![battlefield 3 review battlefield 3 review](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_3Qtc9y_S4g/hqdefault.jpg)
The multiplayer consists of nine standard maps and six modes (Rush, Conquest, Deathmatch and variations on each), allowing for a maximum of 64 players in a given session. Despite how uninspired the technology’s implementation is in the single- player, Battlefield 3’s online components take advantage of Frostbite 2 to great effect. The environments look stunning and the audio (always one of the best aspects of the Battlefield games) is fantastic. That said, the work that has gone into honing DICE’s Frostbite 2 engine has paid off. Embracing the series’ strong points (the ability to choose between vehicular or on-foot combat or picking your own route to an objective by exploring the open maps) would have made for a unique campaign that added value to BF3 rather than simply bulking it out. Battlefield has always relied on its superb multiplayer as an excuse for failing to craft engaging solo experiences, but even the mediocre single player of the Bad Company games was far more enjoyable than what’s been accomplished here. The mission’s blend of cinematic flair and real excitement shows that DICE is capable of much more than the derivative material on display. The player assumes the role of a jet gunner, taking off from an airplane carrier in a stormy sea and dispatching enemy MiGs. The possibilities are hinted at by “Going Hunting”, one of the game’s most memorable missions. Sure, a large percentage of players will dive right into the multiplayer without even checking out the campaign, but with all the effort that’s gone into the breathtaking visuals and sound design it seems like something better could have been done with this aspect. Everything is highly scripted - players will only enter vehicles and witness building demolition when the story dictates, instead of being able to play around with these features in the course of tackling a mission. It also pulls back from Bad Company’s focus on incorporating multiplayer elements within the single player game. The lack of any real sense of humour, coupled with a dull tale and tired set-pieces (defend a landing zone until the evacuation aircraft arrives, sneak through an enemy-occupied area, clear a building, etc.) makes BF3’s single-player mode easy to skip.
![battlefield 3 review battlefield 3 review](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m3VFWKmKTXc/T0-OIaw0wEI/AAAAAAAABDw/MDIxmNCmgPo/s1600/BF3_scene.jpg)
In its place is a slickly produced, straight-faced terrorism storyline that takes more than a little inspiration from Call of Duty: Black Ops’ flashback-oriented narration and Tom Clancy’s mountain of fiction. Gone from Battlefield 3 is the kind of Catch-22 by-way-of M.A.S.H humour that characterized the series’ other current gen entries, Bad Company 1 and 2. The campaign mode, as in most multiplayer-focused FPSs, is something like a tutorial merged with a tech demo.