PC Game News

Medics are no more, Recon gets new toys

DICE has revealed that the Medic and Assault classes will be merged in Battlefield 3′s multiplayer mode, and it’s eradicating the dedicated doctor and handing lifesaving duties to the Assault men.

“All the abilities such as medkits and defibrillators typically found on the Medic class are now incorporated into Assault,” reveals DICE’s Battleblog.

“It makes sense that the class on the frontline will be able to revive fallen team mates, right? Right! Remember, you can play it your way, so if you want to customize your Assault soldier more towards medic abilities or towards serious gunplay, it’s totally up to you.”

Keeping numbers up is the return of the Support class, which has the ability to use light machine guns and can lay down heavy fire.

“Support has always been about heavy infantry firepower from his LMG,” says Alan Kertz, senior multiplayer designer at DICE. “It’s a role that we’ve wanted to feel different than Assault’s running and gunning.”

DICE has also confirmed two new features coming to Battlefield 3; Bipods and Suppressive Fire.  Bipods provide a substantial increase in stability while laying down a base of fire and can be deployed anywhere by zooming in with your LMG when prone, or when standing/kneeling in front of suitable supports, such as a window sill.

Using a Bipod means a massive boost in accuracy and recoil reduction. “You’ll be able to unload an entire clip of 200 bullets from your LMG with great accuracy without even letting go of the trigger,” says the blog.

Suppressive Fire works like this; When you lay down fire near to an enemy, the barrage will show up as a graphical blur effect on his screen to cause stress and let him know it probably isn’t safe to pop out of cover just yet.

It also affects his in-game firing accuracy, making him less of a threat. You’ll get team play experience points for using the realistic tactics of Suppressive Fire.

“Supported shooting with Bipods and Suppressive Fire finally allows us to achieve an obvious difference between Assault and Support, since the heavy LMGs are not terribly mobile,” explains Kertz. “When deployed with a Bipod, they become an incredibly powerful force. Suppressive Fire forces the enemy to keep their head down and lets the Support gunner pin his enemies in place so teammates can flank.”

Finally the Recon class has been tweaked as well:

“Recon traditionally has been seen as just a sniper,” Kertz said. “We wanted to change that perception, so we’ve built several completely new team-play oriented gadgets specifically for the Recon class so he can be a team player, even if he’s sitting on the top of Wookie Mountain.”

Source: Battlefield 3 Blog

‘We’re just making the product bigger,” says executive producer Patrick Bach

With Battlefield 3, people who like multiplayer will get a huge multiplayer game. People who like single-player will get a quality campaign. Neither will take away from the other.

That’s the message from DICE’s executive producer Patrick Bach, who promises the game will cater to the two often very separate parties without sacrificing the quality of either.

“Most people that hate singleplayer are the ones that love multiplayer. That’s fine – you don’t have to play it,” he told Edge.

“We want the product to cater for the people who do like singleplayer and also the people who like multiplayer – and we are adding co-op, too – trying to fill the gaps all the way from the hardcore full-on Conquest mode, to the narrative-driven singleplayer.

“People just have to understand that we aren’t taking people away from one thing or the other. We’re just making the product bigger.”

Speaking to our friends at PSM3 mag recently, Bach said Battlefield 3 is the game every shooter fan “claims they want”.

Source: CVG

Continuing what seems to be a franchise tradition, EA has further clarified how the upcoming “Physical Warfare Pack” for Battlefield 3 will work. Currently a pre-order bonus exclusive, the Pack unlocks the Type 88 light machine gun and the DAO-12 semi-automatic shotgun. “The three exclusive items in the Physical Warfare Pack were specifically chosen not to be overpowered or imbalance or break the game in any way,” DICE previously insisted, suggesting that the unlocks would only be available for those that pre-order the game. “Owning these items will give you a more varied arsenal, but it will not give you a significant advantage on the battlefield.”

EA has since updated its position, noting that the “Physical Warfare Pack is a time-based exclusive. If you do not pre-order Battlefield 3 at a retailer carrying the Physical Warfare Pack, don’t worry. We will unlock the contents of the Physical Warfare Pack for free to all Battlefield 3 players later this year.” Essentially, EA is resolving this concern the same way they did when Battlefield: Bad Company drew similar ire.

The free Back to Karkand expansion being offered to everyone that pre-orders the game will also not be available when the game launches, EA reiterated. “It is not day one DLC and it is not on the base game disc.” The first expansion for the game is being developed by a separate team at DICE, the same team that developed the Vietnam expansion for Bad Company 2. Offering it for free when it releases is “a sweet deal,” EA says, adding that it will be available at the same time for people that did and didn’t pre-order the game. “There is no segmentation of the community when we launch the base game.”

Obviously, EA is trying to incentivize pre-orders as much as possible by offering early weapon unlocks and free DLC. But if you don’t feel like being an early adopter, you now no longer have to fear that you won’t be able to access all the content being created for Battlefield 3.

Source: ShackNews

DICE puts 10 years and eight games of work into their latest multiplayer shooter.

Battlefield 3 is developer DICE’s eighth game in the franchise. With over a decade of experience in the multiplayer shooter space, Battlefield 3 represents its attempt to make their biggest, most inclusive shooter yet. Accessibility is a huge mandate for the studio (with the team focusing on making a game that appeals to both team players, lone wolves, console owners and the hardcore PC audience), but above all else, fun is king. From listening to the community, to examining the failings of their previous games, to making a title that takes full advantage of their new engine, Battlefield 3′s multiplayer is a work in progress. Unpolished as it is, though, it’s already a hell of a lot of fun.

For More on this Go Over to IGN, RIGHT HERE!

Source:  IGN

EA claims the Battlefield this October!  EA’s slapped an October 25 release date on Battlefield 3, which will get a multiplatform beta this September.

Battlefield 3 is being shown off on PS3 and PC this week at E3, with popular multiplayer mode Rush playable on PC at EA’s booth in the LA Convention Center.

Battlefield 3 executive producer Patrick Bach said: “We are proud to finally open the curtains and reveal Battlefield 3. The core development team has been together since 2005. We’ve grown together, taken some knocks together and now, we’re ready to take first person shooters to a whole new level, together.

“Like so many gamers out there, we’ve had some pretty wild ideas about what we’d want to see in a shooter. Until now, it was all just fantasy. But with Frostbite 2, even our most far-reaching ideas are becoming a reality. This is the game we’ve always wanted to create.”

Source: Blue’s News