Things I like:
- The progression actually seems fairly fast if you play consistently. 200 just for playing a rush round is cool because it means you won't always be stuck with crap gear even if you suck at first. The customization is fun, too, and seems to have increased from BFBC2.
- Graphics are nice when they aren't giving me weird popping flashes on the screen for no reason. I'm not talking, like, someone shooting at you. I mean you're just wandering around and the screen flashes. Weird. I may need to update my drivers, though.
- Guns feel...mostly lethal. Although I've really only used a few and they're the crap newbie guns.
- Proning. It's back! Yay! Hopefully dolphin diving does NOT make a return.
What I don't like:
- I have no idea where the hell I'm going on the map, and apparently everyone can see me but I can't see any of them. I die a LOT in this game and it's frustrating. Spawning on squadmates can be helpful but is usually the fastest way to die because they're clueless too, apparently.
- Aim on the guns seems...off. Without much spread, even burst fire doesn't seem to hit a lot. Yet, of course, everyone else who's been playing this non-stop since it released has a gajillion better guns than me. Which brings me to...
- Unlocks. They suck. I HATE this trend in gaming. Space Marine had one of the best ideas, though -- keep unlocks, but let you copy the loadout of the last guy who killed you. Brilliant because it keeps the newbies from feeling constantly screwed. Of course, the BF design team has always promoted the notion of "LOLNOOBUSUCK" and "LOLBASERAPED". Which is, of course, ****ing idiotic. I know things get better because I've played other games in the series that have done pretty well with the speed of gaining unlocks, but it's really a friggin' grind at the start. Fortunately, everyone will start at zero on launch day, but these games have always been, in my opinion, brutal on newbies. A learning curve is fine, but everyone has that in a game. What sucks is a learning curve plus the other guy has more and better weapons available, while you get the popgun. Unlocks suck. They have always sucked, and they always will suck. Unfortunately, they also breed crackmonkey players, so they're likely to never disappear. Which also sucks.
- The glitches REALLY need fixing. Wallhacks galore. Or exploits. I don't know. It seems like I die a lot from random guys who shot me from impossible angles. Could be that they just know the maps better and know how to run around better without being seen. I dunno.
- Infantry-only maps. Gimme some damn vehicles.
- Idiot teammates never spot. SPOT DAMMIT!!! This has been a problem in BFBC2 as well. BFBC1 had a better approach where, if you hit someone or fired very close, they'd light up. This helped because then everyone was spotting. If you're gonna have the feature in the game, have it be meaningful and useful.
Overall...eh. It's cool in some ways, not in others. The ways in which it isn't cool are predictable because they're built in as a "feature" of the BF series. I'm hoping that more people will actually communicate and coordinate as the game matures.
--EDIT--
One other thought. EA/Dice's approach to support on BFBC2 was...spotty. They also were VERY cheap on DLC and releasing maps. There were some fantastic maps from BFBC1 that never returned, although one or two made a reappearance eventually. Still, it was a shame to see BFBC2 get a sort of "cash grab" approach to the post-release support. Not that the game was totally abandoned, just that bugs and problems were allowed to linger for a while, and what was ultimately released as DLC was pretty lame all things considered. I'd be wary about this title. I know they're releasing some retro maps with it, which will be cool, but I'm betting all of their DLC will "ship with the disc" but be "unlocked" via DLC releases down the road. Caveat emptor.
Now I can get into servers!!!!!
