Battlefield 1 vs Battlefield 3
Battlefield 1 is an FPS open-world game from DICE (2016) while Battlefield 3 is an FPS open-world game from DICE (2011).
Quick answer: Battlefield 1 rates higher, 7.7 to 7.1 on the GamingPickz Score.
What each one is
Battlefield 1 is filed under FPS and Open-World. In contrast, Battlefield 3 under FPS and Open-World.
Battlefield™ 1 takes you back to The Great War, WW1, where new technology and worldwide conflict changed the face of warfare forever.
Enjoy total freedom to fight the way you want. Explore 29 massive multiplayer maps and use loads of vehicles, weapons, and gadgets to help you turn up the heat. Every second of battle gets you closer to unlocking tons of extras and moving up in the Ranks. So get in the action.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
Storm of Steel The prologue, set in 1918, sees players take control of different members of the Harlem Hellfighters as they defend their positions against a German offensive in France during the Second Battle of the Marne . The player initially starts out near the front line and must survive as long as possible against waves of German soldiers. If the player survives the attack, an artillery barrage will rain down on them and then the game's perspective… (Wikipedia)
Characters
During the single-player campaigns, the player controls six different characters from a first-person perspective over six different chapters (known as War Stories). Unlike previous campaigns in the series, Battlefield 1 s single-player story mode is composed of six separate "War Stories", each shown through the eyes of separate Allied soldiers from different nationalities: "Storm of Steel" – the prologue of the game, set in the Western Front through the… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Edit on Wikidata Pre-release The game received positive response from the community after its official announcement. As of May 9, 2016, the Battlefield 1 reveal trailer had become the most liked trailer on YouTube , with over 2 million likes. Electronic Arts expected the game to sell at least 14 million units in its first year of release. (Wikipedia)
Plot
In March 2014, U. S. Marine Sergeant Henry Blackburn ( Gideon Emery ) of the 1st Recon Marines is deployed to Sulaymaniyah , Iraqi Kurdistan with his fellow squadmates Private First Class Jack Chaffin ( Tony Denman ), Lance Corporals David Montes (Ronan Summers) and Christian Matkovic (William Meredith), Staff Sergeant Steve Campo ( Eric Loren ), and Captain Quinton Cole ( David Harewood ), under the squad callsign Misfit 1-3. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical reception Reception Battlefield 3 received mostly positive reviews. IGN gave it a score of 9. 0 out of 10. (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Battlefield 1 | Battlefield 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.7/10 | 7.1/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (86%, 226,777) | Mostly Positive (72%, 19,290) |
| Critic aggregate | 88/100 | 89/100 |
| Price | $39.99 | $39.99 |
| Install size | 50 GB | 20 GB |
| Steam Deck | unsupported | unsupported |
| Released | 2016 | 2011 |
| Developer | DICE | DICE |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Battlefield 1 vs Battlefield 3, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Battlefield 1FPS open-world gameBattlefield 3FPS open-world gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Battlefield 1FPS, World War I, WarBattlefield 3Action, Shooter, FPSThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Battlefield 1 ✓Score 7.7 · 86% on Steam · 88 criticBattlefield 3Score 7.1 · 72% on Steam · 89 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Battlefield 1226,777 reviews · 7 add-ons · 50 GBBattlefield 319,290 reviews · 2 add-ons · 20 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Battlefield 1$39.99Battlefield 3$39.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Battlefield 1UnsupportedBattlefield 3UnsupportedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Battlefield 1 takes 1 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueBattlefield 1 and Battlefield 3 on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Mobile
- Multi-platform
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Battlefield 1 (GamingPickz Score 7.7)
- Lighter on storage: Battlefield 3 (20 GB)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Battlefield 1 (226,777 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
FPSMultiplayerSingleplayerWarShooterActionFirst-PersonAtmospheric
Where they differ
World War IHistoricalMassively MultiplayerGoreTanksPhysics
Team-BasedTacticalMilitaryCo-opStory RichController
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Battlefield 1 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Battlefield 3 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Battlefield 1 | Battlefield 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | Graphics card (AMD): |
| Minimum CPU | Processor (AMD): AMD FX-6350 Processor (Intel): Intel Core i5 6600K | 2 GHz Dual Core (Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz |
| Minimum RAM | 8 GB | 2 GB |
| Install size | 50 GB | 20 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Battlefield 1 · Battlefield 3.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for Battlefield 1 and 1 for Battlefield 3. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Battlefield 1 and Battlefield 3 in scope?
Battlefield 1 has drawn 226,777 Steam reviews, ships 7 add-ons and installs in 50 GB. Battlefield 3 has drawn 19,290 Steam reviews, ships 2 add-ons and installs in 20 GB.
Is Battlefield 1 or Battlefield 3 better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Battlefield 1 rates higher (7.7 to 7.1). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Battlefield 1 or Battlefield 3?
Battlefield 1 is cheaper right now at $39.99, against $39.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Should I get Battlefield 1 or Battlefield 3?
Battlefield 1 rates higher, 7.7 to 7.1 on the GamingPickz Score. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.