EA Mobile is very keen to point out that the title of the latest mobile entry in the
Battlefield series has 'Aftershock' as a subtitle.
Turns out it's not out of vanity.
Battlefield 3: Aftershock is about as far removed you can get from DICE's console/PC shooter without changing genres.
A new theatreWhile
Battlefield veterans won't raise an eyebrow at the lack of a single-player campaign, those who jumped into the series at
Bad Company may be left slightly confused by its omission.
EA says this is to focus on the mobile/portable nature of the platform - a long campaign doesn't suit short bursts of gameplay on the go.
So
Battlefield 3: Aftershock has been set up as the first-person shooter equivalent of a novelty liqueur - dispensed in potent shots and swallowed in single burning mouthfuls of dizzying combat. Or something.
Keep it togetherSo out goes linear corridor combat and in comes wave-based Horde/Spec Ops gameplay that sees you facing off against an increasingly nasty (and more numerous) bunch of enemy soldiers.
The weapons and setting are in keeping with the
Battlefield 3 universe, though, so my hands-on with an alpha version of the game took place in the dusty streets of Tehran, with an ultra-modern assault rifle the weapon of choice.
Alongside this new mode is what EA describes as 'Classic' multiplayer, which wasn't available at Gamescom. Co-operative play, alas, will be missing altogether.
Snap toIn terms of how the game plays, if you've experienced last year's
Bad Company 2 then you know what to expect.
There's still a very generous auto-aim that seemingly snaps onto enemies you haven't seen yet, and the graphics are about on a par.
Given that the FPS I've played most on iPad is
World at War: Zombies, I can see the wave-based mode working, but it'll need a few more enemy types (again, not yet implemented in the build I played) before I can say whether or not it will shake things up.
We'll see how much of a shock to the system
Battlefield 3: Aftershock is when it hits the App Store later this year (most likely after the home console release).
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