Modern Warfare 3 developer takes a pop at Battlefield's sniping, pacing

I'm amazed that someone out there, in the games industry is actually aware of the sniper problem! And while Infinity Ward seem to have gone to great lengths to make sniping less of an issue there are easier ways to resolve it. And in truth, they haven't actually tried to resolve the issue at all.

First off, this quick scoping rubbish has to go. I never appreciated Modern Warfare's slight auto-aim that follows a target briefly. It's pathetic. And not only that it follows targets that may even be hidden from sight behind foliage. If Infinity Ward were serious about reducing sniping they needed to get rid of that for a start. They need to increase scope wobble. Get rid of the 'holding your breath, steady aim' rubbish too! Maps with big open, distant views, ideal for sniping could easily be made harder with the odd strategically placed tree. Speaking of which, why not add proper physics for wind too! We can see trees sway in games. If the industry could just understand and program in proper physics, sniping would be tough, and fewer gamers would bother. And finally, if a map is just way too easy for a sniper, get rid of the weapon for that map altogether. It really isn't difficult.

While I understand what Infinity Ward are trying to do by publically stating their game doesn't suffer from a sniping issue. Really they have done just enough to be able to make a statement about sniping and to have a dig at Battlefield. Both games promote sniping, and make it easy to do. Odd that the developers don't like to admit it. They don't want to put off gamers who like sniping. Infinity Ward promote the least skillful weapon in games as much as the boys who make Battlefield.

I very much agree JensonJet, I also have issues with shotguns that are great at range on both games... wtf? GoW has the best version of shotguns (gnasher takes 3 shots at range, both it and the sawn off are 1 hit kill at 1 in game foot range).

I must say though, bf3 has gravity, if you're getting a one hit shot at range - the other person deserves to die. Thankfully it's rare.

If MW3 thinks it has sniping licked then it needs to actually play the game.

And you can SPOT targets in BF3 (in fact you are supposed to).

Unfortunately EA have done the game no favours; their prerelease anti-CoD hype really has backfired; BF was rushed.

Am I one of the few people who actually enjoys sniping? In real war, the whole idea is to not get killed by snipers, and they are a massive threat, because it is not generally a good idea to remain in the open like a startled rabbit in headlights. I think Battlefield emphasizes the danger of it very well. Yes it can be frustrating when on a good run and you get popped off by sniper, but that is how I like my game to be played, faced with the danger of getting picked off if I stay in the open too long. CoD's sniping is quite frankly pathetic, making it very hard to hide and actually play how a sniper is supposed to be used. It seems they just want to keep the FPS market moving faster and faster towards frantic deathmatch in every game mode, and try and discourage everyone from using the sniper.

Sniping may be very enjoyable.

Being on the receiving end of people abusing how it should work in a game like this isn't.

Already there are people running around using sniper rifles like regular guns - and the game lets them.

This game has learned nothing from the previous versions. But then why should it; that's clearly what these idiots want. Another game to carry on behaving like tossers while others, people like me that play casually and might otherwise enjoy getting involved, are marginalised.

I'd really love to see OXM ask some hard questions about this and not pander to their sales spiel about how the game is more 'noob friendly' because, when i see level 70 players not a full day after release playing this game, I'm about ready to give up. This is not what I pay money to play for. With the inclusion of Elite (named appropriate) they have created a game environment that is so utterly noob unfriendly that anyone thinking about playing ought to think twice, three times, and then walk the f**k away. BF3 may be rough, glitchy and very unpolished and at times unbalanced, but it has NOTHING on this.

You are not going to get sniped by a guy you can't even see???? "Gillies in the mist..or...all ghillied up"whatever it was called....really??is that not the point?

Worthies,

You're kidding, right? Are you the only person who enjoy sniping!!! I wish. It's all well and good saying "that's how real combat is"... it's nothing like videogames. If it were half as easy as it was in a game, then every bod-standard soldier would be considered an elite sniper. I don't claim to know the ins and outs, but I'd bet it's a far more difficult skill than is shown in games. The whole reason millions of gamers (and you) enjoy sniping is because you get easy kills. If you genuinely had the reactions and precision, and cared about the team's win, you'd be in the thick of the action shooting people in the face (so to speak!). I know people who like sniping and it's because they absolutely don't have the choice. Snipers are like the kids who played in defense in football at school. With no discernable usefulness, you give 'em a place at the back and hope they do something useful.

I'm fully aware of the maps in Battlefield and we both know it's not entirely practical to run from cover to cover. People aren't running in the open for a laugh, or because they think that's what real soldiers do, or in the hope to get sniped by some coward at the back of the map... they're desperately trying to back into the thick of the action for some fun!!!!

Incidentally, Battlefield is absolutely no more realistic than Modern Warfare. They're arcade shooters, like all first-person shooters. Personally I would prefer to play more realistic military shooters, and have complained about the arcadeness of these games on many occasions. So while you think CoD sniping is pathetic, to unbiased people, we know the sniping in ALL games pretty pathetic! The closest it's come to real life, that I've seen was in America's Army. It was very difficult. And rightly so. And rather wonderfully it put people off.

So do you seriously think Battlefield isn't going for a "moving faster and frantic" style of play? It may have big maps but they're still restrictive and small in reality. It's still just a game, with unrealistically easy-to-destroy vehicles, pitched in areas where people are effectively running around, doing their own thing with an unrealistic mixture of vehicles and footsoldiers in a tight space. And have you not questioned the speed and energy your little characters have in the game? It's pure arcade. From my understanding Arma, the PC game, is far closer to your imagination of what Battlefield is. And I'm sure Arma fans look down on the arcadeness of Battlefield like you do of Modern Warfare.

Love the game all you like, but attempting to justify is as anything high and mighty over Modern Warfare demonstrates one thing!!!!!!!

nowt better than shooting someone in the back from afar

Are snipers supposed to stand in the middle of the road with flashing lights covering their bodies?

@Jenson Jet
I understand your point but you got me kind of wrong, I mean I guess I made it out like sniping is all I do!
But no, I haven't seen much of the new Battlefield snipers, but my main point was to have a "pop" at yet another interview where one company slates another. I think Dice got BadComp2 sniping fairly right, even though it may have been fairly easy but yet it wasn't abused very much. And I understand your point about the pacing of the games, but I feel that Battlefield does more justice that CoD does as their maps are much smaller by comparison and there for makes it nearly impossible to use a sniper remotely how it is supposed to be used. I don't use a sniper very often actually, but I sometime use it when I am in the mood for defending a Com station from afar and cover the other players than to get cheap kills because there are quicker and more effective ways of getting them.
I understand they do get abused but my point was to try and defend them from the perspective of a person who uses them occasionally and doesn't abuse them.

If MW3 thinks it has sniping licked then it needs to actually play the game.

And you can SPOT targets in BF3 (in fact you are supposed to).

Unfortunately EA have done the game no favours; their prerelease anti-CoD hype really has backfired; BF was rushed.

I was a massive fan of BF2 and truly thought it was going to be an epic BF3 launch. Even played the Beta. Know what? Couldn't enjoy it. I play games for entertainment and running like Hell towards an Mcom only to be sniped by some camper over the other side of the map was a massive let-down! I have had more fun playing CoD these last two days than I have playing BF3 these last two weeks. And BF3 was the game i was looking forward to the most! Sometimes a guy wants to come home from work and just shoot shit, i s'pose..

I really hate debates like this, but what the hell here's my 2 pence worth.

Sniping is; I think, and rightly so, should be part of any FPS. I don't necessarily agree with quick scoping as I think it's a quick and cheap way of making a kill. I believe in traditional used-in-real-life sniping of being at the very back of the battlefield as a silent and deadly tool, up to a mile away observing the enemy position and then taking well timed, precise targets of the enemy.

At the end of the day, every FPS that usually plays as a Recon/ Sniper has their own way of killing the enemy, but it all comes down to how realistic do you want to attempt to get it - Or are you just after making quick kills and YouTubing how magnifico you think you are being able to snipe somebody directly in front of you, using it like a hand gun with a scope. Each to their own.

I have had more fun playing CoD these last two days than I have playing BF3 these last two weeks. And BF3 was the game i was looking forward to the most! Sometimes a guy wants to come home from work and just shoot shit, i s'pose..

I know what you mean. I also love the excitement, the intensity, and the danger you find in some shooters. I'm a massive fan of close combat firefights. I find intense and relentless gunfights exciting and more satisfying than open warfare. I assume many Modern Warfare fans feel the same way. Battlefield's larger environments, vehicle filled, sniper-centric battles have a very different feel to Modern Warfare's close quarter, tighter, urban space battles. I just find Battlefield's combat dull. And that's not a reflection on the game itself. It's about the type of combat and the way battles take place in that game.