Armored Kill (360) and Soccer Gaming

Armored Kill, the newest expansion pack for Battlefield 3, comes out for general release today. It's actually been out for more than a week for subscribers of Battlefield Premium and after several hours of play I have to say it's a real return to form for the Battlefield series.

Armored Kill, as the name suggests, puts emphasis on vehicles and as a result it includes four absolutely massive maps. Along with the four maps there are 5 new vehicles (2 Tank Destroyers, 2 Mobile Rocket Artillery Vehicles and 1 Quad Bike) and an AC-130 Gunship. There's also a new game mode, 'Tank Superiority', which is Conquest with a single capture point, tons of vehicles and super-short vehicle respawn times.

As you'd expect, the big draw for any expansion pack are the new maps and the four maps in Armored Kill are bloody huge. Fortunately, the maps are littered with vehicles so you're not often stuck legging it to a capture point for 5 minutes. Armored Shield is probably my favorite and takes place in the Russian countryside with large plains, farms, fields and a small farming town. I enjoy the super-long sight-lines, the excellent variety between infantry skirmishes in and around the farming town and then the vehicle-heavy areas around the periphery. 

The other maps are Alborz Mountains (a snow-covered mountain range with a valley on the other side), Death Valley (a forest and highway map that takes place at night under a full moon - the decreased visibility allows you to sneak around on foot if you want), and Bandar Desert (a bay-side town/city with surrounding desert). The Bandar Desert stage is the largest Battlefield map ever, it's apparently 2.5 times the size of Caspian Border, and I think it's too big for consoles. Since the 360 and PS3 versions of Battlefield 3 only support a maximum of 24 players I found this map far too expansive and even with vehicles to help me get around, I often spent more of my time driving around and looking for action rather than actually doing some shooting. However, I am looking forward to trying this one out on the PC as I imagine 64 players on a map this size would be perfect. 

A special note has to be made of the addition of the AC-130 to each of these maps. This is basically a CPU-controlled gunship that flies around the map in a set pattern. Each map has a designated 'antenna' control/conquest point that allows the captured team access to the gunship. Access to the AC-130 grants you the ability to use two human-controlled turret spots that allow you rain down hell upon the battlefield, but it also allows your team to use the AC-130 as a mobile spawn point. This latter perk is very cool as it provides a form of fast travel (since the AC-130 loops around the map) and also allows you to descend upon capture points paratrooper-style.

There's no doubt that whomever controls the AC-130 capture point has an advantage but much credit should be given to DICE for balancing things so it's not a game breaker. First off, because the AC-130 flies around the map in a set pattern the gunners on board don't always have sight-lines to ground targets. This stops them from just raining down fire on the antenna capture point and preventing the other team from trying to capture it. It takes a good 3-4 minutes for the plane to circle around the Battlefield which is enough time to mount an offensive. Second, it's not that hard to shoot down! The Armored Kill maps are not only littered with ground vehicles but they also have a number of choppers and jets and while the gunners onboard the AC-130 can fire off chaff and flares, the 'on-rails' nature of it's flight path can make it an easy target. Thirdly, shooting ground targets isn't as simple as point and kill - you have to factor in distance, how fast (and what direction) the plane is moving in, and also what direction your target is moving in. All three of these things ensure that the AC-130 doesn't spoil the game.

I'm really enjoying Armored Kill. I think it brings Battlefield back to the massive skirmishes the series is known for and is the complete opposite of the previous expansion (Close Quarters) that tried to ape Call of Duty. The emphasis on vehicles provides a ton of fun and even if you're not good at driving a tank or flying a helicopter, you can bust out your Engineer-class and have fun with your rocket launcher! If you're a Battlefield Premium member then you've already purchased this, but if you're not I definitely think it's worth checking out if you liked the larger maps in Battlefield 3.

Lavan

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In non-shooter news, today also marks the release of FIFA 13 and PES 2013 for consoles. The PC version of PES 2013 came out last week and apart from an online mode that is an unmitigated disaster (will Japanese companies ever learn how to do online play?) it's absolutely fantastic. I'll have more impressions in the coming days but I really feel this is a return to form for the series.

Not to be outdone, the FIFA 13 demo was also very impressive with some notable gameplay improvements and, as you'd expect, presentation and features that blow PES out of the water. I am really looking forward to trying the full version.

Factor in New Star Soccer 5, New Star Soccer (iOS) and the pending release of Football Manager 2013 and it's a hell of a time to be a football gamer!

Lavan