Battlefield 3 on consoles is a very different game than the PC version. It doesn’t look as good, and it supports fewer players online. By the sheer nature of control scheme, it requires a very different skill set. It’s slower paced and requires a far more conservative style of play. This isn’t better or worse than the PC version — just different. For this review of the console version, I’m going to take a look at console specific features and exactly how the game plays differently. The issues outlined in the PC review still stand unless directly contradicted here, and you should read both to get the complete picture.
BF3 on consoles is limited to 24-player matches as opposed to the PC’s 64, but thankfully most of the massive maps have been modified to suit the smaller player count. DICE has struck a nice balance that allows the levels to feel massive, but still manages to ensure that players come into contact regularly enough for there to be a decent amount of action. It’s not a perfect solution to be sure. Whereas in the PC version your team won’t be under too much strain if a rouge player decides to steal a plane and fly it around shooting at nothing when he really should be concentrating on capturing points on the ground; you’ll feel the absence of every missing teammate while playing on the consoles.
