The Beta release of EA's highly anticipated Battlefield 3, was not without a few hiccups. (It is called "beta testing" for a reason). Released on Tuesday for gamers that pre-ordered BF3 for the PC (sorry consolers, evidently our preorders didn't count), everyone was given access on Thursday. The server immediately became the bouncer outside the trendy new downtown club, no admittance without persistence. There were bugs to be sure, primarily with squads and the lobby, though many got the infamous "black screen" when they finally did enter a game. However, once in the gameplay was nearly seamless, and though there was only on Rush map available, it was more than enough to keep fans (new and old) happy for hours of blissful carnage.

The first checkpoint in Old Metro, the Beta's singular map, is a fairly wide-open park area (a.k.a. camp sniper). This area was great to showcase the new fluid movements, and the beauty of the new graphics (thank you Frostbite 2). The second checkpoint is a much more linear and enclosed subterranean subway station, highlighting, providing the game with a great opportunity for more tactically minded squads to crete chokepoints and ambushes. The third checkpoint, and by far the most entertaining, is an above-ground residential apartment area, in the old european style. two and three story buildings look down on streets and plazas. This area was great for giving a taste of the largesse of the Battlefield trademark, and had the most environmental destructability of the beta, but still not up to snuff for this franchise. (You can't topple an apartment building by bushwhacking it with RPG's. :(  Single tear.

When I first fired up the Beta Thursday night (after an excruciating 1.3 GB download) the server bounced me off a total 32 times before I finally connected. Once in my Party mates were unable to squad up. It took nearly 30 minutes of waiting, reloading, finding games and backing out again, until we all decided to stay partied (so that we could chat about our reactions) but just play alone. Immediately I love the movement, which was reportedly borrowed from the EA Madden football games, which includes  a new mantling feature that makes criss-crossing the map fluid, fast, and exciting. In addition, the sound engineering and graphics lend a rich atmosphere, even when your head's taken off at 200 yards. Primarily my friends are old Battlefield Bad Company 2 adherents, and we were a little disappointed in the lack of two things that make Battlefield such an incredible franchise; scope and destruction.

Betas are part game testing, yes, but they're also part promotional material. A friend that is new to the Battlefield franchise, having switched over from the Call of Duty camp specifically for BF3, was a little disappointed with the experience. He made the comment that people playing the beta may get the wrong idea about the game and decide not to buy on Oct. 25 when it releases..particularly if they don't have three other friends pimping the greatness of the game (even though you couldn't necessarilly see it in the Beta). That said, the Beta is a great taste of things to come, and DICE has already reported that the game is even more fully developed and "fixed" than the Beta suggests, having been an earlier iteration of it. If nothing else, you'll be able to fly jets! Jets!