The Mess Hall

redVENGEANCE wrote:"Sony announced at their press briefing today that the PlayStation 3 version of Battlefield 3 will exclusively include Battlefield 1943 on the disc."

Really? Who is gonna be playing this after BF3?

redVENGEANCE wrote:Really? Who is gonna be playing this after BF3?

DICE keeps talking about jets, boats, helicopters and the huge potential for stage destruction with its Frostbite 2 technology in Battlefield 3, but in its first reveal of the game's multiplayer mode, these elements are left out. Instead, on display at E3 2011 was an online conflict set in Paris, taking place across a series of four maps. There's no doubt it was fun and distinctly Battlefield, and perhaps it's still too early in development for the studio to publically show off the huge maps where jets tear across the sky.

Much of the interface should look familiar to anyone who's played Bad Company 2, with similar icons plastered across the heads-up display, including one to indicate which teammates can be revived. Four classes are included here, including a medic that can revive and toss out health packs, an engineer with an underslung flashlight and the ability to make repairs, a support soldier that can hand out ammo packs and has a bipod on his gun that can be deployed on any surface, and a recon soldier that can provide valuable intel.

For this online conflict, called Operation Metro, the action proceeded in stages. It's based on the Rush game mode, and requires the advancing team knock out objectives in order to proceed to the next section of the map. It starts in confined urban streets with only enough room to accommodate a light armored infantry transport as a vehicle. The rest is on-foot action that moves between clustered buildings and down into subway tunnels underneath the city. Here the fighting gets especially frantic, with the teams of 16 picking away at each other while taking cover behind turnstiles and broken down trains in the shadowy underground.

To move around you'll be able to vault low objects by, on PC, hitting the space bar while moving forward. Since there's also the ability to drop to a prone position, you'll be able to take up less space onscreen, which means when wandering through grassy areas you'll need to be especially cautious of hiding enemies. Should you get killed, which is very likely, you can either wait around for a revive or spawn right next to a squad member.

Even though there were no large explosives on this map to really get a sense of how much of the stage can be wiped out, there's still plenty to marvel at. Though it's still pre-alpha, the game is looking really sharp, with tons of detail built into environments and weapon models, making the combat feel exciting when you're standing still. The animations stand out too, with some great animations for running and character models tumbling to the ground after being shot. It was nothing as jaw-dropping as the single-player footage shown off so far, particularly the tank mission from EA's E3 2011 press conference, but there's still a while to go before its October 25 release date.

Multiplayer Battlefield fans will get Conquest and Team Deathmatch modes in the final game, as well as a wealth of unlocks and customizable dog tags that will show off the statistic of your choice.