Battlefield 3's single player does not suck

[Duffeknol]

BF3's been getting a lot of praise, and also a lot of shit (Origin). Strangely enough, to me at least, some shit has also been strewn over the single player, and I find this unfair. Of course the vast majority of the people who play BF3 won't even touch the single player, and after having played both, I'll admit that the multiplayer is indeed more fun.
But still, despite being very scripted and being the very incarnation of linear, I did find myself enjoying the hell out of the campaign. Despite its flaws, I found myself incredibly immersed. Not so much because of the story (I didn't have a clue what was going on to be honest), but because of two factors: looks and sound.
Normally graphics shouldn't be that much of a factor, but when a game's looks are THIS good and the added effects are this well done, it actually adds to the gameplay and immersion. Add to that the absolute best sound design I've ever heard in a game (I play with headphones on with the volume up wayyy too high) and an actually creative soundtrack (no predictable, lame Zimmer-esque orchestrations) and you've got yourself one hell of an experience.
The experience doesn't last that long, which is too bad, but the time I spent playing the campaign I've been on the edge of my seat, unable and unwilling to take my eyes off the monitor for even a second. And it's been a long, long time since I've experienced that.

Addendum edit after some more consideration:
You know, I actually agree with most of the critique here, and I've been wondering why I actually liked this game so much besides the already stated 'looks and sound'. Usually I'm really not that much into simplicity. I want a story, compelling characters, something to care about, I really do. I'm such a story whore and content tourist that I usually finish games around 5 times, just to try and do everything differently and see every outcome. Hell, I have 7 completely different playthroughs with Mass Effect 2.
Normally when a game doesn't have a story or characters I care about, I go through the same thing as most other people; I don't care. You just play the game, maybe enjoy it for what it is, but then forget about it.
In BF3, for the first time EVER in my personal gaming history, I actually wanted the cutscenes to end. Not because they were bad, not so much because I didn't care about the story, but because for the first time ever I just wanted to be put back into the action. I didn't care where or what my next mission was, I just wanted to play again.
Again, normally I'm not so easily pleased, but I honestly believe that this game's graphics, sound and soundtrack are so well made that they've successfully managed to lull my brain to sleep and get me absolutely and completely immersed in the gameplay, story, characters, quick time events and linearity or not.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

You know, I didn't even know there was a singleplayer campaign until the game was released and someone mentioned it.

 

[Shadowhawk77]

i think the only thing they can make fun of is the ridiculous coop that went from shoot at the people to fly a helicopter perfectly still until your ears bleed out(if you cant keep it in the air then your partner will scream at you until its his turn to fly... my turn to scream!)
Single player was fun challenging and took me about 5 hours(I play single before i ever touch multiplayer just so i finish it) and it was fun for all of the game except for the fact you dont get to fly the jet and that your more like a passenger to me

 

[Duffeknol]

You know, I didn't even know there was a singleplayer campaign until the game was released and someone mentioned it.

Just play it once. Will only take about 4-5 hours. Worth it if you ever grow tired of multi.

 

[Duffeknol]

It was very linear, felt constrained, the story itself was instantly forgettable and the qte events were weird. I gave up on that thing after an hour, just wasn't as fun as the MP, and i only have so much free time.

Oh yeah shit, I forgot to mention the QTE's. Those sucked and you die instantly if you so much as miss a single cue. Still, there's only a few of them.

 

[dagill]

Meh, I didn't think it was that bad either.

I played the single player campaign to get a feel of the game and because I knew the servers would be experiencing problems.

While pretty linear and easy to understand, it didn't actually explain a lot of the back story. But it made a fuck ton more sense than MW2, because it didn't involve a broke outdated, barely powerful nation invading somewhere 10 times more powerful.

And it also didn't involve the most ridiculous plot device in the history of just about everything. (That bollocks with the Russian Nuclear Sub.)

 

[Spygon]

I have completed the single player and i feel the game was poor.If your juding a single player on how it looks and sounds watch a tech demo.My big problems the game kept taking over all the time without warning add this to scripted events that are so buggy and you get a single player that throws immersion out the window.The story was a mess that did not seem to fit with half of the game.

Also the thing that frustrates me the most is i know battlefield can do alot better than this.I have a number of other reasons why i think the battlefield 3 single player is a mess.

So in my eyes the single player doesnt suck but is not good in anyway.

 

[eclipsed_chemistry]

Yeah, actually, I agree with that. I didn't understand why everyone was up in arms about the single player because I enjoyed it. It was a little unforgiving at times, but nothing that was so frustrating that I felt like I was dying pointlessly.

Sometimes I honestly feel like there's a bit of a hive-mind thing going on, and people read from a review that the single player is disappointing, frustrating, or a combination of the two and then are just so convinced that this is the truth that they never give the game a chance. This is actually one of the biggest problems that I have with the internet and age of information that games get TOO much exposure prior to release with reviews, previews, trailers, and the endless hype train that people have a solidified idea of what the game SHOULD BE that they're either disappointed or angry that the game is not what they had in mind and never give the game a proper chance to entertain them.

And yes, I understand that games are expensive, I'm not saying you shouldn't look at reviews since I know people are going to bring that up. But some of the best gaming experiences I've ever had is when I know absolutely nothing about a game prior to playing it and it ends up blowing me away. Thankfully I knew nothing about the Mass Effect series before playing it on my roommate's Xbox last year. Unbelievable experience.

 

[Tharwen]

I didn't really enjoy it, but I think that's because I was playing on hard (because the other two difficulties threatened me with dreaded auto-aim), and it had the 'all enemies aim specifically for the player and RPGs randomly appear and insta-kill him' mindset, rather than 'it requires more skill'.

Also, during that bit where you had to assault the villa (what game have we seen that in before?) my teammates decided the floor wasn't really there and assaulted straight through it, never to be seen again.

 

[Duffeknol]

My big problems the game kept taking over all the time without warning add this to scripted events that are so buggy and you get a single player that throws immersion out the window.

Personally I've only had one bugged script (knife a guy in a hallway, but if you crouch up to him you drop dead for no reason). What were your bugs?

 

[Jdopus]

It's linear to a ludicrous extent, I dropped dead for no reason at one point for walking slightly ahead of my squad.

 

[Spygon]

My big problems the game kept taking over all the time without warning add this to scripted events that are so buggy and you get a single player that throws immersion out the window.

Personally I've only had one bugged script (knife a guy in a hallway, but if you crouch up to him you drop dead for no reason). What were your bugs?

The one i get alot is when the tank bursts through the wall would not trigger so i was running up and down the street wondering where i was supposed to be going for 5 minutes.I had to reload the save again to make it trigger.Because i did not know that a tank was supposed to burst out of the wall.The other one is while i was doing the sneaky knife kill in the mall the guy would drop dead without anybody going anywhere near him then his dead body would be thrown into the wall behind me.

Actually that happened alot outside of scripted event random bodies being thrown about like i was in a supernatural thriller.Also the instant disappearing grenade where you throw one then a few meters out of your hand disappears and never explodes

 

[Duffeknol]

My big problems the game kept taking over all the time without warning add this to scripted events that are so buggy and you get a single player that throws immersion out the window.

Personally I've only had one bugged script (knife a guy in a hallway, but if you crouch up to him you drop dead for no reason). What were your bugs?

The one i get alot is when the tank bursts through the wall would not trigger so i was running up and down the street wondering where i was supposed to be going for 5 minutes.I had to reload the save again to make it trigger.Because i did not know that a tank was supposed to burst out of the wall.The other one is while i was doing the sneaky knife kill in the mall the guy would drop dead without anybody going anywhere near him then his dead body would be thrown into the wall behind me.

Actually that happened alot outside of scripted event random bodies being thrown about like i was in a supernatural thriller.Also the instant disappearing grenade where you throw one then a few meters out of your hand disappears and never explodes

Hm, never had any of those myself. I believe you though, that kinda sucks. Yeah that'd break immersion quite a lot.

 

[Spygon]

Hm, never had any of those myself. I believe you though, that kinda sucks. Yeah that'd break immersion quite a lot.

It seems from most peoples reactions it did not happen in their games.Guess i just got a crappy copy but still without that i just felt the story and the other peoples parts could have been handled slighty better

 

[Norris IV]

Saying that the singleplayer of a battlefield game is bad is like going to a strip club and saying that the strippers underwear is not fashionable.

 

[blaqknoise]

I didn't think it was bad, but it wasn't exactly amazing either.

Still, I enjoyed it.

 

[Duffeknol]

This just about sums it up, i would say. LOL. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnn4bG1tj-E

lol the jet mission. I let my dad play that today and even he managed to finish it.

normally he's super bad at games but he did a pretty decent job