Five things CCP can learn from the BF3 Beta

We're certainly eagerly anticipating Dust 514, but we still love a great shooter. No current shooter offers the depth that Dust 514 is hinting at, but we recently played the BF3 Beta and although we were a little underwhelmed, there are plenty of lessons CCP can take from DICE's recent plan of action with their flagship franchise.



1. Leaks are a Good Thing -Who's DICE kidding? Acting like early footage and beta gameplay was "leaked" was cute, but most of us knew that they were anxious to show off what they had been working so hard on. We're all for it. If you got it, flaunt it. Letting people see gameplay is GOOD.

2. Vehicles Rule - Raise your hand if you preordered BF3 after seeing the Caspian Border. WE SURE DID. pretty awesome, right? The prospect of a varied vehicle system with land and air options is almost too good to be true. And truth be told, its hard to call your self a tactical shooter when you don't have vehicle options and the large maps that make them relevant.

3. Don't bring a Knife to a Gunfight - Hear that sound? It's the collective sound of gamers across the internet saying one word simultaneously. "FINALLY!" For too long so-called "tactical" shooters have copped out and gone with the standard one-hit-kill knife copied from so many other sub-par games. DICE manned up and changed the game. Instead of going with the standard, dated, poor and totally unrealistic version of the knife, they developed their own. No longer would soldiers wade into close combat and favor the knife over a weapon that shoots bullets. The FPS genre is better today because of it.

4. Graphics are King - It was beautiful wasn't it? Looking at many of the early vids of BF3 many gamers were in awe of how pretty the game was. While many console didn't find their version as pretty (Duh, the vids were from the prettiest verson: PC) it is still a title that has great visuals.

5. Beta must be Solid - Raise your hand if you took BF3 OFF preorder after playing the beta? You're not alone. Scores of gamers were underwhelmed after finally getting they're hands on it. While gameplay was solid, too many snipers, the UMP 45, a poor grouping system, redundant maps, and a broken chat system had gamers wondering if BF3 was all-hype. We won't go that far as the game has great potential, but with the frequency many developers are releasing unfinished games and relying on early patching, you can understand how fans would be a little skittish. The lesson here is simple, "it'll be fixed in retail" has failed gamers too many times. Go high quality in Beta and resolve said issues THERE.