By Nathan Grayson on November 6th, 2012 at 12:00 pm.
Well, this is a bit unexpected. Not the fact that more Battlefield 3 maps are on the way. Those will apparently be hewn from the Earth and flung at the microtransaction-loving masses until the end of time. But this new look at BF3: Aftermath’s earthquake-pancaked Epicenter map is oddly serene. Usually, these things are all about the shooty shooty bang bang and Inception BRRRRRRRRRZTs, but this one? It’s different. Maybe one day, this one will go out into the world and make something of itself.
Now I really want someone to make a Fallout game in Frostbite 2. Or at least something like Fallout, so I could just explore a place like this without having my profound meditations on a long lost world constantly interrupted by war. For now, though, this explanation of the map from level artist Pontus Ryman actually sounds pretty promising. For example, he says:
“Another element that I personally feel strongly for is exploration – A city that gets hit by an earthquake creates a different landscape that opens up for a lot of exploration. A broken pipe in the ground becomes something you can crawl through; a rift in the street becomes a protective trench; and a pile of rubble becomes a makeshift staircase that takes you to the next level inside a building.”
It does look like quite a map. Pretty large, but also somewhat confined – and with plenty of massive chunks of debris to spice things up. There’ll also be “heavily modified” vehicles for use on the smoking rubble, so it’ll be interesting to see how all of these different factors co-mingle.
Most importantly, though, there will apparently be dinosaurs somewhere in Aftermath. My guess? It’s a story prelude to Battlefield 4: Prehistoric Postmodern Warfare. And by “guess,” I mean “greatest wish in my most precious heart of hearts.”
06/11/2012 at 12:07 Didero says:
Don’t most buildings already have staircases?
Though I agree, it’s a shame that what’s so serene in the trailer will get disturbed by gunfire.
06/11/2012 at 12:34 BobbyDylan says:
You can already use piles of ruble in the game to get to unexpected places. Under the map sometimes.
06/11/2012 at 16:17 realmenhuntinpacks says:
Пожалуйста, не лезьте на деньги!
06/11/2012 at 12:09 Tams80 says:
What a clever sun.
06/11/2012 at 12:20 yurusei says:
I’d say it has a bright future.
06/11/2012 at 13:54 battles_atlas says:
Until 5 billion years hence when its core runs out of fuel, it explodes, and all that is left is a white dwarf.
ZING
06/11/2012 at 12:19 Zanpa says:
There are already dinosaurs in Wake Island, as well as in the singleplayer campaign.
It actually comes from a thread on 4chan where someone said he participated in the creation of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and asked /v/ what they thought was wrong with the game. Every single answer was “the lack of dinosaurs”.
Some BF3 developers do use 4chan (as can be seen with the /v/ easter egg on Strike at Karkand), and they most likely included this as a reference to that very thread.
In other words: fan service. Awesome fan service.
That being said, End Game better have a dinosaur-related game mode, or else I’d be disappointed.
06/11/2012 at 12:28 philbot says:
There is also a really obscure Dinosaur egg on Alborz mountain which sppears in the golf ball after shooting some garden gnomes.That, and the massive dinosaur skull on the side of the mountain.
This is almost overwhelming evidence for a dinosaur game mode.
06/11/2012 at 12:30 Spoon Of Doom says:
Introducing the new “Island of the Dinosaurs” mode: DayZ-like, long-term multiplayer survival with up to 64 players on a vast island inhabitated by all imaginable sorts of dinosaurs. Although very hard, you can also capture and tame dinosaurs, and then use them as pets and/or mounts.
The next DLC will add the crafting of laser cannons which you can attach to your new dinosaur ride.
06/11/2012 at 12:41 yurusei says:
Anyone curious to find where these dinosaurs are, check this video out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUhrQyf-kec
06/11/2012 at 12:26 Monkey says:
I agree this amazing engine is wasted on a fps where you don’t have time to appreciate its beauty.
Plus i like how you can see where people are pointing there flashlights, something left 4 dead never did.
06/11/2012 at 13:27 Derezzedjack says:
Yeah, but I think it was (or maybe still is) a limitation of the Source engine. The game is pretty unplayable if you throw a few dynamic lights into a map and there’s more than one active at a moment. Then you can say goodbye to your playable experience! :P
Although I’m not quite sure if every tac light from several players all through dynamic shadows in BF3. Could be that just the cones of the lights are shown and those are maybe static.
On another note: I can’t wait for the new “skins” for the four classes, they look really interesting.
06/11/2012 at 13:05 SuperNashwanPower says:
MAYBE THEY WILL MAKE A STALKER GAME
ok I’m definitely at the bargaining stage. It’s depression and then acceptance next. Then my grieving will be complete.
06/11/2012 at 13:15 shaydeeadi says:
Dinosaur onslaught mode would get me back in to BF3. Fighting a T-Rex in an Humvee/CAV would be a bit splendid.
06/11/2012 at 13:19 RedViv says:
QUAKEFACE
Is that how you do it?
06/11/2012 at 13:56 jayc4life says:
DINOSAURFACE
06/11/2012 at 14:10 Drevyek says:
The trailer and your comments make me feel a want for some sort of straight survival game. No zombies; no deathmatch. Just survival. Not even needing guns; but something that portrays the trials of a civilian in a war. Trying to live in a city being bombed, or trying to escape through countryside that is as war-torn as its inhabitants. Where do you get food? Water? Shelter? Where you can help people, or ignore them, and run the risks of doing both: the first may expose yourself to a trap of some sort, the latter may result in a lost opportunity.
Horror games need that sort of scope. You have the helplessness in Amnesia, but it’s very linear and driven by puzzle mechanics, leaving a very contrived taste in the mouth (scary as all hell though). Fallout has the world down, but not as much the sense of urgency, nor the sense of frailty. DayZ’s survival mechanics feel put on the wayside in favour of gunplay.
06/11/2012 at 18:00 Citrus says:
That reminds me, I haven’t touched Battlefield 3 in months. I am pretty sure the drive sectors containing the game have rusted by now.
Maybe if the game wasn’t shit I wouldn’t have gone back to playing SWAT4 for a game that wasn’t made for ADD kids of console generation.
06/11/2012 at 19:36 Davee says:
But war – war never changes, mr. Grayson.
06/11/2012 at 20:35 SuperNashwanPower says:
War has changed