— The mission's primary loading screen text
Semper Fidelis is the first mission in the singleplayer campaign of Battlefield 3.
Synopsis[]
No politicians, no money changing hands.
Just two soldiers speaking the truth."
This section contains spoilers for Battlefield 3.
Introduction[]
The player, as Henry Blackburn, starts out in the middle of a New York City street overlooking a subway system. After hearing some police sirens, Blackburn dives onto the train, and barely manages to grab onto one of the car edges as he slides off the top.
Entering the train[]
Blackburn prepares to jump on the hijacked train
He swings in, landing upon and subsequently killing several PLR operatives with an M9. After doing so, Solomon can be heard in the background telling his operatives to kill the passengers on the train, explaining that "none of them are innocent." Meanwhile, Blackburn advances through the train. He unlocks a door that had been jammed via an M1014. However, upon reaching the first corner, he is ambushed by a PLR operative with an AKS-74u. After a brief melee, Blackburn manages to take the enemy weapon and force the operative out onto the tracks, although losing the M1014 in the process.
Encountering Solomon[]
Blackburn then encounters Solomon behind an unbreakable window. He primes a set of explosive charges, and then walks away, whereupon Blackburn climbs out of the train and jumps from one car to the next, narrowly escaping the subsequent explosion. Solomon fires at Blackburn who stumbles and nearly falls onto the train tracks. However, he recovers, and manages to climb onto the top of the train. As he slowly advances, he is attacked by several operatives. Another explosion occurs on the car in front of Blackburn, allowing the marine to re-enter the train.
Flashback[]
After killing several more PLR operatives, Blackburn reaches a car that seems empty apart from a single operative, who raises his hands in surrender. Solomon ambushes him, and demands to know if Blackburn is on his own. The level ends at this point and the mission Operation Swordbreaker follows, but the events of this level are re-enacted during the final mission, The Great Destroyer.
Related Achievements and Trophies[]
The following achievements/trophies can be completed on this mission.
| Image | Name | Criteria | Gamerscore | Trophy type |
|
FlashForward | Completed Semper Fidelis | 10 G | Bronze |
Walkthrough[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
LEAP poster, with a silhouette of Faith
- The phrase "Semper Fidelis" or "Semper Fi" is Latin and is translated as "Always Faithful." The phrase serves as the United States Marine Corps' motto.
- Several of the posters on the train are advertisements for LEAP: A Free Running Musical, referencing DICE's 2008 Mirror's Edge. The poster features a silhouette of Faith, the game's protagonist, as well as the Mirror's Edge logo hidden at the end of the title.
- In the game files this level is named SP_New_York.
- The PLR operative during the first quicktime event has a UMP-45 on his back in the Xbox 360 version (as opposed to the AKS-74u he has in the PC and PS3 version). However, the player will still end up with an AKS-74u after the fight on all three versions. This has since been patched.
- There is a bug on the said Quick-Time event that causes the gun to fire normally when the mouse button is clicked/ RT/R1 is pulled, allowing the player to kill the operative without finishing the quick-time event. This can lead to minor animation bugs on the said script, like a given bug below.
- A rare bug can occur after the quick time event with the soldier where his knife is left hanging in midair.
- Despite firing into a window, and firing on other occasions, you don't lose ammunition. Thus, if the weapon firing is scripted, it's not removed from your magazine or pool.
- This mission is replayed and continued in The Great Destroyer.
- In the opening FMV, Blackburn is being chased by police cars, as there are police sirens. However, when this scene is played actually in the last level, there are no police cars nor any audible sirens in the mission.
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