Battlefield 3 campaign will be more scripted, less sandbox style

DICE's Patrick Bach has stated in a recent interview that "sandbox games are hardcore, boring, hard to get into and they are not very popular"

[user858621]

damn!, ahwell still got lots of mods and 64player mp to keep me occupied :)

[Pixel_Pusher]

What was that bullshit about not copying the competition? yeah...

It's popular because it's the only garbage game developers put out these days. A sandbox FPS for consoles would have been badass.

[badz149]

I just hope that "linearity" will not be suddenly praised like the second coming in here just because BF3 will be like one. I remember clearly that KZ3 is bashed and criticized by many on this site for being scripted and linear. it's not THAT hard really to remember because it's just like less than a month ago!

just lets be cool here shall we? devs have their own ideas of what is best for their games. DICE thought that THIS will suit BF3 better, so be it! I just can't wait to play the game. KZ3 is linear but does that strip it off from being a great game? NO and NEVER WILL BE! a great game is still a great game be it sandbox or not. lets just get over with this "linearity" thing and judge games over how well they are executed and gameplay because those are what make or break a game!

[Burning_Finger]

Holy S***. That's one big fail. Now they are trying to copy COD now. NO NO NO NO NO!!!

[velocitygamer]

Cod has always been linear. Have you seen the Battlefield 3 Episode 3 clip? Looks very linear... /s

[BattleAxe]

Battlefield: Bad Company 1 had the best campaign between 1 and 2 because it was open world, but this campaign could still be a thrill ride. Its too bad they didn't release Bad Company 1 on PC.

[bozebo]

Sandbox games that are made sandbox for the sake of being sandbox are bad. Because some suit at a board meeting says: "we need to make it sandbox because sales figures blah blah... unique selling point... blah blah... 3D... blah blah"

What I don't understand is: "sandbox games are hardcore, boring, hard to get into and they are not very popular"
er... no. Being hardcore has no relation to sandbox at all. Same goes for being hard to get into. And for the last part... gta?

[i_like_ff7]

So its gonna be just like Call of Duty -__-? Snore....

[Reefskye]

BF2 didn't even have a campaign, people played BF for the MP not SP so any SP is a bonus..

[BubbleSniper]

pretty much this

[BlmThug]

Well I Play A Game For SP Campaign, The MP Is A fun Distraction So I Want A Game With Non Linear Gameplay

[BlackTar187]

I don't even remember BF2142 having a SP campaign if it did i didn't care for it and Bf2 def did not have one other then a you vs. drones warmup.

People are gonna complain no matter what for console because they don't get 64vs64

I cant remeber playing a SP for BF1942 or vietnam

[GamerSciz]

The part in Episode 3 of BF3 teaser footage where they are at the bridge DICE confirmed that you can either go on top of the bridge for cover or go underneath and just run and gun. That sounds somewhat open in comparison to CoD which you can't do a single thing. Keep in mind BF3 is the Frostbite 2.0 engine with crazy destruction so it can't be TOO scripted considering walls and doors can more then likely be blown to bits.

[Dr Face Doctor]

I'm okay with this as long as the multiplayer is good. I might as well be dazzled when I play singleplayer.

[D3athc3ll]

Open world games r boring? Damn i enjoyed Red Dead Redemption so much!!

Oh well i knew BF 3 singleplayer wont be sandbox, but the multiplayer will be!!! Cant wait for it!

64 players, huge maps, best graphics, and everything else that is good!!

[Raendom]

No BF fan gives a sh*t about the SP, it's a one-playthrough thing and nobody expects anything remarkable. They're only adding it because to come out at the same time as CoD which features 3 modes, having MP-only would look weak but a real gamer knows a hugely polished MP game is better than mindless nonsense.

[BlackTar187]

I think there adding it more for consoles. PC players are gonna go straight to MP if they are a BF fan at all considering they all had no SP that I can remember and some def. did not. i don't think the pc crowd cares.

[Close_Second]

I have no problem with scripted points throughout a game to help keep it moving as long as its not tightly linear approach to combat and problem solving.

[sasuke99]

-
I said this before, they are trying to imitate "CoD's SP
campaign", you know depending solely on stupid boring scripted events, following a guy, shoot some dudes to get from point A to B that's it, but the MP will bit different if not the "SAME AS BF2"

[BlackTar187]

BF is about MP.

Maybe BFBC is about story but BF is all MP.

[Pandamobile]

What the hell is wrong with you guys. Just about every great single-player FPS game is linear.

[k4rma]

BioShock 1 & 2, Stalker series, Crysis 1 & 2, Far Cry, Far Cry 2, Borderlands Fallout 3 & NV. Oh yeah I see what ya mean. No sandbox there.

[DrHouse]

Crysis says hi, Halo is also only Part-linear with multiple ways to flank the enemy.

Panda, normally with such a high rating id expect better sense from you...

[Pandamobile]

You guys are acting like a heavily scripted FPS is a bad thing.

Not every FPS game has to be STALKER or Crysis. Sometimes it's nice to just get a really refined, expertly paced FPS game.

[Optical_Matrix]

Not sure about Crysis 1 but Crysis 2 is hardly sanbox. As with Halo Reach. You still have to go from Point A to B, but you get an option of 2 or 3 pathways that aren't even that different from eachother. That DOES NOT make it sanbox. Sanbox is GTA, Red Dead. I don't know a single FPS that comes close to that kind of openness.

Killzone 3 was heavily scripted and linear yet it was one of the best single player experiences I've hard in a shooter because it was well done. Uncharted 2, although not an FPS, was also linear and scripted...yet it won over 100 awards in 2009 and again, is one of the best gaming experiences I've had. Going buy your logic, MGS4 was sandbox. It wasn't. It just had sanbox ELEMENTS.

[wallis]

My concern isn't that the game will be linear and hence bad, what concerns me is that the head of a games development company could be so blind as to dismiss a HUGE section of the gaming market as 'boring, HARDCORE, hard to get into and not very popular'.

A) GTA4, assassins creed, fallout, oblivion, stalker, borderlands, red dead, red faction guerilla and countless others are all great examples of open world enjoyable games.

b) Hardcore... let me save this for last.

c) I thought the point of sandbox games was that they are fun and care free? A la just cause 2.

d) Oh yes, that list of games above all suffered abysmal sales.

Right... the hardcore comment. This is the most concerning pointer of all because, well, there just isn't enough time this God Damned century to tell you why a company like DICE treating the phrase 'hardcore' like it was coated in anthrax is a bad thing.

[k4rma]

When you've played a hundred linearly scripted FPS's, the interest value starts to wane. Thats why we need sandbox in our shooters. CoD milking killed the linear shooter.

[Heavy_Rain]

Except when its KZ then linearity is a bad thing right pandamobile?

[bigboss911]

Panda is right. Besides since when do soldiers get to wander off and do what they want??? Makes no sense in the context of the story.

[k4rma]

Ha I knew it. And this is why I'm not buying it.

Crysis 2 had a very nice balance between freedom and scripted thumb twiddling linear boredom.

[BlackTar187]

BF= MP

this isnt BFBC this is BF.

If your not buying it for the MP then your were buying it for the wrong reasons all together :)

@below
Your missing my point. Complaing about SP in BF is gonna fall on deaf ears to BF fans. BC was a story game this one seems like it only has story to help the Console crowd since its the first true BF game to come to console.

BF1943 is the exception.

"MP is a cancer thats killing real games. " is the line that doesn;t make sense with BF. At least there gi ving the console crowd a SP game id be happy with ano another BF with no SP and all the MP goodness that it brings.

I wish they could scrap the SP altogether and figure a way to make the consoles 64v64

[k4rma]

But this BF has SP.

This article is about SP.

EDIT: I'm not directing at the fans. I'm directing at the developers and publishers. I'm a SP gamer, I dont care about MP anymore unless its coop. I feel MP is killing real games.

It doesn't matter that BF2 started out life as a purely MP only game. As a shooter fan, I played that game extensively, i'm saying i'm tired of that now. Please try something new and refreshing.

At the very least dont copy Mr popularity because he makes more money than you do.

[VenGencE999]

@blacktar187

Thanks! You've just saved me some greenbacks. I hope real BF fans enjoy what is sounding like a very pretty COD.

I agree with K4rma, MP is THE cancer that's killing real games.

Every FPS MP plays the same now, with very small differences in gameplay.

Awesome. Can't wait for the other 15 FPS's to come out this year as well, all playing the same but with different paint jobs.

[BlackTar187]

Okay your welcome :)

BF are not SP games they are doing this as a service basically to the console crowd. I mean its hard for me to believe that you were so hyped off a non BC BF game so much that your not gonna buy it now becasue of a liner game.

Everyone knows BF=MP goodness BC is not a true BF game which is why its basically a spin off.

Its kinda weird to me that anyone was going after a BF game be it BC or non BC at all for some super sick and crazy SP game.

I am more into SP games myself But BFBC is basically a tacked on SP game to BFBC MP. This is the first TRUE BF game with a Story and you guys are acting like it was some super succesful part of the game there messing with all the sudden when that couldnt be farther from the truth.

I am also LOL at anyone who was really buying a true BF game for a SP game and not a MP game. I just think your complaining to complain and if your not gonna buy it that's fine then since i think DICE think the same way i do BF=MP BFBC=SP/MP 2 different games.

i also think its nice for DICE to even include one considering all the past versions without it to help give Console gamers something since they can;t get 64v64.

also im not meaning to sound any specific way but BF was pop. solely for MP only and im pretty sure BF pc bows away any sales or anything the BFBC console do. On that note the stories in BC were not even good and no one even likes them that i can remember esp. part 2. No matter what BC does did or will do will never rival the real reason the game is popular and that is all MP goodnesss. have fun the MP is great comapred to other FPS

[VenGencE999]

I didn't read your entire rant about how BF is and has always been about MP.

I clicked on this article because it was about SP in a shooter I was interested in, as THAT'S what's important to ME, in my FPS world.

BF fans won't hear any complaints from me as one would have to own something to complain about it...;-)

[BeastlyRig]

Who cares!! MP is 64 players!!
Bigger than BF2 maps!!

- http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[k4rma]

MP is a cancer thats killing real games.

[Pandamobile]

You realize that Battlefield has been 100% multiplayer until this one, right?

[DrHouse]

@panda?

Does BF:BC 1&2 have Single player campaigns? Why yes. Yes they do.

[Pandamobile]

Bad Company is Bad Company.

Battlefield is Battlefield. None of the main Battlefield games have single player.

[BeastlyRig]

Even in a game that has always been about MP?

Battlefield games never usually have single player!!

BFBC 1 & BFBC2 is not Battlefield ok?

[stuntman_mike]

so what if its linear, aslong as the game is good i dont care.

[PS360PCROCKS]

I'm all for this as long as you have options and aren't being pushed through like COD like others have said. I personally love Crysis and Warhead but open world games lose their luster for me very quickly. I get bored with the arduous tasks and start just messing around. i'm sure this makes others disappointed but if it's done correctly it doesn't have to feel so linear. Think of it as an action movie, what's more fun the action or the parts where the bad actors pretend to care for the script and be poetic? I like action, i have ADD, I like to go go go, it keeps me playing. Crysis 2 actually has a very good mix of open world and linear gameplay. Bioshock is also a good example, your free to go where you want, free to explore, overtake an enemy in any way you want, but ultimately you can only do so much before you keep moving on through the campaign.

[gcolley]

i think you will be disappointed

[gypsygib]

I don't care if the SP is linear as long as it's fun. BFBC2's SP was terrible so creating a more cinematic experience is fine by me. Just give me a story that makes sense and is interesting.

MP is where it's at and few games offer the openness of Battlefield.

[Psychotica]

Well that just about guarantees I won't touch the single player. If I want a story I will watch a frigging movie

[ASSASSYN 36o]

Scripted! Enough of that crap. I have a huge problem with games these days forcing me to walk a path and have specified events happen when I hit a trigger. Tge replay value hits the toilet after a couple of run throughs. It is getting old. I love the first bad company. It was scripted but included open gameplay. Why the heck they have gradually abandoned that Is silly. Laziness is the only explanation.

[gcolley]

BF is the new CoD. if we wanted CoD we would buy CoD. this time next year EVERY game will be aimed at casual players. we had this nice little segmentation of hardcore games for the enthusiasts, now we have dumbed down PRGs and FPS. EA are just CoD fearing assholes ruining all my favorite games. BC1 was such a breath of fresh air, i played the campaign through 5 times. BC2... not even once through

[snipes101]

This headline is pretty misleading. He says most but not all sandbox games are boring. This makes it seem like he's bashing the entire genre. Someone needs to change that.

[Nac]

"Battlefield 3 campaign will be more scripted, less sandbox style"

If you are referring to the actual in-game, then I am really excited. I will take scripted, in-game events over cutscenes anyday; no broken immersion or momentum.