Battlefield 3

Whilst the Call of Duty fans frolic unknowing in their drunken stupor created by playing Modern Warfare 3 other members of the gaming community waste hours battling through much more detailed, much more tactical skirmishes. If you haven't guessed by now, I'm talking about Battlefield 3, the newest game in the battlefield franchise by DICE and EA. Battlefield 3 brings to the table what all Call of Duty games don't but still falls short on several planes. Does this make this interesting and uniquely fresh shooter another item on this years Christmas list, or is it yet another "unique" shooter?

Set in a fictional world of 2014, a war between the US and the People's Liberation and Resistance (PLR), Battlefield 3 contains a campaign which throws you into several locations all over the world. Only taking a few hours to complete (It took me two play sessions of about four hours each) the campaign does fall short of length, yet most FPS aren't known to have massive gameplay time. The story is shown in a series of flashbacks while you're being interrogated. Sound like Black Ops to you? That's what I thought too. Moving on, the interrogators are interested in your connection to nuclear weapons which the story is centered around. The ending if fairly climactic, though it seems almost a perfect place for a sequel. Most of the weapons in the multiplayer can be found in BF3's singleplayer. Obviously you can't customize any weapons during campaign, but are left to scavenge dead bodies for weapons and ammo. There is no co-op built in with the singleplayer. Co-op is provided in a separate cooperative mode which plants players in missions where they complete objectives and earn weapons to use in standard multiplayer. Battlefield 3's singleplayer is something they fail to ace. It feels a bit cliché and run-of-the-mill, still, it's a time waster, and a damned good one.

Multiplayer brings the epic battle to the massive scale. No game has felt this much like a real war since... Since... I really can't remember. The PC version allows for up to 64 (32 on Consoles) players to wreak havoc with a multitude of drivable vehicles, from jets to helicopters and from tanks to jeeps. There is a progressive level system with unlocks along the way. Four balanced classes help even out the battle, the assault class gains the medic's equipment and the support gets a light MG and ammo. Recons get sniper rifles and equipment to aid in intelligence gathering and spawning. Engineers blow up tanks and repair them, 'nuff said. Battlefield 3's maps are built with architecture in mind. No item is left untouched. The forests in the map, Caspian Border are rich and filled with great choke points as an example. Multiplayer never felt this natural, this good, since Team Fortress 2. Man, those were the good old days.

Battlefield 3 is the best looking game on the market in my educated opinion. Skyrim may have the environment and models down pat, but when a helicopter screams overhead, blocking out the sun while you're sprinting through the jungle, nothing can beat Battlefield 3, yet. The xbox actually doesn't run on the full graphical settings unless you download the HD textures. If you don't download them, this game looks like crap. It's not Battlefield's fault, it's yours. From what I've heard (Don't play on the PS3) the PS3 has the textures downloaded by default. Water textures look nice, the sun glares realistically. Character and vehicles models are sharp and beautiful. Explosions shake your screen and cloud it, making your experience all the more amazing. You can't compare this game to the COD series. The graphics are just too good in BF3, just too... Epic. Just remember, install those HD textures Xboxers.

Many games can have a sound engine. Mostly, that means it's bug free and runs the way it needs to. Battlefield 3 has more bugs than the other big brand shooter on the market today, but to me, it doesn't matter. All I can say is, "Frostbite 2 (drool), Destruction 3.0 (drool)". It's just that good. A new engine, Frostbite 2, the predecessor to Bad Company's engine allows BF3 to take the next flying leap into the gaming world. Destruction 3.0 allows that leap, making Battlefield 3 have a major difference compared to other shooters. Example:
Bob: "Damn! Those campers are sitting in that building the whole match! No one can touch them!"
Joe: "Hmmm... I have this RPG! I'll just make a hole."
(Massive explosion, then gunfire)
Bob: "We showed them noobs! Oh, crap! The building is coming down!"
If you gained the general message from the garbled text above, almost anything in Battlefield 3 may be torn and blown apart. This leads to door camping being useless. C4 gains meaning and jets can actually provide ground support. The Battlefield engine not only provides a support for the gameplay, the graphics but it changes the gameplay itself. Gamers be warned, bugs are plentiful, but it's a fine price to pay for such a great engine.

Overall, Battlefield 3 is far superior than any shooter on the market at this date. That is part of the reason I denies myself the act of reviewing Modern Warfare 3, it's just not different than MW2. Graphics, engine, multiplayer are amazing. Singleplayer, though fun and not missing the, "Oh! Shit!" moments everyone loves, is not that great. Then again, who ever bought a Battlefield game for the singleplayer. PC players be warned, if you're looking for a Steam friendly game, looking away. BF3 is only available as direct download from Origin, EA's new online store.

Overall Score:  9.5