everybody that came up with or uses that.

Also, 2042 was the shit.

[HaemishM]

Also, 2142 was the shit.

Truth 2.0. (after the fix, of course).

I'd actually rank them as BFBC2 > BF2 > BF2142 > BF4 > Everything else > BF3

BF3 was such a goddamn disappointment.

[Ginaz]

I played a bit of this tonight and it just seemed like a whole lot of meh.  Not good but really bad either.  Maybe my apathy is related to my general GAFF for fps these days.  I use to play them heavily.  Now I can't play them for more than an hour or so before I'm bored.