Sessler's Soapbox - Battlefield 3: Beautiful But Boring

Battlefield 3 is a fantastic multiplayer game, but the single player campaign has received some negative criticism. Adam Sessler had similar feelings, so he decided to turn that subject into this week's Soapbox. Can a beautiful, incredibly designed game rest on its multiplayer alone? Or do you need an epic war campaign to whet your appetite for destruction?

[Pandamobile]

I think just about everyone can agree with what Adam said.

[xPhearR3dx]

Yup, I played through the SP and there's not one memorable moment. I was completely bored out of my mind playing it. Every time I thought something exciting would happen, it didn't. Thank god for multiplayer, that is, as Adam said, when the servers work. Once they fix all this crap, I'm going to have a friggin blast playing because I love the game, but the server issues make me not even want to play it sometimes.

[ReservoirDog316]

And you know, that's a problem. I was gonna gamefly bf3 because I don't know if I'd be into it (not big in multiplayer) but that online pass really kills it. So if I wanna try it out, I'm gonna be stuck with the singleplayer which apparently sucks. So I'm stuck and I'll end up missing out on bf3.

They should do what homefront did and just give you till you unlock level 5 till you need an online pass.

But, I guess there's bigger fish to fry when it comes to all the games coming out this time of the year.

[StanLee]

I got it from Gamefly. They shipped it the Monday before it was released and I got it on Wednesday. The singleplayer is utter rubbish but I only paid $10 for the online pass which is better than having paid $60 for a game I'd be trading in next week. The multiplayer is familiar if you've played Battlefield Bad Company 2 but with friends already trading in the game, I more than likely wont be playing it as much when MW3 comes out. Is it worth $60? Hell no! But for $10 for the online pass, I can say I played and didn't enjoy the game, rather than completely writing it off as the over hyped rubbish it is without having played it.

[JsonHenry]

BF3 has a single player option?!

[Jdub895O]

thats what im saying lol. One thing where im confused is bad company 2 had a really good coop mode(onslaught) This coop mode feels kinda dull. The multiplayer is great imo.This game needs more community features if it wants to compete with the others.

[Pandamobile]

How could you possibly say that Battlefield needs more community options when they basically made their own version of Facebook?

[badz149]

what happen dude? you used to have full of praises for BF3 before release. it's really THAT boring, ha?

[Pandamobile]

99% of my hype was for multiplayer, which DICE has more than delivered on.

I could care less about the quality of the single player campaign. It's just a bonus for me. If it's good it's good, if it's not, I don't have to care.

I did finish the campaign though. It was good, just not great. The best graphics I've seen in a game, really awesome set pieces, good voice acting; just lacked a bit of originality and creativity.

[badz149]

I have yet to get it myself but seems like the reception on the SP is not all that great from reviews I've came across. so...I guess BF will always be BF then, ha? the game shines on the MP side. kinda disappointing to hear about it though as I kinda like SP in BFBC series!

[WANNAGETHIGH]

People love to hate on Cod blindly... Cod single player is like a transformers movie..Its just straight up fun with good setpieces and over the top Hollywood action. That is what gaming is all about FUN. Bf3 MP is a campers haven,lol @ the hypocrites that called Cod campers on duty mean while in Bf3 all I c are people hiding prone in bushes,or people camping on the motar gun or even worst the fools who just jump in a vehicle with out waiting for there team mates.

[awi5951]

battlefield has ways of stopping campers though were call of duty you capture a area and just spawn rape the rest of the time.

[grailly]

I just disagree a favela being a good level, I thought it was the worst in the whole series :/

[Optical_Matrix]

I think BF3 could have easily been multiplayer only. While I enjoyed certain bits of the campaign, none were mind blowingly amazing. It was just pretty lol Multiplayer on the other hand...best FPS multiplayer on consoles in my opinion.

[The_Nameless_One]

WOW! I'm amazed how people are actually judging BF3 from the single player campaign. Frankly I'm amazed people thought that the SP will be any good. It's Battlefield people. Who the hell buys this game for the SP. Who ever buys this game for the SP needs to have himself/herself committed.

Ohh Sess...I used to have so much respect for you but frankly I think you are starting to show signs of loosing your touch. Maybe it's because all the good people left G4 and you find yourself surrounded by idiots. LEAVE G4.

[CaptCalvin]

You can't take all the blame away from DICE however. It's partly their fault for including one at all. I would've been more than happy with offline bot practice instead of their idea of a singleplayer campaign now.

[Imalwaysright]

And why should DICE get a free pass when other developers get their games slammed for having bad singleplayer campaigns or bad multiplayer? What makes DICE so special? The singleplayer campaign is there and BF3 should be judged by it just as much as its judged by the online. If DICE werent even trying to make a decent singleplayer they shouldnt have done it all. Theyve done it and whether you like it or not they have to deal with the positive and negative criticisms.

[awi5951]

call of duty single player isnt even there you finish it before you start. It shouldnt even be called a single player mode it should be called a short story or something. It doesnt qualify for a single player mode status.

[venom06]

fools buying BF3 for the SP is like buying a Corvette for the trunk space... just stupid.... it's mostly alot of CoD fanboys that are focusing on the SP aspect as to have something negative to focus on.. how about focusing on what this game does better than ANYONE.. anyone meaning anyone.... any FPS out there... noone can compare to BF3's multiplayer aspect...period..

[Hicken]

Well-said, and perfect analogy.

Nobody buys a sports car for the trunk space. Yeah, it's there and you can use it, but that's essentially a courtesy to you from the manufacturer.

That's what the singleplayer is in BF3. It's just a courtesy to you from DICE, a little bonus aside from all that raw performance you really bought the game for.

Bubbles up.

Edit: As an aside, I used to like Sessler's reviews and such, but now he's sounding like just the most popular of those guys that like to hate on things for the sake of hating. I fully expect him and everyone else to judge MW3 the same way, and yet I know they won't.

[IcyEyes]

The SP is a nice ride, don't bash it!
The MP is simply the most awesome FPS online ever!

[nolifeking]

I wonder if this game would have done any better if it did just ship with a bot mode.... probably not, people would have just complained about the lack of a true sp experience. Thems the breaks.

[Marquis_de_Sade]

I played Battlefield: Bad Company 2 solidly for well over a year and barely touched the campaign, I'm sure the same will be true of Battlefield 3. As a result, I'm not fussed by a mediocre single player mode.

[awi5951]

People complained about BAd company single player being too silly i thought it was great. Then when they took out the silly for bad company 2 reviews said it wasnt funny like bad company 1. These reviewers are just stirring up crap for hits.

[Saryk]

I would love to have bots, just to practice and for the quick game. But MP in BF3 is simply awesome.........

[mayberry]

Killzone 2/3 is still king in my fps campaign/multiplayer gaming! Such a blast! Just got "into" the "sniper" class! Very satisfying, imho.

[xX-Jak-Xx]

BF3 sp is much better than BC2 sp
but he is right BF3 MP is boring and wont live at least 1 year

[Pandamobile]

That's the exact opposite of what Sessler said about the multiplayer.

[Fishy Fingers]

I wouldn't know about the SP, I've been far to busy with one of the best MP shooters this gen. In all honest I doubt I'll even try the campaign, it's BF after all and I'm really enjoying the MP.

If your getting bored, your not playing it right IMO (unless of course shooters ain't your thing).