Frostbite 2.0 might be a big leap forward for Battlefield tech, but it obviously shares many similarities with the Frostbite 1.5 engine used in Bad Company 2. In the Metro map that the Beta centres around, outdoor terrain and water effects are dead ringers for the PC version of BC2, but the foliage system has been given a healthy watering with the extra detail hose. We especially love the way trees sway when caught in the shockwave of a nearby explosion. However, it's immediately apparent that the lighting engine has been heavily reworked; gone is the glowing blurriness of its predecessor, with the game world subtly illuminated by a more realistic lighting system that feels crisper and sharper than before. The lighting system now has the ability to display dozens of light sources on screen at any one time. Watching a rocket soar down the Metro station's tunnels, lighting up its surrounds like a miniature sun as it glides by, has to be one of 2011's most visually striking game moments. Sparks from bullet strikes also illuminate nearby objects, while the beams from the tactical lights strapped to your team mate's guns are all present and accounted for. Looking at the engine used in Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2 for comparative purposes (MW3 is, after all, going to be using similar tech), the competition looks positively flat and dull.
Man-made objects also appear more refined this time around, shunning the blocky, chunky plasticine constructions seen in Bad Company 2. Considering much of the beta takes place in a train station, the new detail is hard to miss in the many tiled surfaces, ticket gates and offices. Unfortunately most of it isn't destructible – while certain walls shatter and tiles crack, the beta definitely isn't indicative of the wholesale destruction that we know Frostbite 2.0 capable of.
Considering the hype around the new ANT animation system, we have to admit to being a little underwhelmed by our first extended glimpse at in action. There's something about the way troops run that looks a little artificial, almost as if they're hunched over too far. Still, when it does work properly, the way each animation melds into the next is a subtle improvement over the jarring animations of the past.
It's no surprise to hear that Battlefield 3's weapon sound effects and explosions are the best in the biz. Ever since Dice introduced a high dynamic range audio engine back in the first Bad Company, the barking monsters in Bad Company have made the competition sound like pathetic cap guns. The effects in BF3 aren't a massive leap forwards from Bad Company 2, still being supremely satisfying, but everything sounded a little bit crisper than before. Battlefield pioneered the way troops automatically yell out voice prompts, but this system appears to be broken in the beta. Perhaps it's the fact we've been spoilt by the lively chatterboxes in Red Orchestra 2, but the troops in the beta are mute by comparison.
There's no denying that even in this early state, Battlefield 3 is already a contender for best audio visual package of the year, and we haven't even seen what it can do when rendering larger areas. Best of all is the fact that it runs extremely well. We expected our dual GTX 580, 4.5GHz i5 PC to handle everything rather nicely, but didn't think we'd be able to set everything to maximum and still maintain a vsynch locked 60fps... while recording in 1080p with FRAPs. Even those running much lesser hardware are reporting excellent performance, so it might be wise to hold on to that upgrade cash until we see what the larger maps demand.
Laying down on the job
The reintroduction of prone was a controversial choice by Dice, and the beta's incarnation is somewhat of a buggy mess. Leaping face first into the dirt has a 50/50 chance of pushing the player's body right through the ground and into the Twilight Zone below. When it does work, proning in low lying shrub has the potential to turn the game into a sniper's delight, but the introduction of scope sparkling has allayed those fears. Regardless of whether a sniper is facing into the sun or not, all sniper scopes exhibit bright reflections, making them obvious targets from long range. Some may argue that it's a little bit over the top, making the recon class more vulnerable than useful, but at least it stops the game from becoming Snipeathon 2011. The dynamic lighting system makes rifle fire from prone also quite easy to spot, but this risk is balanced out by the additional stability of a prone firing platform.
Another major introduction to the movement system is the ability to mount bipod equipped weaponry on any surface, provided it's just the right height or you're prone. It works rather well, if not as refined as Red Orchestra 2's mounting system, but will become a vital tool in any defender's arsenal. Setting up shop with a mounted MG249 is a great way to keep enemy player's heads down, activating the new suppression system that causes their view to blur while their aim falters. It's easy to rack up serious suppression points, though the visual effects on the receiver's end could be a little more pronounced.
The ability to vault and mantle waist-high fences is the final evolution of player movement. It feels a little clumsy at first, especially if you've spent any time doing in-game acrobatics with Brink's machine gun-toting gymnasts, but soon becomes second nature. You'll be hurdling through the battlefield like an Olympic hurdler in no time. There's one movement that Battlefield doesn't include that we're really missing – apparently the troops within have a steel pole instead of a spine, as it's impossible to lean. Perhaps it's a limitation of the netcode, which has to track so many more things than competing shooters, or that it would result in impossible to overrun defenders, but the lack of lean initially feels very limiting. You'll learn to live with it, but that doesn't mean you like it.
No comments:
Post a Comment