Battlefield 3 Trying To One Up Call Of Duty

"We now have both the tools, with Frostbite 2 (their new graphics engine) and the knowledge to build something truly great". It's a bold claim, but on the evidence of our brief but thrilling in-game demo, Swedish developers DICE might be crafting the best modern war shooter, not just of 2011, but of this generation.

So far, consoles have only been given a taste of what DICE is capable of. Battlefield Bad Company 2, arguably the console's best multi-player shooter, is their finest work and they also contributed to the online element (or what we refer to as 'the good bit') of the recent Medal Of Honor remake.

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Mirror's Edge was theirs too, although something of a departure for the studio now synonymous with war. Battlefield 3, though, is different. It's the first main-series game on next-gen, coming five years after Battlefield 2, it's powered by an engine that has been three years in the making (Frostbite 2), and the team working on it is twice the size of that committed to Bad Company 2. The end result is... well, just look at it.

SOLO SKILLS

Anyone who has picked up a Battlefield game on PS3 will already know that multi-player is king, but this time around DICE are aiming to bring the traditionally good-but-not-brilliant solo experience up to standard. "Our goal is to take what Battlefield stands for in multi-player - both huge and tight battles, vehicle and infantry warfare, destruction and play style variation - and transform this into a single-player experience," says Bach. This means getting serious.

The comedy and OTT scenarios from Bad Company have been ditched - now you're fighting serious battles in real-world locations all over the globe. Tehran, Paris, New York are all confirmed locations. New York? Again? Really? Hasn't that been done to death? Surely Crysis 2 is the last word on the Big Apple? Well, yes, New York is a popular destination for the trigger happy, but the prospect of taking the Frostbite 2 engine there sends a tingle down our spine.

DICE are promising huge set-pieces with incredible destruction courtesy of their new engine, and New York's wealth of skyscrapers is a perfect showcase for what it can do. Based on what we've seen so far, even Crysis 2's incredible visuals might look pedestrian compared to Battlefield 3's New York.

It's not just about the looks, though. DICE recognize the need to ease off on the SFX every now and then to give players a breather. "Adding drama and a varied flow through the campaign is always key to not make it just a shooting gallery," recognizes Bach, subtly poking fun at Call Of Duty's relentlessly paced campaign. He has a point. Black Ops moved too fast for most, taking little time to contextualize its plot, leading many to criticize the single-player.

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It's clearly one of the 'knowledge lessons' Bach is referencing at the start of our interview, and one that will - hopefully - make big moments, like the planned earthquake during one level (really), stand out.

SQUAD DAMAGE

As for multi-player? DICE are keeping quiet for now; understandable, as this will be their trump card. Bach is coy when asked about it, reeling out a stock answer that hints at the 'If it ain't broke...' approach: "We are always learning and developing, and there are plenty of things we have learnt over the years.

The biggest lesson learned is how well the core concept behind Battlefield works when executed right". Reading between the lines, that means more of the same sandbox multi-player, but with even better tools.

So, expect the likes of Rush and Conquest to make a comeback, probably accompanied by a new mode born from the devs experiences making Medal Of Honor online. We doubt anyone would complain if the core multi-player concept was largely copied over from Bad Company 2 into Battlefield 3 - a year after release it's still filling servers and delighting an ever growing fan-base.

What will ring the biggest changes in how we play Battlefield online is, again, the technology. Frostbite 2 offers incredible possibilities for destruction, allowing players to smash the entire level apart in a way that even Red Faction would be envious of.

Meanwhile, troops are now animated by EA's ANT engine, used in the company's incredible-looking sports titles, to give each fight an extra layer of realism. This leap in tech has now allowed the devs to introduce the prone stance in multi-player without compromising or unbalancing the core gameplay.

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How? No-one likes a camper in COD, lying in the dark corner of a room, covering the only entrance. Try that in Battlefield 3 and you'll get a short, sharp RPG coming through the wall. No more cover, no more camping.

SWEET MOVES

The ANT tech is also powering a signifi cant but sensible change to the medic class (all four classes are making a comeback, although there will be alterations to the way they're loaded out). Now medics can drag downed allies to cover before reviving them, while the fallen player can provide a certain amount of cover using a pistol.

It's a small change, but one that makes the basic multi-player dynamics that much more interesting. Similarly, DICE are looking to improve spotting. For those who don't know, Battlefield multi-player is heavily team-skewed, so it's as much about communicating with your allies as shooting your enemies.

Spotting is where you line up an enemy in your cross-hairs and hit a button to 'tag' them for your whole team. Now everyone will see that enemy because a red triangle appears over their head for a few seconds - handy if they duck behind cover or go out of the effective range of your current weapon.

In Battlefield 3 the team are looking at creating a way of spotting that not only shows position, but distance too - essentially a 3D marker. Again, a tiny improvement that could make a huge difference Expect more improvements, small and significant, to make themselves known as we approach launch, this November.

EA have promised a multi-player Beta too - likely to hit around summer - which you'll already be enlisted for if you bought the Medal Of Honor special edition. For now, we're left with more questions than answers, but DICE seem to know exactly what they're doing with Battlefield 3.

The console versions might be a 'scaled down' version of early PC footage (but still 'amazing'), suggest DICE.

SOURCE: Computer And Video Games