After being bombarded by so many fans, Capcom has finally revealed something multiplayer related to Lost Planet 3.
It might be just a teaser image, but it’s at least something. Check it out below.
As posted on their Facebook Page: “many of you have asked about the multiplayer mode in the game Lost Planet 3 and the time we offer you a little taste. More things to come soon. ‘
For a weekend where seemingly every game is doing double XP, you can add Max Payne 3 to that list. Currently going on, Max Payne 3 will enjoy double XP until Monday morning across all platforms.
With all the games currently enjoying double XP, which game will see your time? Let us know in the comments!
In celebration of the brand new Raven Strike DLC launching on Tuesday September 11th, the developers behind Ghost Recon: Future Soldier have flicked on the double XP switch.
For those of you who haven’t had a chance to rank your multiplayer classes up, now is the time. You can catch up on all of the Raven Strike achievements, trophies and challenges here, as well as the original announcement here.
Any Ghost’s out there still in service battling it out on Future Soldier? Let us know in the comments below! Don’t forget to pick up Raven Strike on September 11th.
For those of you avid Battlelog users out there, you should have noticed a new look and new changes to Battlelog. A few days ago, DICE rolled out an upgrade to Battlelog that changed the way you share your activity and manage your friends list.
Prior to this update, everything you did on Battlefield 3 was automatically shared to everybody you had added through Battlelog. Not anymore. You now get to pick and choose which items you want to share with the rest of your friends list. This gives you ultimate control over your Battle Feed, and it stops the huge spam of unlock lists and level up notifications. You can find the Game Activity Stream on Battlelog’s homepage on the right side.
You can now easily share the content you want by navigating the Game Activity stream and clicking on the black star icon of the item you have highlighted as seen below. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
As most of you know, EA runs Origin. Before this update, your friends list on Battlelog and your Origin friends list were two separate entities. Origin has now merged into Battlelog and vice versa, so any friends you may have added on Battlelog are now your Origin friends as well. This makes life easier for the gamer, so now you only have one friends list to look after instead of two. Origin is slowly taking over the gaming world.
Are all of you Battlelog users pleased with the new changes? Let us know in the comments below!
For all of you PlayStation 3 premium members enjoying the newest Battlefield 3 expansion pack Armored Kill, we have some easter eggs for you to find. One most importantly being a giant T-Rex skull. Could this potentially be a tease by DICE for a future Dino Mode? Or is this just simply that, DICE teasing us?
It’s clear to see DICE has their ear to the streets after the massive #BF3Dino response on Twitter. Dino Mode has been rumored for quite some time but has not been announced in any capacity for Battlefield 3. Thanks to Shockblastmedia for supplying videos for each of these easter eggs. Below he shows you exactly how you get to the T-Rex skull.
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Also available on Alborz Mountains is some garden gnomes. These gnomes are in two locations which can be found in the video below. It’s a little weird seeing gnomes found on an ice mountain, but we’re sure there’s a reason for it.
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Seems like DICE is paying homage to Mirror’s Edge on Death Valley. You can find yourself a Mirror’s Edge Messenger Bag here in a shipping container. This easter egg takes some patience and time to find, as it’s one of the harder easter eggs in this expansion to navigate.
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Nothing too exciting here, just what seems to be a bunch of garden gnomes chilling out and having a party. Don’t destroy them though, they may explode and cry.
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At the time of writing, there have been no easter eggs found on Bandar Desert, but we will update you guys on any discoveries. Any PlayStation 3 premium players out there that have found any of these easter eggs? Let us know what you think of the creativity below.
Xbox 360 and PC premium players can download Armored Kill on September 11th. Non-premium PS3 gamers can pick up Armored Kill on September 18th, and non-premium Xbox 360 and PC gamers can pick up Armored Kill on September 25th. The pricing for this DLC is locked at 1200 Microsoft points, or $15 USD.
Special thanks to AnalogHype for compiling this list.
Current Uplay members will be treated to “privilege access” for the upcoming Far Cry 3 multiplayer beta, developed by Ubisoft.
During Ubisoft’s Digital Days 2012 event, Uplay’s brand development manager Alexandra Andrieux announced “there are programs for our Uplay members to have privilege access to the beta when the game launches.” Previously, this beta was only accessed through pre-ordering Ghost Recon: Future Soldier from Gamestop.
“In the American territories, they have the ability to participate in the beta because we know that they are a Uplay member and we put them first.” It’s not currently known whether European Uplay members will be treated to the same benefit of getting beta access.
The multiplayer beta for Far Cry 3 was first announced back in May but was pushed back from it’s original summer release. The retail game itself was also pushed back to November in Europe, and December in North America.
If you aren’t a Uplay member, don’t worry. You can sign up for Uplay here or you can put in any Ubisoft title you own and access it through the menu’s.
Thanks, VideoGamer for the tip.
For those of you anticipating Borderlands 2’s release, Gearbox has cooked up something to help make your wait a little bit more fun.
You can now plan out your future character’s skill tree through the interactive Skill Tree Builder on the official Borderlands 2 website. All you need to do is visit borderlands2.com, click ‘Characters’ up in the navigation bar and then click the character you wish to use. From there, click on view skill tree and the Skill Tree Builder will load up.
This is extremely beneficial for the hardcore RPG gamers who like to see which tree offers the most effective upgrades to fit their play style. There is plenty to choose from, as Gearbox lets you know what each upgrade does specifically, the required level for that upgrade, as well as how many points it will cost to upgrade to a specific skill. Once you are finished with your build, you have the option of sharing it to your Facebook or Twitter profile.
Gearbox plans on upgrading the online Skill Tree Builder next week with a few upgrades that can be found below.
How many of you plan on picking up Borderlands 2 to play Co-Op? Let us know in the comments below! Don’t forget that Borderlands 2 releases in the US on September 18th, and the UK on September 21st. Feel free to share your own personal builds with other fellow Pandora travelers below.
Recently announced by Infinity Ward community manager Tina Palacios on Twitter, Modern Warfare 3 will be seeing double XP this weekend across all platforms. Starting right now, the double XP switch will turn off once Monday rolls around.
This is especially beneficial for the Xbox 360 players who are enjoying the final DLC pack for Modern Warfare 3, Collection 4: Final Assault which released yesterday. You can check out our review of that here. Don’t forget that Collection 3: Chaos Pack launches for PlayStation 3 and PC users on September 13th next week.
Any Modern Warfare 3 players going to enjoy some double XP action this weekend? Let us know in the comments! As always, stay tuned to MP1st for all of your Call of Duty news.
Last month Ubisoft revealed the second wave of DLC content coming to Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Today we have additional information on this DLC content, including achievements and challenges. Raven Strike enhances your Ghost Recon experience by adding three new co-op missions, one new Guerilla Mode map and 10 more levels to Adversarial multiplayer. You can get the full scoop below.
Package Delivery
“Secure General Kozlov”
Mission: Secure Dawn
Xbox 360: 20 points | PlayStation 3: Bronze Trophy
Tables Turned
“Fight your way out of Bodark ambush”
Mission: Cold Water
Xbox 360: 20 points | PlayStation 3: Bronze Trophy
Clean Slate
“Take down all four HVT’s”
Mission: Argent Thunder
Xbox 360: 20 points | PlayStation 3: Bronze Trophy
Maximum Effort
“Defeat all tactical challenges in Raven Strike”
Xbox 360: 25 points | PlayStation 3: Silver Trophy
Dirty Work
“Complete all 3 maps in Raven Strike on Elite”
Xbox 360: 50 points | PlayStation 3: Gold Trophy
To refresh your memories, the Raven Strike DLC will be available to download next Tuesday, September 11th for 1200 Microsoft Points or $14.99 via PSN. Any MP1st readers still playing Ghost Recon Future Soldier and will be picking up this DLC pack? Let us know in the comments!
Mass Effect 3 Operation: Vigilance begins this Friday, September 7th on all platforms.
Ending on Sunday, September 9th, Operation: Vigilance will have you investigating strange attacks on Alliance property. “Unexpected attacks have taken out several squads and damaged vital Alliance equipment. We will deploy drones to repair damage and investigate the nature of these attacks,” writes the BioWare Blog.
Details below:
Squad Goal: Complete up to and including wave 10 on any difficulty without using a consumable (medi-gel, ammo, Ops pack or Cobra missile launcher).
Allied Goal: Complete 250,000 escort missions on any difficulty.
Special Circumstance: None
Squad Goal Success: All individual players awarded a Commendation Pack
Allied Goal Success: All players awarded a Victory Pack
Are you still participating in these N7 Bounty Weekends?
Well rumors have been roaming the net for some time now about an HD collection of the Killzone series, and today Sony announced that starting October 23rd, PS3 gamers will be able to get all three Killzone titles in one single collection.
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The collection will be available at retails and most likely digitally over PSN 23rd of October and will feature a remaster 720P HD verson of Killzone, which will also come with trophy support. No word whether it would still have it’s online component, however both Killzone 2 and 3 do and will feature all map packs released.
I, for one, am excited. Despite owning all three Killzone, I have always wanted to play the first in HD. No pricing has been set, though it’s expected to run between $30-$40 USD.
Were any of you guys a huge fan of the first Killzone Multiplayer?
343 Industries just released a new Halo Bulletin for September 5th. Inside this bulletin contained a very good amount of Q&A from the Halo community regarding multiplayer footage they seen from PAX Prime 2012. We were treated to some CTF gameplay on a brand new map Exile, as well as some fan videos of random items such as the menu’s, loadout items, spartan armor and much more. Below are some multiplayer centric questions I decided to include for any Halo fan who might have missed them.
We have many new custom game options coming, especially around the Infinity experience. This means lots of customization surrounding all types of Ordnance. In Objective games, you’ll have full control over player traits, including those of the King, Flag Carrier, and Grif. Each game mode also has multiple custom options specific to that game mode that let you tune timers, settings, and rules. CTF specifically offers tuning the “Flag Return Time/Proximity Return”, “Flag Reset Time”, “Flag at Home Requirement”, “Overtime Length”, and “Flag Carrier Traits”.
Oh yes. In fact, our only remake map – still secret – is most definitely outdoors.
In the final game, medals will show on-screen on the left side, near the kill feed, the all-new combat log, and the ordnance meter.
Vehicle setup was designed to show a ton of content for PAX. That map content will vary dramatically depending on game mode and playlist.
Each game mode has four special statistics. In Grifball, we keep track of “Scores”,” Carrier Kills”, “Ball Kills”, and “Carry Time”. We also have a specific medal for scoring the Grifball.
The game types, rules, matchmaking criteria and certain hidden systems will contribute towards game mode “congruity.”
The PAX build contains the full set of armor in Halo 4. In the final game, there are a variety of methods for unlocking armor and armor skins – ranking up, earning commendations, progressing through Specializations and completing goals on Waypoint. Some of the skins, helmets, and the FOTUS armor are exclusive to various retail offers. Some of these items MAY become available to all players at a later date. We wanted to focus on the Spartan-IV armors for Infinity, maximizing the amount of variety across the armor designs. However, we did want to include a reward for completing the Campaign on Legendary, so we decided to use the Mark VI armor as that reward. While we’d love to include every historical variant of the Chief’s armor, it’s just not possible to fit more armor sets into the available memory.
When comparing yourself to teammates, medal points make all the difference and in each mode you’ll earn specific points for not only scoring but also helping your teammates. CTF, for example, has medals for “Flag Driver”, “Flag Assist”, and “Flag Defense”. We will be reporting stats for War Games as a mode, but also for the individual game base variants, meaning the underlying game types like CTF, Regicide, Slayer, etc. K/D ratio in general will only be highlighted for Slayer.
No, but the fact is that it “vanishes” after a few plays. Ask people who’ve played a lot. This is something we spent a lot of time on and is true of many “intrusive” UI, audio and dressing aspects of the game – they provide vital information for certain types of players and quickly vanish for frequent players in terms of intrusion. They were designed, tested and tweaked to achieve this. Watching other people play is almost counter to how it feels in practice.
Because it’s laterally narrow, to ME it feels medium, but in terms of literal scale it’s in the top two thirds. However, it’s navigable and playable for four-on-four on foot. Sprint and other speedy aspects of the game make some of these answers somewhat subjective.
The Magnum, or “Flagnum” as it’s been dubbed, is specific to this mode. As we’ve mentioned before, this is similar, but ultimately a replacement for, rather than simply an evolution of, CTF. We understand this is controversial but are now pretty confident the changes will be enjoyed. And as we’ve said in this very article, we will have more information about options and customizability much later.
I agree strongly with your description of how awesome the map is. Most maps were built with team sizes and objectives in mind, but new elements like universal sprint make these modes and maps a little bit more flexible than past games.
Both of those items do not have enough visible surface area to justify the hit on disc/RAM/hilt/buttspace. To be honest, I only answered this question so I could coin the term “buttspace.”
So after having to sift through all of that information, did you learn anything new? Was your question answered? Let us know in the comments below. Halo 4 releases to Xbox 360 users on November 6, 2012.
Treyarch very own, David Vonderhaar, gives the community an insight as to what to expect from the unlocking system of Black Ops 2.
Black Ops 2 will feature a total of 55 ranks, and in terms of how much XP that is Vonderhaar has said that it’s expected to be much like World At War and Modern Warfare (1), but at a faster rate of leveling with the added medals and challenges.
Much like previous titles by Treyarch, you’ll unlock the “create class” at level 4. The new system, however, will add 1 unlock token for every time you level up. So when you’ve reached level 4 that means you have 4 tokens to spend on unlocks. Luckily though, at level 4 you’ll be given the following for free.
Additionally, besides these you’ll have other unlocks such as the Wildcards that the Token can be used for.
Level 5: Perk
Level 6: Equipment
Level 7: Scorestreak (3 free and 3 optional ones to unlock with tokens)
Level 8: Perk
Level 9: Scorestreak
After reaching level 10 you’ll begin to notice a “pattern”,with some few exception Vonderhaar stated.
At level 10, we start to settle into a pattern. There are exceptions, but the pattern is generally like this. At every major rank change, which is every 3 levels, we give you a gun and usually “something else” as a bonus for reaching a major rank change.
In general, it goes like this.
- Level 10 – Weapon + Something Else
- Level 11 – Equipment (either lethal or tatical).
- Level 12 – Scorestreak
This pattern then repeats through all 55 levels with some minor statstical variations or bonuses when they make sense and because the math can’t be perfect.
What do you guys think? Does this look like a well balanced system?
Thanks Craig for the tip, source from the official Black Ops 2 forums.
The end of Modern Warfare 3 content season is upon us. With the final Collection 4 pack arriving tomorrow for Xbox 360 users and soon for PlayStation 3 and PC users, the devs behind the DLC wanted to go out with a bang. How might they do that, you ask? By hitting all of you multiplayer enthusiasts with 5 new maps. If you aren’t an ELITE member, this is the map pack you have been waiting for. After Collection 3 hit, many were disappointed with the lack of multiplayer focus. No need to worry Call of Duty fans, Collection 4 is for you.
This shoreline-based setting of rotting ocean liners is the perfect place for those run-and-gun types. For those of us ELITE users, Decomission is not a new map. Having released all the way back in July, we’re probably already familiar with it.
I found Decomission to be one of the maps more suited towards the run and gun style I originally played this map with my trusty ACR but found more success once I switched over to the P90 and MP7. Now I’m not saying you can’t achieve decent scores here by sitting back with an assault rifle or sniper, play as you please. There’s a few areas that seem to be pretty populated and those are the higher levelled areas from old ocean liners. When you are navigating through this map don’t just run around like an idiot, although this map is suited for run and gun, there’s plenty of room for flanking opportunities. Always pay attention up top as that’s where most enemies liked to position themselves when I was playing.
Off Shore leaves you trapped on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean. With plenty of recognizable areas such as helipads, cranes and various perches for those of you who like to snipe, it’s easy to navigate this map. Again, for those of us ELITE users, Off Shore has been made available since July. I really dig the concept art for this map, it’s pretty badass.
Try to run with Dead Silence here, the click clanking on the oil rig’s hard metal surface can give your position away quite easily to those who run with gaming headsets. Not to mention it becomes extremely annoying to hear after a minute into the match. The first time you play this map you may get a tad bit confused but after that you should feel right at home. There’s high levelled playing areas you can rain down sniper fire on unsuspecting foes, or you can just run-and-gun with your SMG. This map fits all play styles nicely, although I could do without the annoying click clacking noise from the oil rig surface. I know I’m not alone here, either.
Parish takes you to the war-torn French Quarter located in New Orleans, Louisiana in the United States. This map is one of the smaller maps of the bunch, perfect for those who want to run-and-gun amongst the rubble left behind by the destruction of war.
This is probably my most favorite map of the bunch. Gulch is dominated by close quarters combat with narrow walkways. This is definitely not a map you want to snipe on, unless of course you’re one of those awesome quickscoper guys. My advice would be to run with an SMG so you are light on your feet, these areas are very small so you don’t want to sit around for too long. Of course you’ll have your campers who won’t move that will slow the pace of the game down, but without that issue, this map is actually one of the better DLC maps we have seen on Modern Warfare 3. There’s a few indoor areas you can run into if there is some sort of lethal attack chopper in the sky. I’m sure when you are done playing Parish you will want to vote for this map instantly right afterwards.
Gulch is an abandoned mining town surrounded by mountains, mine shafts and equipment sheds. You’ll have yourself plenty of opportunities to flank opponents on this map. The color palette of this map will take you back to the Modern Warfare 2 days where we remember Afghan. Now these two maps are not similar in any way, but you get that feeling when you see brown dominate your screen, with a bunch of big ass rocks everywhere.
Despite the dominate brown color palette that sweeps through Gulch, this is one of the more nicer looking maps on the entire game. There’s a nice river that flows through the map that leads into a waterfall, which you can fall off of and kill yourself, which I recommend you don’t do. Outside of a small cave, and a few small broken homes there’s not much place for cover here. You’ll have to bob and weave your way around the rocks and broken shelter to play here. If it wasn’t for Parish, Gulch would be my #1 DLC map in Modern Warfare 3. This map just plays perfectly. There’s not many places to sit and pitch a tent and it can cater to all play styles nicely.
Set on the Jersey Coast of the United States, your battlefield is set on a sunny afternoon at the boardwalk. With various tourist attractions around, such as a rollercoaster or arcade, you’ll battle it out on this war-torn map. Boardwalk can get a bit intense at times. There’s so many shops you can run in and out of that can change the pace of the game up in an instant.
The one thing I hate about this map is that it reminds me of Jersey Shore. You know, that terrible show on MTV that finally got cancelled? The thing I did like about this map, is that I got to shoot it up and kill some bad guys in the process. Finding your way around this map can be a bit tricky, because there’s so many shops you can enter that it may be hard for some to distinguish the difference between them. You won’t have any trouble ducking and hiding from incoming Predator Missiles here. I’m not quite sure how sniping would work here, but I wouldn’t recommend it until you familiarize yourself with the map. There’s t-shirt shops, tattoos shops, game rooms and food areas to navigate through. It’s quite confusing at first, but if you’re an avid Call of Duty player you should welcome this map with open arms.
Well, after reading a bit about each of these maps, the final 3 drops for us ELITE users today (Boardwalk, Gulch, Parish) were by far my favorite DLC drops on Modern Warfare 3 period. Not only do you get that rush of urgency that people are actually running around and playing, the game feels good. If I had to pick a favorite from this pack, it would be Parish. If I had to pick my least favorite, it would be Off Shore. Off Shore doesn’t really lend itself to the quick run and gun style that I’m a huge fan of, and that annoying metal surface can be bothersome. Parish is everything I look for in a Call of Duty map. Action packed, quick to navigate and remember, gun on gun action and it doesn’t suit the camping play style.
If I had to rate this map pack as a whole, it easily gets a 4.5/5. This is the map pack all of you multiplayer junkies have been waiting for. There’s no extra Spec Ops mission or tacky game mode thrown into this collection, it’s strictly multiplayer. After a long content season of the biggest DLC support in Call of Duty history, Modern Warfare 3’s post-launch DLC support is now over. It’s a bittersweet yet exciting moment, as most players look ahead in the future to Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 launching in 2 months.
Don’t forget that Collection 4: Final Assault launches for Xbox 360 users tomorrow. A date for the PlayStation 3 and PC have yet to be confirmed, but once that information is available we will publish it here on MP1st. So how many Modern Warfare 3 heads are patiently awaiting this pack? Let us know in the comments below!
DICE has been listening to fan feedback and today they acted with more traditional map presets for consoles. The brand new map rotations can be found below.
Live now on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, conquest only with a mixture of vanilla and Back to Karkand expansion maps.
Live now on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Rush only on vanilla and Back to Karkand expansion maps.
Live now on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 11, Conquest only on Armored Kill expansion maps.
Live now on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 11, Rush only on Armored Kill expansion maps.
Live now on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 11, Tank Superiority on Armored Kill expansion maps.
This news comes a few weeks after DICE announces they have quadrupled official servers. Let us know in the comment section below how you feel about these new map rotation presets. As always, stay tuned to MP1st for all of your Battlefield news.
As suggested to me in the comments of a previous post (which one I’ve of course forgotten), someone asked if I could round up a list of all the major bugs plaguing BF3. While I think the idea of exposing the gritty dirt of all the bugs and glitches is a good one, I don’t see how it could do much good. Of course if enough people start bugging DICE to fix whatever I mention DICE will probably do something, but BF3 is nearly a year old now. As far as games these days are concerned, BF3 is on life support and DLC is basically the only thing keeping it relevant. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed BF3 very much and have no plans to stop playing once MoH:WF and BOII release, but let’s be honest here, BF3 is on death’s door. So, what is my objective here? Isn’t getting BF3 bug-free worth it? Of course, but getting a year-old game running 100% bug-free is less important to me than making sure the next game has less bugs than the old one.
But bugs aren’t the only thing that bother me about BF3.
For the most part, I think DICE has done a great job in fixing most of BF3’s bugs. Yes, it took them forever but most of the major bugs have been or will be fixed soon. Yes, the M26 Dart glitch should never have made it into the wild, but how many bugs has DICE actually fixed? I’ll guess and say more than 1. In fact, if your review the patch notes for BF3, you’ll see that DICE has done basically nothing but listen to the community. If they did something we didn’t like (suppression buff), they revisited their decision. If there was something we thought was imbalanced, they made an effort to rebalance it (FAMAS). The patch that just recently released was also “100% based on community feedback,” according to community manager Daniel Matros.Yeah, BF3 was buggy as hell when it launched and there are still a few issues that need to be fixed, but overall, I give DICE an A for keeping their patching process rolling smoothly and fixing issues as they are reported. Additionally, I’m fairly certain every tweet I’ve ever sent to @Battlefield has been responded to within minutes. So all you folks complaining about their customer service can take a chill pill.
Bugs aside, I think BF3 has some major issues that need to be addressed in Battlefield 4. These issues are not things that DICE can fix in BF3, so don’t go ranting and raving at them please. Please keep in mind that my experience with BF3 has been strictly on console. I’ve played BF3 on PC, but not for more than an hour or so in total. Also keep in mind that a lot of these issues stem from the fact that BF3’s dedicated server system makes doing what P2P games do difficult in some ways and impossible in others. So it’s not all DICE’s fault.
It would be an understatement to say that BF3’s party system sucks. Frankly, it’s a load of shit. For a multiplayer game of BF3’s scale, only being able to join lobbies 4 people at a time is just dumb. What’s worse is that half the time, my friends end up on the other team or in a different squad. For BF4 to ride the wave of BF3’s massive success, they are going to have to improve or totally overhaul the party system. At least 8 people need to be able to play together in a party without having to worry about what team they’re going to end up on. I’ll admit that the smaller party size helps ensure quicker matchmaking, but I’d rather wait an extra 10 seconds than have to fight the game to put me and my friends on the same team and in the same squad. On a side note, the default VOIP setting should be team, not squad (wink wink @Battlefield).
While I really do enjoy watching all my in-game achievements and rewards whiz by, it’d be really great if I could actually modify my classes while waiting for the next match to begin. It’d also be nice to know what map is going to be next. But the biggest issue with the post-match lobby system is that, well, it’s basically functionless. Aside from the scoreboard, the post-match lobby in BF3 doesn’t do anything. This is one thing that COD has gotten right, and in a big way. The post/pre-match lobby in COD has a lot of functionality. I can adjust my classes, vote on the next map, invite my friends using the in-game party system, and interact with everyone else in the lobby. BF4’s post-match lobby is just a scoreboard and load of useless eye-candy to someone that has unlocked everything. BF4 needs to take a hint from COD and make it so we can create/join squads, invite our friend into our squad/game, edit our classes, and at least see what map/game is next.
Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that BF3 on console runs about as well as a car that’s been set on fire and had cement poured in the trunk. I’ve played BF3 at 120fps on a PC and while I might have sucked balls at it, I’ll be damned if it didn’t feel amazing to get my ass kicked. On console, BF3 runs scaled-down maps with inferior textures and reduced destruction, all at an underwheleming 30fps. While fps might not mean much to you, it means a lot to me. Fps is essentially the resolution of motion, the more fps, the more detail and clarity you get out of moving objects. Fps makes a big difference to an experienced player and if BF4 doesn’t run at 60fps or greater on next-gen consoles, I can’t say that I’ll be very happy. There are some other things about how BF3 preforms that I dislike like visual and auditory bugs, and I’ll admit that PCs are always going to run games better than consoles, but BF4 really needs to up the ante on console over its predecessor to keep the BF franchise competitive. 60fps is a standard benchmark of good performance for a reason.
Additionally, everything I’ve heard regarding the PC version of BF3 seems to indicate that it is a crash-fest. While I agree that games constantly crashing is beyond annoying, I think the issue has way less to do with the game or DICE than it does with the fact that EA basically forced the Origin platform on DICE. Origin, for lack of a better description, is a boat-load of shit. Most games that require it to run are prone to crashing, so it’s no surprise that BF3 suffers as much as it does from shutdowns. Essentially, EA needs to overhaul Origin and DICE needs to examine possible fixes for the crash issues so BF4 doesn’t have the same issue.
From what I’ve been able to gather from watching PC players and reading up on the epidemic of hacking BF3 players have been subjected to on PC, I can only say that if hacking isn’t dealt with better in BF4, BF on PC is going to die. Right now, hacking, or “scripting” is basically destroying DayZ’s momentum. Granted, DayZ is just a free mod and a real DayZ game is just a few months away from release, but hackers and script kiddies have soured the DayZ experience to the point that a lot of the people have stopped playing it. That’s going to hurt the standalone DayZ’s sales, which is going to hurt the future of DayZ. Hacking in FPS games is high on the list of shit gamers hate dealing with and if DICE and other game developers can’t stop hackers from polluting the online experience, the lifespan of their games is going to drop off much faster than it does now. Rockstar has the right idea in forcing hackers to play against each other and segregating them from legitimate players, but the ability of people to hack online games needs to be addressed, head on.
For my final complaint, I’d like to make it clear that I am routinely astounded by the lack of skill the average player of FPS online games seems to have. Back in my day, if you were 18 or younger, you were basically assumed to be a beast at gaming. Kids used to rule gaming and today, it seems like they’re just fish in a barrel. Maybe a decade of experience and the intelligence that comes with being a college-educated 25 year old gives me a slight advantage over most of the people playing COD and BF3, but holy shit do most people suck at these games. I can’t even begin to describe the level of stupid I am subjected to when I play online FPS games. Most people can’t aim for shit. Just about everyone runs in whatever direction they happen to be facing when they spawn, regardless of what’s happening on the rest of the map. Playing the objective seems to be the opposite of playing the objective. The mini-map might as well not exist. And I’ll be damned if 2/3 of all players can’t fly a helicopter to save their life.
BF3 isn’t as easy to get kills in as in COD. The maps are bigger, there’s a lot more going on between all the vehicles and additional players, and the guns aren’t nearly as death-laser-accurate as the ACR 6.8. But that’s no excuse for how bad most people seem to be at BF3. On the rare occasion that I run into a competitive group of players, they’re on the other team and stomping my team’s ass. Despite how well I do, it seems like I lose more often because of dumbass teammates than anything else. So, it’d be great if BF4 had some more options for matchmaking, like a “don’t put me on a team of trolling derps” matchmaking option. How do you determine who’s a trolling derp for a brand new game? Well, as time goes on, people should get better at the game. If they don’t, then they get matched with other equally-unskilled players. Think of your stats and how often you’re rewarded for playing the objective like a measure of how good you are. If your numbers improve week-to-week, you are getting better. If they aren’t, you’re doing something wrong or don’t have the skills to be a good player. I want to play against players as good as I am and I think skill-based matchmaking will resolve a lot if not all of my player-related issues with the BF franchise. It will also improve the lifespan of all FPS games by making it easier for players late to the game to get better at it instead of just always getting stomped by the people with tons of experience.
To wrap it all up, BF3 has laid the groundwork for the future of the BF franchise. For BF4 to be a success, BF3’s issues have to stay BF3’s issues. Issues carrying over from one game to the next is what’s been holding COD back since WAW and it’s a big part of what kills franchises. If BF4 can improve the BF experience and address BF3’s mistakes, I think it has the potential to wrest the crown of the king of games from COD’s massive hands. If not, oh well. Overcoming the challenges of next-gen console development is going to make or break a lot of games and franchises for Holiday 2013, hopefully BF4 isn’t among the bruised and broken come 2014.
What are your thoughts? Are there any issues you think DICE needs to address for BF4? Also, don’t bring up your desire for MOH to not exist or their being a sequel to BF:BC2 instead of BF3 in 2014, shit ain’t happening.
If you want DICE to hear what you have to say and can be constructive and form a strong/intelligent opinion, get in touch with them on their twitter profile.
Thank you for reading.
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Rejoice PlayStation 3 and PC users, Content Collection 3 for Modern Warfare 3 is almost at your fingertips. To those of you waiting for more multiplayer maps to master and have fun on, you’ll have to wait. Content Collection 3’s main primary focus is on improving the Spec Ops experience, although Face Off get’s some final support as well.
Included in the Content Collection 3 are as follows.
U-Turn, Vortex and Intersection are the final pieces that will be added to the multiplayer Face Off mode. Vertigo and Arctic Recon are the final additions to Spec Ops, and Chaos Mode adds a whole new meaning to survival. If you have yet to see any of this content, you can read our own reviews on these items here and here.
Any PlayStation 3 and PC users excited to finally get their hands on this content? Let us know in the comments below! Don’t forget Xbox 360 users, Content Collection 4 will be available to you this Thursday on September 6th.
Featuring 5 playable multiplayer characters, including all of their parts is the brand new Havoc Pack. These new body parts can be interchanged within all the other Transformers sharing the same class. With this addition of 5 new Transformers and new body parts, it adds to the impossibly high number of possible combinations you can come up with. For those wondering, each part can be bought individually for those who only want certain parts from this pack.
This new Havoc Pack can be bought directly from each system’s marketplace, or from the character selection screen for 800 Microsoft Points, or $10 via PSN. Don’t worry, all purchased DLC will immediately be added for fast access to the multiplayer customization area. The 5 new Transformers include Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus, Perceptor, Zeta Prime and Blast Off.
Any loyal Transformers fan out there diving into Fall of Cybertron yet? Feel free to let us know your thoughts on the game or DLC itself in the comments below. If you haven’t yet, feel free to check out our own multiplayer review of Fall of Cybertron!
Capcom has officially revealed the dates and details of the upcoming Resident Evil 6 demo.
The demo will be arriving on September 18th for PS3 and Xbox Live Gold Members (25th for silver). The demo consists of three story campaign modes that can either be played Solo or you can take it online in Co-op matches. You’ll play as either Leon S. Kennedy or Helena Harper and fight through three stages. This demo is completely different than the previous one that was released on Xbox a while back.
Also, if you did buy Dragon’s Dogma for the PS3, the demo that was on Xbox 360 exclusively will be available VIA token download tomorrow.
If you played Fall of Cybertron multiplayer you would have notice that it’s missing one of the biggest things about the game, the Dinobots. While they are apart of the single player portion of the title, the reasoning behind leaving them out of Multiplayer sadly had to do with just how would they incorporate it into the multiplayer.
“They have a different animation system, their rigs are different, and we didn’t know how we would fit them into the carefully balanced set of archetypes (cars, trucks, tanks, and planes). They didn’t fit any of those classes, and we couldn’t make a fifth class and have it be just the Dinobots,” director Matt Tieger told Polygon.
However, it seems that this has now been fixed and starting next week you’ll be able to download a new Multiplayer pack titled “Dinobots Destructor”, which will include the Dinobots Grimlock, Slug, Snarl, and Swoop. All Dinobots will have a vehicles form, along with special abilities and their own classes. No pricing, however has been set for this new DLC pack.
Screenshots of the new DLC:
What are your thoughts on this DLC Pack? What if it costs money? Leave your comment down below.
