Battlefield 3 To Have Day-One Update. Reviews Delayed.

Battlefield 3 reviews won't be up until after release day due to a day-one update that will incorporate feedback from the Beta.

[Rage_S90]

All signs are point to this game not being as great as people expect it to be.

Let's hope i'm wrong.

[S_C]

This Is A Bad Sign IMO

[StanLee]

How disappointing this gen has been with so many publishers and developers shipping unfinished games. Now, they're basically asking reviewers not to review the game they shipped because it isn't "finished". WOW! I hope reviewer don't fall for this BS. Clearly Battlefield 3 is a game that could have used a few months of polish rather than being clearly rushed to compete with Modern Warfare 3. This patch is clearly not a minor update if it would affect a reviewer's opinion of the final product.

[gamingdroid]

I agree with you.

Everything so far points to a game that isn't ready for release. The beta four weeks until launch was atrociously buggy and now delayed reviews due to a patch? Seriously? A patch!

Is it so bad without the patch?

Most other games like Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3 and Halo: Reach all had polish months ahead of release. BF3 on the other hand was a buggy mess...

[aCasualGamer]

I don't give a crap about how bad or good the game is, or if the visuals are subpar compared to PC.

I AM BUYING THIS GAME DAY ONE!

Why, you say?

Because i am a true sniper when it comes to games, and this game has bulletdrop. You can throw away every single game right there. I only want this game!

[guitarded77]

How is it a bad sign? Because DICE plan to support the game from day 1 with a patch. I expect several patches for this game as DICE continue to make it better over the long term.

“DICE are perfectionists — they will not stop polishing the game until it is in your hands” stated EA.

Although the quote may sound a bit perverted, I believe DICE will do everything it takes to make the best possible game they can.

[S_C]

@guitarded77
"How is it a bad sign? Because DICE plan to support the game from day 1 with a patch. I expect several patches for this game as DICE continue to make it better over the long term."

Day 1 Patch - Got No Problem With That At All

Holding Reviews Back - That Can Only Be To Hide Something.

[Plagasx]

People, maybe they want the game to be at it's COMPLETE BEST when it releases???

Perhaps they want to add something to game that they think fans will like?

They don't want reviewers reviewing their game until it's perfect.

This isn't because there is a game breaking glitch or bug that they are trying to hide...

Have you guys read the previews on the near final build of the game??? They say it's amazing. This doesn't say anything bad, it just says that they want to add some more stuff to the game so that it's perfectly ready for review.

[DanSolo]

Not really..... various sources who have been playing later builds of the game say it is a massive improvement from the beta... the footage I've seen of the tournament that was played looked a lot better than the beta...

The day one patch is actually a good thing as it shows that they have fixed things since the final build has been completed.

I personally can't wait to play the game, if it turns out to be crap then so be it.... but I think that's highly unlikely.... The beta had its flaws but then it does look like it was a genuine beta designed to find problems so as to minimize launch problems as opposed to being a demo.

Maybe we should just wait till next week and then decide once actually playing the game?

[BiggCMan]

Exactly, MANY sources have been saying that exact thing, that the final build is just like everything we saw in those wonderful trailers. I still have faith in DICE to give us the best game possible, even if the beta was a bit less than stellar. I still enjoyed the gameplay mechanics in the beta a lot, most people were just nitpicking the thing to death.

[torchic]

agreed. no many but almost ALL sources praise the near final code.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3) is sitting on a 88 on Metacritic. so even with out this patch I think DICE would've cleared the 90 mark with for Battlefield 3.

what I think they're trying to do is make a game that will get higher reviews than Modern Warfare 3. MW1 & MW2 both sit at 94 with Black Ops at 88 and it's very unlikely that MW3 will top or equal the last two iterations. if DICE can produce an FPS that has scored higher than MW3, then consumers will stop and think before blindly buying MW3, especially in the long run.

the patch I feel is just trying to maximize review scores. not intended as some damage limitation.

i predict PC version of BF3 to be arounf 94. consoles lower, but higher than 90.

[Drake_Seraphim]

Hopefully this will stop the "reviewers" who only played the beta from writing a review on a game they never played. And let's not forget, this is a day one patch so there's no waiting. (except for a few moments it take to DL the patch.)

[gamingdroid]

So why is it necessary to delay the reviews for a patch?

If it is so bad that it can't be reviewed, I shudder at the result. Most of the other games like Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, Halo: Reach and so on was way more polished months ahead of time.

Most other games have day one patches, and I welcome those, but none that would prevent somebody from giving the game a great review.

Everything I have seen so far, suggest a game that needs more time and a dev team that is far overworked.

I hope I'm soooo wrong, because MW3 needs some serious competition. Competition brought us dedicated server on PC to MW3 (unfortunatley, PC only). Thanks BF3!

Will BF3 have dedicated server on consoles?

[OdinX]

I do somewhat agree that the dev team might be overworked, but DICE's record for games is decent, if not, stellar. Most people see day one patches as a bad thing, however, what it really shows that dev teams acknowledge the fact that there are problems with the game and that they wish to improve it before anyone plays it.I do agree that the growing HABIT of having day one patches in the gaming industry is bad though.

[WolfLeBlack]

As EA said, many reviewers review a game which is getting a day-one patch well in advance, but the game they review won't actually be the one you get on launch day.

Some horrendous bug that the reviewer encounters several weeks before release in his build of the game may mark the the game's score down massively, but the day-one patch may eliminate that bug and the general public would never have encountered it.

[Grimhammer00]

Can't help but agree 100%
This smells fishy.

[StanLatMarveldotCom]

@ WolfLeBlack

Again, let's all go back a re-review games that got huge day 1 patches. Like Brink as a clear example. Developers shouldn't be rewarded for releasing an unfinished product. Any developer could make major changes between the time a product goes gold and release day, which sometimes is as much as 3 months. This has become too common place with unfinished games being shipped to meet competitive release dates. Now, you're going to reward EA and DICE for it? So that's what we do now? Set a release date, put half the work in and say, you know what, we'll patch it on release.

[Uomoz87]

They need a patch cuz 9 on review isn't enough.

[SJPFTW]

yes because Uncharted, Gears and Halo are using the same engine for years. Better damn be near polished

[Drake_Seraphim]

If a game comes out on the 25, then it should be reviewed on the 25th. Reviewers should have to wait for the finished game just like everyone else.

[venom06]

very dumb response... just because they want people to play the actual FINISHED game, and not some subpar game, doesn't mean that it wont be "as great as people expect it to be"..... they should've held back the beta like this..

[newleaf]

Seemsta bit inconsistent, Resistance 3 didn't get a day 1 patch review, why should this?

[Fobia]

With the recent trend in the game industry for day one patches, really this shouldn't be a surprise or a cause for concern. Everyone is doing it, and why would a patch that you have to install before you play the game hurt you?

[StanLatMarveldotCom]

A patch shouldn't affect a review. If that's the case, let's all go back and review games after major patches. I'm sure Bethesda would love that for Brink and Rage. All games launch with their fair share of minor issues. Minor issues! When you're asking a reviewer to withhold a review for a patch, clearly you launched a game that wasn't finished!

[DevilishSix]

Good points, I agree, bubble up.

[Moragami]

I'd agree, but you can't play the game without the first patch, it will install before you ever play your first round. So it's not really the same at all, is it?

[Heartnet]

What if i have no online play? i cant patch it and therefor every review published will be unfair so..

games should be shipped finished.. not rushed to release then patched later..

[Black102WingS]

Day One Patch = GOOD THING :)

[Suicide_King]

Exactly. Maybe they should release it unfinished like 90% of developers? There's always improvements made between when a games goes gold and is released. If they want to receive 10's from reviewers than they likely need those improvements in their copy. This isn't rocket science.

[lorianguy]

Everyone sounds so surprised... since they held a beta less than a month before release of course improvements would come in the form of a patch. And most likely a day 1 patch too because it's improving key elements of the game according to user feedback.

[KillerPwned]

O wow it gets a patch day one stop being a woman and enjoy the damn game.

These guys cant work 24 hrs 7 days a week to please us. So this patch is probably something to cover everything they had to do in order to release it the 25th and have less strain on the developers.

I gotta agree its odd that they are asking reviewers to not review it right away. But from previous games BF2 and so forth I believe this will be a great game.

I`am still gonna have faith in DICE and EA for a good quality product. I just hope I am not disappointed a day one patch don`t bother me at all.

[Heartnet]

release a week later and they wouldnt have had this problem...

This game has been rushed... and people who dont have online play are getting a lesser game.. and obviously significantly enough for them to ask reviwers not to review it until after..

[Grimhammer00]

I'm not trolling here....I'm just taken aback a bit by the delay in reviews. This isn't like all reviewers the world over collectively thought "let's delay our thoughts until this day 1 patch".

No, it was requested by EA/Dice to delay the review. I don't recall a game ever doing this. I may be wrong, but let's say their was no patch...wouldn't the game still be at least an 8/10? So why delay? Are they that concerned? Are they suggesting the patch is THAT important?

I'm just curious. I love my fps's and want all of them to push each other to greater quality & awesomeness.

[MrSent]

Obviously if they can improve the game enough in a timely fashion to possibly increase scores in reviews they will. It's like this: Do you hand in your teacher your rough draft with all of your ideas, or do you send in the one that has been edited and without a lot of typos?

[Heartnet]

You send em both :) so they can see how you got to where you got and how etc :)

Thats how u get better marks :)

[grahf]

My only question is why they can't push the patch up a few days so they can get the games to reviewers who can then go over a "finished patched" product?

BF3 gets reviews, which in turn may boost sales with the fence sitters.

This game has been living and breathing off of hype, and to pull back at the 11th hour when they can go for a slam dunk seems a bit... odd...

[Yangus]

Reviews Delayed?incorrect EA/DICE.......Look Batman AC!Many reviews!
Why delayed?This best FPS ever?

Maybe not?

Hype!

[Dazel]

Sorry after the mess that was the beta, I smell a rat. This game is still gonna be a mess graphically and I wouldn't be surprised if there were server issues to.

Way to go EA, get so caught up in beating CoD you couldn't see the wood for the trees. Why didn't you give Dice another 6mths to finish it...

[DevilishSix]

If reviews are being delayed, I wonder if EA would be ok with preorders being delayed until reviews are available to ensure the game is not crap. Nah, I guess they wouldn't agree to that, lol.

[Motorola]

They should have delayed the game then

[GraveLord]

SIGH. I knew the game was rushed. I don't blame DICE, I blame EA. They(EA) are so desperate to release earlier than MW3.

[venom06]

THANK GOD they are holding off sending out copies of an unfinished product so that the CoD fanboy sites out there can't give it a score based on an unpolished and unfinished product... although these scores shouldn't be taken seriously, there are millions of brain-dead gamers that base their purchases based on these scores... unfortunately... so it only makes business sense to have their best product reviewed..

[shaft0140]

Day one patch or delay the game: it's a lose/lose situation with DICE when trying to please the costumer and stay competitive.

Delaying a review for a day 1 patch = odd? Yes.
Delaying a review for a day 1 patch = it will be a bad game? Please...

[Gameplay999]

No worries here. The article said it 'DICE are perfectionists. They don't release crap.

[WolfLeBlack]

That's the words EA used, and personally I can believe that about DICE.

Anyway, I for one think it's a good thing, as this way the review will actually reflect the product the general public get to play.

[A7XEric]

Honestly there are so many big games coming out that I think it'd be better for them to just delay it until Q1 next year. Some companies have their betas closer to release than others, but BF3's beta was downright late. You just can't have a beta a couple weeks before the game has to go gold and expect to test and implement all these gameplay changes.

[jjb1981]

Consoles are old and these developers are downgrading current technology in order for the game to run. Give DICE a break!

[HeavenlySnipes]

EA are. Every game should do it then. For other devs, they simply give reviewers a list of problems that are to be patched day one so they aren't worth mentioning in reviews. What would GT5 be scored if they delayed reviews until they were completely satisfied?

[Urbz7870]

EA/Dice has done a fantastic job with the game. I knew there was bound to be glitches and bugs in the beta cuz thats pretty much WAT A BETA IS FOR! TO GET FEEDBACK ON WHAT NEEDS TOO BE FIX/HOW TO MAKE THE GAME BETTER. To judge a game by the beta is just plain ignorant but hey you cant satisfy everyone. With that said, im pretty sure sum reviewer would of took off sum point if they didn't come out with a day 1 patch so kudos to EA/DICE for putting in the effort.

[gcolley]

All EA have done is give crazy release dates and DICE have done the rest

[Gamer-Z]

Why does this game get shitted on when Activision released MW2 & Black Ops practically broken to the public on launch. All i got from the article is that EA does not want them to review the game yet because DICE are still actually working on improving it and fixing the bugs and glitches that people were complaining about in the Beta, how is that bad?! Y'all need to Stop bitching and go play your damn arcade shooter than if you don't like it and leave BF3 to the real gamers.

[gcolley]

welcome to the internet

[WolfLeBlack]

SImply put, it's the BF3 vs MW3 war at work, mate. To be honest, I find the whole thing quite amusing :D

[jetlian]

some site reviews it before it comes out. This is BS! A review is by design suppose to come out before the game not after. Whats the point in giving them a review copy if they can go to the store monday night and play it before the copy from EA gets there lol

my guess is they F'd up and want people to buy it before less than 9 reviews happen. which some sites have already hinted at

[MasterD919]

The game may look great but it has to play well enough first...Day 1 patch may seal up some issues but it sounds like there were a hell of a lot if they don't want reviews out....

[toepin]

spoilt little brats. all of you.

[Bladesfist]

Its because with consoles they cant update after sending their game out to package. With digital distribution they could update it the day before it releases. I really hope they do update pc digital version before pre load day.