The Battlefield franchise has always had a largely fan-driven rivalry with Call of Duty when it comes to first-person shooter video games. If sales numbers are statistics to go by, the latter is clearly in the driver's seat. Meanwhile, the latest Battlefield title has been in a catastrophic state since its launch last year to a point that EA dare not share any Battlefield 2042 sales data. Things are looking quite grim for such a prominent IP that was doing very well for itself a decade ago. Sadly, DICE threw out what worked with its older successful titles in favor of a new long-term strategy that hasn't paid off so far.
There was a glimmer of greatness with the 2010 release of Bad Company 2, but Battlefield 3, released to critical acclaim a year later, sold 15 million units within a year, had a significant cultural impact, and would set the standard for future games to come. Battlefield 3 made a splash in the gaming world after launching the same year as the highly anticipated Modern Warfare 3, yet still seeing great success on its own. The vast maps, combat realism, stellar voice acting, and the excellent singleplayer campaign of Battlefield 3 set the stage for a bright future, only for lackluster sequels to set the franchise back.
Battlefield 3: Short And Sweet Single-Player Campaign
Battlefield 3 has one of the shortest singleplayer campaigns in the FPS genre. WIth optimal play, a player can finish the 12 missions in a little over three hours. That said, the brevity of the story doesn't take anything away from it. In some ways, the strength of Battlefield 3's campaign comes from its ability to condense an action-packed war thriller into a short time frame. The non-linear reverse order of the narrative adds to the uniqueness, and Dima would become an iconic enough character to be brought back in Battlefield 4. Unfortunately, Battlefield 4 proceeded to unceremoniously kill Dima when he deserved a more dramatic sendoff like Soap's death in Modern Warfare 3.
Battlefield 3 also had a more realistic outlook on war. Unlike many other FPS games, the soldiers in Battlefield 3 have a genuine sense of danger. In the "Kaffarov" mission, when one of the US Marines realizes that they were fighting Russian paratroopers, he started worrying about a potential nuclear war between the two superpowers, wondering whether his fellow soldiers were in over their heads. Of course, good storytelling is important in any campaign, but Battlefield 2042 not having a traditional singleplayer campaign contributed to its gradual slump, as it had no solid solo mode to fall back on.
The Impact Of Voice Acting In Battlefield
In terms of pure gameplay, voice acting isn't the first priority. However, games where good writing meets good voice acting become etched into memories. Bad Company 2 certainly had the most memorable banter, but it's just as hard to forget the expletive-ridden snippets in the Battlefield 3 multiplayer mode. Even Battlefield 1 had noteworthy voice acting, which makes the out of place soldier voice lines in Battlefield 2042 absolutely inexcusable.
That said, Battlefield 3 gets a lot of credit for having original Russian voice acting for the GRU unit in the game's campaign. Most other titles would settle for English voice acting with a Russian accent that is usually typical in games featuring Russians, but Battlefield 3 went the extra mile by including Russian dialogue with fluent Russian speakers voicing Dima, Vladimir, and Kiril.
Battlefield 3's Combat Immersion
A recurring criticism of modern FPS games stems from the increasing instinct from developers to design games in a futuristic setting. That instinct comes down to a fundamental misunderstanding of what makes for good game design in first-person shooters. Instead of trying to add science-fiction gimmicks like robot soldiers, Battlefield 3 sticks to the basics, but in a way that exploits the full potential of contemporary combined arms military doctrine.
The game brilliantly combined the on-foot combat that most FPS gameplay consists of with vehicular and aerial combat to great effect. Those may be mechanics that are taken for granted today, but Battlefield 3 implemented them more proficiently than even some modern titles.
One aspect that Battlefield 3 excelled at, beyond purely combat, is in the destructible environments. This is another detail that other first-person shooters often omit. In most FPS games, the player can hide behind a wall or a door to shield themselves from explosives or sniper fire, but not in Battlefield 3. The game set the standard of no camping spot ever being truly safe. Disappointingly, Battlefield 2042 is somewhat lacking in destruction, with most maps like Exposure not set in urban environments.
Battlefield 3 Multiplayer Maps Tower Over Battlefield 2042 Maps
For a game that focuses purely on multiplayer gameplay, one would expect Battlefield 2042 multiplayer maps to be excellent. Yet, David Goldfarb, the lead designer behind Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3, even lamented the maps in Battlefield 2042. He was especially critical about the lack of small infantry maps, questioning why the 128 player maps had no infantry accommodations. Battlefield 3 showed the world what the Battlefield sandbox experience really was all about, which is why Caspian Border remains one of the best multiplayer maps in the series.
However, Battlefield 2042 did get a few things right, and one of them is large maps. That said, a lot of what works in Battlefield 2042 had its roots in Battlefield 3. Aside from the map verticality and equipment, it's no wonder that the most popular feature of the game is the Portal Mode, where players can enjoy maps from older games including Battlefield 1943, Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3. Otherwise, Battlefield 2042 is viewed as a bug-riddled mess that pales in comparison to past entries in the franchise. For the next Battlefield game, DICE should take the franchise back to its roots in order to match the standards set by Battlefield 3.
Battlefield 2042 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S