Battlefield 3

Finally the long awaited Battlefield 3 has arrived! I started playing Battlefield when Battlefield: Bad Company 2 came out. A lot of hardcore Battlefield fans might say ‘no!’ to me but even though the campaign wasn’t that great the multiplayer was were that game shined. I don’t care what people say, Bad Company 2’s multiplayer was damn good and it was damn fun. I don’t care if it didn’t have jets in it, it was my first Battlefield game and it was epic. Anyway, this isn’t about Bad Company 2. I guess what I’m trying to say is that this game is an improvement to its previous games, I know I should be comparing this to Battlefield 2 more than Bad Company 2 but unfortunately I never played it. I know there are slight differences between console and PC versions of the game, for this review I will be talking about the Xbox 360 version. Again the hardcore Battlefield along with the PC community will be going crazy at me and may not even take this review seriously but it’s the platform that I play most of my games on. I did try to get the beta working on my PC. I recently upgraded my PC because my old one couldn’t run anything but sadly for some reason even after I downloaded the driver it told me to download it wouldn’t let me join a match. I would just sit there staring at a spinning circle on Battlelog.

One main thing about Battlefield that everyone loves is the graphics. I thought the graphics were really good in Bad Company 2 and when I heard they were stepping up their engine to Frostbite 2 I was really excited. I play Battlefield 3 on the console so obviously the graphics aren’t going to be superior, if you play console you’re just going to have to accept that and if you don’t you’re stupid. This is coming from a console gamer so don’t get too offended. Coming up to the release I was a little bit scared how the game would look and run on the Xbox 360. I heard a lot of crap from mostly PC elitists who have nothing better to do than to insult console gamers. I’ve played the game for almost 24 hours and I can safely say that you don’t have to listen to anyone who says this game plays terribly on console because it doesn’t. It simply doesn’t. I only ever found one recurring problem and I doubt it happened on PC was that there was sometimes a huge drop in frames per second during the single player. This only happened maybe four or five times throughout the roughly seven hour campaign. During multiplayer the only problems I have encountered was server lag and quick match problems, each of them I only encountered maybe around three times which is a lot less than what everyone else is complaining about.

The singleplayer is pretty awesome. I’ve only played this and Bad Company 2 and the Bad Company 2 campaign wasn’t that great so I didn’t have much to compare it to. I don’t want to compare it too much to Call of Duty because they really are different games and you’ll understand that more if you play a lot of video games. I installed the HD texture pack straight away so I haven’t don’t a comparison but I have seen one and there is a difference. There’s a difference in the small detail of things but there isn’t in the big picture if that makes sense. I would say, don’t play this game without the texture pack. There isn’t any reason not too and it does make a difference. It’s the small things that make a difference! Call of Duty campaigns rarely disappoint. I’ve played since World at War and I have played the COD4 campaign and I haven’t been disappointed by one yet. I’ve heard that the singleplayer of Battlefield 3 was just an excuse to show off the graphics. Even if it was they’ve done a good job. The dark knight in the city alone was really eerie. The whole singleplayer had a great atmosphere around it the whole time. Right at the beginning they make sure you see the handcuffs around your wrists which I thought was pretty cool once I got to the end of the singleplayer. My favourite mission was when you were playing as the Russians in Paris. That mission was really colourful and I really liked the gun I was given.

Now down to the multiplayer. This is what everyone is excited about and rightly so. Bad Company 2’s multiplayer was a lot of fun but it definitely wasn’t perfect. No game is ever going to be perfect but this one is amazing. One of my favourite things about this game is the animation of the characters. When you think about it, it’s a small thing but now I realise how huge and important it is. The animation of the Engineer reloading an RPG, Gustav or AT4 in Bad Company was god awful. In Battlefield 3 the animations are so smooth. The running animation is so realistic I find myself staring at other people in the game rather than doing anything. Of course, the thing that everyone loves in Battlefield are the jets. I’m just going to be honest here, I suck major nut sack at the jets. I can fly them but I fail sometimes and crash but most of the time I just can’t shoot anything else done with my god damn gun! 300 points doesn’t seem that much when you look at the little progress bar but the odds are against you when you are flying against a pilot who has flares, heat seeking missiles, the fancy map thing that I don’t know the name of. I got this game on the 31st of October. I preordered it so I have the limited edition with the code for the Back to Karkand DLC. I live in Europe so I had to wait a couple more days to get it. By the time I got it loads of people were already flying around with all this jet gear that I’m probably not going to get till Battlefield 4! Personally I shine on the ground with a gun in my hands, that’s the player I am.

The multiplayer is amazing but it isn’t perfect. I find myself getting spawn killed a lot, and when I say a lot I mean a lot. It could just be my fault and I’m sure some of them are but it just seems like it happens way too much. I could be really stupid and not realise that people are in combat and I shouldn’t spawn on them. They have taken spawn invincibility out of the game which I guess I’m happy about. In Bad Company 2 it was such a bitch and it would always cost me a kill. That is probably the only criticism of the multiplayer. I like the idea of the degrading vehicles. I don’t like the idea of vehicles regenerating health but when I heard what DICE said about it I felt better, to keep vehicles in the game and make them more of a core part of combat. It seems like they have taken out of decreased at least the recharge of the defibulators. I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing in terms of gameplay but I like it. One thing I really praise DICE for doing is increasing the amount of points for capturing or destroying an M-COM. This really helps people actually go for the objective. I still get frustrated when nobody does it but it feels like more people are trying harder to get to the objective.

For some reason I can’t get into Battlelog and check out my stats. I’ll keep trying and get back to you if I can.

This game definitely has a lot of play time in it, much more than Bad Company 2. I will be playing this game a lot and I’m really looking forward to the DLC. This game is really awesome and there is no reason why you should be on the fence about buying this game.

I still rage in the multiplayer but I give it the double thumbs up, 9/10

By the way, I did a MW3 wish list a while back and I didn’t do one for Battlefield 3. The reason for that is because I wasn’t worried that this game was going to be a disappointment.

Battlefield over Call of Duty

I haven’t posted anything in a while so I thought I’d talk about something that is kind of important in games right now and will be later on this year. Lately I’ve been a lot more interested in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. I bought the game when it first came out and I immediately fell in love, I played a lot of COD near the end of MW2 and pretty much played COD over Battlefield most of the time, only going back for a game or two. Now I’m back in and really excited for Battlefield 3 and not so excited for MW3.

For me it’s the gameplay, I do enjoy arena games like Halo and COD but I love the open battlefields and realistic gameplay that is showcased in Battlefield. I understand that games like COD may take more gun skill to drop opponents and complete objectives but in Battlefield you have to work together, I mean it’s like real war! You have to revive to keep ticket numbers up, give ammo, spot people etc. There are a lot of games that I want for example, L.A. Noire, Portal 2 and games that haven’t come out yet like Skyrim but I haven’t been feeling the same way about MW3. The engine has hardly been upgraded since COD4 and I’m not a graphics whore! But seriously, the Frostbite engine has was upgraded from Bad Company 1 to Bad Company 2 and now they are upgrading it again! That shows that DICE aren’t looking for a game to crap out every year whether it’s ready or not, they want to take their sweet time making a quality game. Who knows, with Sledgehammer helping Infinity Ward on the campaign and Raven Software takes care of the multiplayer, we could see a great experience in online gaming, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

I know it sounds like I’m crapping on the Call of Duty franchise which I am and not very subtly but I do love Call of Duty no matter how much it angers me sometimes. In fact I am getting into it a little more thanks to Machinima Respawn posting competitive gamebattle matches and the Call of Community which just passed really got my hyped up to play Call of Duty.

I’m not sure if I’ll get MW3 but I’m not going to say no straight away. I know if something sells why stop selling it but I hope Activision one day see that enough is enough and do something about the franchise.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

A lot of gamers whether hardcore or just recreational gamers will say that COD 4 is one game that you must play. I first played the COD 4 campaign a couple of weeks ago and it turned out to be my second favourite COD campaign, Black Ops being my favourite. It just felt so much more realistic.

Obviously I was a little confused at some parts of MW2 because I had never played the first Modern Warfare but this one filled in all the pieces. I managed to knock out the whole campaign in one sitting in an afternoon, determined to get it finished. Whilst playing I encountered the best Call of Duty mission I have ever played, sniping with Captain MacMillan. MW2 was epic, I loved the airport massacre mission just as much as the next guy and I love Ghost and the rest of the characters but the overall atmosphere of COD 4 captured me.

As soon as I completed the campaign I hopped over to multiplayer and had pretty good results. My friend previously mentioned that the snipers were immense, just like the rest of the community. I’m not a Call of Duty sniper, I can only snipe on Battlefield, so having good scores with a sniper in Call of Duty was a big deal for me. My best scores were with the MP5 and the M4 Carbine.

At first I was surprised that I hadn’t come across any hacking, turns out I just had to play the game a little more. Pretty much as soon as I came across the first floating enemy I took the game out of the disc tray, not only floating enemies but people advertising their COD hacking websites at the side of the screen.

Finally I can see why most fans still think COD 4 is still one of the best Call of Duty games

Crysis 2 Tips

• Crysis 2 isn’t like other FPS games. It’s not like COD where you just run around shooting people, I’m not saying that you don’t need a strategy to do well in Call of Duty but all it is, is you and your gun and nothing else. In Crysis 2 you are equipped with a nanosuit which possesses nanosuit abilities. This leads on to my first tip, use all of your nanosuit abilities. You can use one more than the other but it is important that you use all of them. If you don’t use all of them you are going to get beaten time and time again.
• A lot of people might not think this but I do, this is a very important tip, do not get distracted by the awesome water animation. On Skyline, I once sat in a corner to recharge and I got distracted by the water dripping off my visor and I was stealth killed. It might not seem like a big deal but you could be about to collect your 7th dog tag.
• Understand the maps. This one can apply to all first person shooters but in Crysis 2 it is especially important. If you are low on energy you’re going to need some where safe to recharge, you don’t want to be caught with your pants down in the open.
• Never shoot whilst cloaked. A lot of people didn’t know this one at first but if you shoot whilst cloaked it will drain all your energy, this goes for grenades and melee too. Handguns are the only weapon that doesn’t completely drain your energy. An easy way to switch out of cloak rapidly is to switch to armour, you’ll probably be getting into a gun fight anyway and it protects you from other enemies around you.
• This one applies to other first person shooters but again, I think this one applies more to Crysis 2 because of the nanosuit. Choose your modules wisely, they can help greatly with your nanosuit.
• A lot of people don’t like the idea of cloaking too much in Crysis 2. Some people say it’s like camping or it’s noobish or some people just aren’t used to it but it’s not. The game has given it to you, use it. If your opponent isn’t using it you’re already one step closer to killing him and not getting killed by his team mate.
• Watch Crysis 2 videos. Before I got Crysis 2 I drooled over it watching commentaries and tips videos. It will improve your game even if you don’t realise it.
• Finally, play the game. With experience you’ll know what the best attachments are, what the best modules are etc. Over time you’ll also know what cloaked enemies look like and understand the maps more.

Crysis 2

Finally I have my hands on this game! I instantly fell in love with this game. It was a something different! After years of playing COD and after a few weeks playing around with Halo: Reach I needed something different and Crysis 2 is a breath of fresh air.

The campaign is great. The story line is complimented with amazing graphics. Light pours over scenery like water over rocks in a waterfall. The music is amazing, getting Hans Zimmer in on the job was a good choice. The campaign plays a little like a Call of Duty campaign but more complex because of the nanosuit capabilities. Campaigns and singleplayer modes in video games are becoming less and less important as players are more interested in multiplayer and pwning noobs but the singleplayer is a must in this game, even if you don’t care about the plot you must play it just to see how amazing the world looks. In some parts of the singleplayer it can be a little ‘stop and go’. A lot of the times you are required to sneak around cloaked and with the restrictions of the nanosuit it requires you to stop for a second to recharge. I don’t think this is a bad thing because it adds to the suspense in some parts of the game, will you be caught or can you make it to the elevator?

The singleplayer may look amazing but I think people are more interested in the multiplayer. It’s nothing like anyone has seen before and I  must say, I’m hooked. The multiplayer is so good, for me, it may have surpassed the best multiplayer I’ve ever played. Sure you can count on Call of Duty to make a decent, reliable multiplayer that will last but what have they done different since they started making Call of Duty games, they haven’t taken a risk. Halo can make a decent multiplayer too, with loads of different game types but none have created a game like this. It’s a challenge to get good scores in this game, it’s not one of those games where you party up with ten people and chat and play, you have to be concentrated or you will fail. It’s not like Homefront which is a noob friendly game. The multiplayer has introduced some great things that could be used in others, dog tags. The dog tags are a great way to eradicate camping. You must walk over their dead body and pick up their dog tag (callsign in Call of Duty) to start your killstreak or dog tag streak. I call it that but I don’t think it’s the official term.

You won’t see ridiculous K/D in this game. The tops of the leader board are scores usually something like, 20 – 4. A lot of people say that beginners will have trouble starting out but I’ve got to say, I’ve had a lot of early success with this game. I don’t think it’s because I’m amazing at games but because over the past couple of months when I was drooling over this game, I watched countless videos on YouTube about Crysis 2. Tips, how to’s, commentaries etc. When I was watching those videos it was clear that the key to success in this game is how you use your nanosuit. A lot of people say, “I rush a lot in Call of Duty so I use armour the most,” this person will not be very successful in this game because he isn’t using his nanosuit to it’s full potential. To be good at this game you must use all aspects of your nanosuit well. I’ll be posting a tips article on Crysis 2 multiplayer.

Assassin’s Creed, what’s next?

I completed the first Assassin’s Creed in 5 days, playing a couple of hours a day. I was hooked. The game was like nothing I had ever played before. Even though the fighting was simple, really simple, I still loved the action. Every assassination I did satisfied me, even though I was ending someone’s life. I would run around the cities just killing random guards because I could. Even though the first Assassin’s Creed was fun, it was really repetitive. Assassinating 9 different enemies, the only variation was how you gathered information on your target, and even that could have been the same if you wanted it to be. The AI wasn’t great either. Travelling to cities by horse was a nightmare, every time you come across a person they would chase after you. I was so relieved when I realised that I didn’t have to make the trip to each city again. The guards would always say the same thing, again and again.

The second Assassin’s Creed was insanely better than the first. It had actual variation in it’s gameplay, not just assassinating 9 people in the same way, you actually had missions to complete and the double hidden blades only made things better. The AI was a little better but I found out that you could was up to a group of 4 soldiers and poison each one and none of them would suspect a thing. Some of the missions really pissed me off, the flying machine mission annoyed me a lot. Every time I failed (and I failed a lot) the guard would scream “LOOK AT THE FLYING DEMON!” or something along those lines. One mission actually made me stop playing the game for several months. The mission in the fair where you had to race against another guy. After several months I picked the game up again and realised that it wasn’t that hard in the first place. The story line was much more complex than the first. Even after I finished the game I was still so confused.

The next Assassin’s Creed, Brotherhood, isn’t a part of the trilogy and contained the same characters. This one improved on the AI on the first and added in cool new features to the fighting. When I was playing the game I was hoping that this wasn’t the official third game. The one thing that was really cool was the ability to call in other members of the Brotherhood, helping you on your missions. One of the best things about your assassin’s was that you trained them. You chose what missions they went on and with each mission they gain experience points, making them a better assassin.  It doesn’t add to the story very much, it felt a little like an extension to the second game.Maybe that was the plan but it didn’t feel like it was worth the same amount of money as the second. An online was introduced into Assassin’s Creed, it is so much fun. At first I wasn’t sure how they would pull it off but they did and it is extremely fun, especially when you play with a friend. Instead of rushing, like in FPS’, it’s more about being patient and blending into the crowd around you.

I am extremely excited for the third Assassin’s Creed. It should be the best one yet. I have read that it will be about the assassin’s trying to stop the world coming to it’s demise in 2012 and their race against time to find the temples “built by those who came before”. This sounds like the game will be set in the fictional present, so no traditional assassins. Some people might not like the sound of that but if it’s anything like the second, it should be awesome.

Midnight Gaming

I’m starting up this blog because I’m really interested in games and I’m interested in getting into gaming and media and what not so I figured that this is a good way to get started. I wish I could start up a YouTube channel but I don’t have a capture card and channel without gameplay would be pretty boring. You’ll be seeing reviews, and chit chat about multiplayer and all that good stuff. I’m not sure how much this thing will be updated, I haven’t had very much luck with other blogs before, they usually fizzle out pretty quickly.