Battlefield. A shooter of wide-open expanses, of epic and occasionally spectacular vehicular combat. A game that lets you take a deep breath, fill your lungs with the dust of war, before getting lamped in the face by an aircraft. Well, forget that. This is Close Quarters. Chuck that sniper rifle right out.
If Back to Karkand was a wide-open game of horizons, Close Quarters could be seen as DICE proving the flexibility of their shooter. There are no vehicles at all - they'll be coming in the next DLC pack, in autumn. Instead, we've got a claustrophiliac's wet dream - tense, high-proximity combat with a fast respawn rate and heavy paranoia.
The smaller maps of Close Quarters mean that enemies players are never more than a gnat's handbag away from you, and to add to the oppressive atmosphere, the walls of the Donya Fortress are all around you. Don't expect to see many horizons in Close Quarters.
Adding to the pressure is the new mode, Conquest Domination. It's no game - tweaks is the most demeaning, but appropriate word. But they're tweaks that have been made to suit the more intimate teamwork. Control points are much more fickle, neutralised easily and swapping allegiances in seconds flat, which led to a chaotic back and forth until the shape of the map became clearer.
The three control points in Donya are all inside, with the courtyard a short cut that's open to fire from the bombed-out walls of the second floor that surrounds it. One point is on the second floor, with limited access from a walkway making it a solid place to dig in and defend. It's a tactic that's considerably less nerve-wracking than constantly checking your back in the darker corridors, but there's very little room for manoeuvre. Watch out for grenades.
Another point is in the basement under the courtyard, and another is tucked away on the ground floor, easily accessible from the courtyard. Both of these are tough to defend, so don't - move on, get another, and return when it's getting taken. Let the other team do the defending.
There's destruction, of course - and the pillars and tiles, and selected walls of the Fortress soon go the way of the rest of the building. Chipped, rubbled, and ruined. It seemed like a matter of visual spectacle on a map that's otherwise quite bland to look at, rather than a huge tactical point. But with some proper play, emergent tactics are bound to... erm, emerge.
14 comments so far...
Bezza89 on 1 May '12 said:
It's kind of hypocritically fresh. New for the game, but stale for the genre, I will buy it regardless and hope to god I'm shotgun proof.
The only problem I've found between BF3 and BC2 is the sandbox nature of BC is gone, with there being too many indestructible buildings. Like in Grand Bazaar, where there is the corridor of doom. In BC2 you could just rocket launch a few ...rockets and make your own door increasing a) tactics and b) the sense of doom. When you don't know whether someone is going to come through the wall you're hiding behind you get really nervous and keep tripping out over every sound, this feeling is gone in BF3. Hope it comes back soon because it was what made BF more of a great, fun game compared to CoD.
Also hope autumn is September, because the armoured kill pack sounds terrific.
GHOSTY05 on 1 May '12 said:
Its a great idea, more variety
Can't wait for this, I love the big maps, but sometimes I like to play small tactical maps too.
These maps are claymore heaven!
Decent_Jam on 2 May '12 said:
At least this will mean no more epically long walks back to the action when you find yourself at home base with no vehicles.
I think this might be a nice change, though shotguns are going to be rife, I don't see how you are going to get a decent balance of classes. On top of that you have to consider the lag conundrum, are people with better connections going to instantly win?
GHOSTY05 on 3 May '12 said:
Good point, the lag issue is something that does exist and is especially annoying when playing the yanks over the pond.
It's amazing to watch kill cams (when not playing hardcore) and see that you did not even fire your weapon before you died. Eventhough you know you fired 200 rounds!
Anyway more guns, more maps and more assignments, cannot wait.
I'm still looking forward to the next DLC more, as we go from small maps to the biggest in the series!, and have new battle tanks!!.
I hope they do a desert map like tank run, or snow maps.
Joe90_Remy700 on 4 May '12 said:
just search for europen servers, i'd rather keep hitting refresh in the browser than be put in a crappy match
as for close quarters - i'll buy it but dont know how much i'll enjoy it unless everything can be blown up. otherwise its just like call of duty will be spray and pray shotgun fest, with the odd d*cks camping with claymores
Murphy1978 on 7 May '12 said:
It's nice to mix it up sometimes. Some of my best and favourite matches have been on Metro you know.
If the level of destruction is on the scale or beyond BC2, as is being suggested, we could be in for a treat. A month to go.
zacho 666 on 12 May '12 said:
We can't just say its exactly like Cod we have to give these things a try at least
DEL50PLUS on 13 May '12 said:
I detest Metro and Grand Bazarr is next (although it does have vehicles)! Like someone already said Close Qtrs - Donya Fortress and Ziba Tower look too much like COD maps - The only good thing is it's Conquest Only! I'll stick with the big maps thanx. I won't even bother getting it. If i want maps like CQ i''d just play COD all the time - but i won't. Can u fly choppers, or drive tanks in COD ?
Nah !!!!! Exactly my point. That's what makes BF3 better !!!!
Joe90_Remy700 on 13 May '12 said:
there wont be vehicles in this. but if there is full destruction it'll add a bigger element of danger especially for campers, as you can smaw the walls out and create your own map. something i loved about bfbc2 - the map can be levelled
ePg x Ben on 14 May '12 said:
I am really looking forward to the battlefield maps more than the call of duty purely because the fact is that battlefield i enjoy more and them being together for me is a good thing because i get to get them both and when i get a bit bored of one of them i can move on to the next one.
xCrash2Burnx on 22 May '12 said:
CPLDnvntm on 4 Jun '12 said:
whens the actual date for the dlc on xbox uk
GHOSTY05 on 10 Jun '12 said:
End of the month for non premium players and the 12th (next tuesday) for premium players!!
GHOSTY05 on 15 Jun '12 said:
Well the maps are actually quite good!
Some fun assignments too, but still does not feel right without a big open space and vehicles