Battlefield 4 beta on PS3
Haven’t mentioned the gaming part of my hobby life much, mostly because personally tend to find a game to get hooked on and then play just that specific game, which for nearly two years now has been Battlefield 3.
With over 550 hours of BF 3 in online multiplayer, it may come as no surprise that like many, am looking forward to the new Battlefield 4 game. Since the open beta became available yesterday for premium members, spent a few hours playing it on Playstation 3.
Illustration by Fuyuno Haruaki (Pixiv).
Taking into account that it is a beta version with possible kinks and bugs in it, there’s quite a few things that have struck me, both positive and negative.
Am not sure this particular point is due to it being a beta, but I was rather underwhelmed by the graphics on Playstation 3. Next to very simple textures, find that the colors of the weapons and vehicles seem shiny and saturated. Perhaps the large map and other improvements already require too much from the console?
On Playstation 3, the default controller layout has been altered, while some of these changes make sense (like remapping the spot command) it can be quite frustrating if you’re accustomed to one specific layout for years, like me. Also, felt the overall response of most controls is more clunky and raw compared to the previous game.
Something I do appreciate more over the previous installment is the less invasive hud, it is unlikely to clutter your screen with large brightly colored text or icons that may hide the important action behind it.
The gun dynamics seem to be quite good, though am struggling even more than before to be accurate and getting my shots on target. Especially with vehicles the cannon drop off and machine gun inaccuracy seems to have been significantly increased.
Much has already been said about the suppression effect and do wonder if the changes made to it will really turn out to be positive since less accurate shooters will likely be unable to suppress enemies if their first shots miss the mark.
Also, had the impression while playing that less hits are required to get a kill compared to Battlefield 3, so am wondering if there isn’t an even bigger risk of camping and spawn killing becoming an issue.
Considering that, do suspect we might see a very pronounced shift that will put talented sharpshooters even more ahead of the field than others, even on -or especially on- console.
With the changed button layout and accuracy woes, playing conquest or domination on the impressive ‘Siege of Shangai’ map in the Battlefield 4 beta has not been as much fun for me as playing a random ctf or conquest match in Battlefield 3.
Hence, personally I just might wait to purchase Battlefield 4 until it has been out for a few weeks or months, that extra time will help me decide to either switch to Playstation 4 or to PC. For me, the allure of PC gaming is that keyboard and mouse should make it easier to be more accurate, while the allure of console gaming is that I can do it comfortably from the couch.
Are you a gamer? What games do you like to play?
Blue Blue Wave 