Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by EA DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It is a direct sequel to 2005’s Battlefield 2, and the eleventh installment in the Battlefield franchise. The game was released in North America on 25 October 2011 and in Europe on 28 October 2011 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. In Battlefield 3‘s campaign, players take on the personas of several military roles: a U.S. Marine, an F/A-18F Super Hornet weapon systems officer, an M1A2 Abrams tank operator, and a Spetsnaz GRU operative. The campaign takes place in various locations and follows the stories of two characters, Henry Blackburn and Dimitri Mayakovsky.

The game sold 5 million copies in its first week of release,^[4] and received mostly positive reviews. The game’s sequel, Battlefield 4, was released in 2013.

Battlefield 3 features the combined arms battles across single-player, co-operative and multiplayer modes. It reintroduces several elements absent from the Bad Company games, including fighter jets, the prone position and 64-player battles on PC.^[5][6] To accommodate the lower player count on consoles, the ground area is limited for Xbox 360 and PS3, though fly space remains the same.^[7]

The game features maps set in Paris, Tehran (as well as other locations in Iran), Sulaymaniyah in Iraq, New York City, Wake Island, Oman, Kuwait City, and other parts of the Persian Gulf. The maps cover urban streets, metropolitan downtown areas, and open landscapes suited to vehicle combat.^[8] Battlefield 3 introduces the “Battlelog”; a free cross-platform social service with built-in text messaging, voice communications, game statistics, and the ability to join games that friends are already playing (though both players need to be on the same platform).^[9]

Cooperative

A demo featuring the new co-op mode was featured at gamescom 2011. Split screen is not available.^[10] Battlefield 3‘s new Battlelog social network, DICE noted, would be tied to all co-op matches, allowing players to try to beat friends’ scores and to track their performance.^[11] Participating in co-op mode allows the player to collect points that unlock additional content that can be used in multiplayer.^[12]

Multiplayer

Battlefield 3‘s multiplayer matches see players take on one of four roles: Assault, Support, Engineer and Recon. The Assault class focuses on assault rifles and healing teammates. The Support class focuses on light machine guns and supplying ammunition. The Engineer class focuses on supporting and destroying vehicles. The Recon class focuses on sniping and spotting enemies. The mechanics of the weapons have been changed to utilize the new engine: compatible weapons may have bipods attached which can then be deployed when in the prone position or near suitable scenery, and provide a significant boost to accuracy and recoil reduction. Suppressive fire from weapons blurs the vision and reduces the accuracy of those under fire, as well as health regeneration.^[13][14] The Recon class can put a radio beacon anywhere on the map and all squad members will be able to spawn on the location of the beacon.^[15]

Several game modes are present, including Conquest, Rush, Squad Deathmatch, Squad Rush and for the first time since Battlefield 1942, Team Deathmatch. However, more game modes are available through the purchase of extra downloadable content packs.^[16] The PC version of Battlefield 3 is by default launched via a web browser from the Battlelog web site.^[17] A server browser is present in console versions of the game.^[18]

Synopsis

Setting and characters

Battlefield 3‘s Campaign story is set during the fictional “War of 2014” and covers events that occur over the span of nine months. Most of the story takes place in the Iran–Iraq region. Other locations include the Iranian-Azerbaijani border, Paris, and New York City. Most missions occur as flashbacks on part of the interrogation of Sergeant Henry Blackburn, and do not occur in order of events.^[19]

The Campaign puts the player in control of four different player characters. For most of the story, the player controls Sergeant Henry “Black” Blackburn (portrayed by Gideon Emery), a member of the U.S. Marine Corps 1st Recon Battalion and main protagonist.^[20] The player also controls Sgt. Jonathan “Jono” Miller, a M1 Abrams tank operator deployed in Tehran;^[21] Lt. Jennifer “Wedge” Colby Hawkins, an F/A-18F Super Hornet weapon systems officer;^[20][22] and Dimitri “Dima” Mayakovsky, a Russian GRU operative.^[23] The main antagonist, Solomon, is an overseas asset for the Central Intelligence Agency.^[19] Non-player characters include: Misfit 1, Blackburn’s squad (including David Montes, Steve Campo, Christian Matkovic, and Cpt. Quinton Cole); Dima’s GRU squadmates Vladimir and Kiril; and CIA Agents Gordon and Whistler, who interrogate Blackburn for much of the Campaign.