EA's Battlefied blog has just posted an interview with Lars Gustavsson - multiplayer designer for the upcoming eye-squintingly-beautiful military FPS.
Accessibility is high on the team's priority list, especially when compared to Battlefield 2's refreshingly abrupt design philosophy: “Play the game our way, or play something else.” This time, an effort is being made to reverse the mentality: "The goal with Battlefield 3 is to offer a vast variety of gameplay experiences and to be inviting to everyone. We're not telling you how to play the game. You choose."
They're even putting team deathmatch on the multiplayer menu. That hasn't been in a Battlefield game since 1942. Battlefield 1942, that is.
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The new engine is responsible for the return of the mode. Lars says it was a no-brainer once they'd realised the multiplayer potential: “It would almost be a criminal offense not to offer TDM to our fans, especially with the tactical destruction and realistic soldier movement that Frostbite 2 brings to the game. Our efforts to let you play Battlefield 3 your way also means that you will have the option to play infantry only matches, for that up close and personal touch."
Don't panic too much though - the Battlefield stalwarts will remain: "Fans of the series can rest assured that both Conquest and Rush game modes are back, bolder and more beautiful than ever. Complementing these with Team Deathmatch means there are now even more ways to play Battlefield."
Lars is hoping the extra modes will pull in more gamers: "Part of it is in the variety of game modes and the types of environments you can play in - from the wide open battlefields that people learned to love in Battlefield 2, to the urban gritty maps with their tighter gameplay focus. Combining these two elements and adding destruction and our social Battlelog hub in the same package is something I believe no one else is capable of.
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He also talked specifically about the demo shown off at E3, and embedded above: "In many ways, this map illustrates our multiplayer design philosophy for Battlefield 3. Operation Métro starts out in a lush, rolling park outside of the Paris city center. As the attackers push forward and take out the two enemy installations, this is when a normal multiplayer mode in a normal game would end. In Battlefield 3, this is just the beginning of a much larger journey; a journey taking you through a number of distinct and varying environments, each tasking you to re-evaluate your combat tactics and loadouts on the go."
Are you excited about the return of team deathmatch, or would you prefer Battlefield 3 stuck to its guns?
