As a big fan of the Battlefield series since “Modern Combat” was released for the Xbox I was incredibly excited to get my hands on Battlefield 3 for my Xbox 360. This game has been generating a lot of steam in the weeks before it came out due to its extensive advertising campaign, with many Battlefield fans desperately hoping that it will be that “Call of Duty killer”. Depending on whom you ask, many will say that it really is.

Let’s talk about gameplay. First off, the Battlefield games have always had multiplayer as their main focus. So if you’re looking for an epic, long, eloquent single player story then please don’t look at Battlefield 3. The single player in this game really isn’t up to par with many games currently coming out. Overall the campaign probably won’t last you more than 6-8 hours max, and those few hours are mostly spent shooting enemy after enemy, running from a tank, and covering your squadmates as you tactically retreat into a waiting helicopter.

Even with its lackluster campaign, the multiplayer aspect of BF3 is really where the game shines. As much as I hate comparing games to Call of Duty, there really isn’t any other military shooter as well recognized and appreciated out there. This game to me is like Call of Duty’s big brother. The maps are bigger, there are more weapons, and on top of it all, VEHICLES. That is the major difference between this and Call of Duty. Call of Duty is more run and gun, while the Battlefield games have always been about strategically using tanks, jeeps, helicopters, and jets to dominate the enemy team. The feeling of driving a tank towards the enemy base while jets soften up the enemy position with bombs, and helicopters swoop in to drop off troops, is honestly the most exhilarating feel I’ve felt in a video game. As important as vehicle combat is, being soldier on the ground is equally important, and fun. Soldiers are divided into four classes, each with their own responsibilities. Whether you’re the medic, engineer,

Now how about we discuss another selling point for games these days, the graphics. Graphically this game is superior to any other shooter I see out right now. It really is beautiful… if you’ve downloaded the HD texture pack. If you don’t download the texture pack, well, the game isn’t quite as gorgeous. That isn’t to say that it looks bad, just not nearly as good. Keep in mind that this is just my personal experience, and I’m playing on an Xbox 360. The PS3 version of this game looks amazing and doesn’t require any extra download. Also, the PC version… well, I don’t even want to talk about it. This game was made for PC, and if you can run this game on max settings you’ll swear that you’re actually fighting a real battle. Besides the obvious graphic dominance on the PC you also get 64 player battles (the console versions of this game only support 24 player games). I for one cannot even imagine the awesome insanity of 64 player combat in this game, it would be too much for my heart to take. Those of you with a PC able to run this game, I implore you buy Battlefield 3 as soon as possible. As for the console owners, it really comes down to if you like first person military shooters or not.

[divider top=”0″]

Hunter

[Rating:4/5]

I’ve been a fan of Battlefield since Bad Company first came out for the 360, and to be honest, I’ve always seen the series to be superior to Call of Duty in every way, shape, and form.  Battlefield 3 continues DICE’s standard of multiplayer excellence.

I was excited to get my hands on this game and get playing, but to my suprise, when I popped it in my Xbox 360, I was prompted to install a 1.5 Gigabyte HD texture pack.  While it’s not neccessary to play the game, it makes a big difference to the graphics.  This is specific only to the 360 version, so PS3 and PC gamers don’t need to worry.  It’s not that big of a deal if you have an Elite or newer, but for those who still have 8GB Hard Drives or smaller, you may want to free up some space.

That being said, however, this game is not without issues.  The campaign falls short of being anything more than a time-waster, like many modern first person shooters do.  You fill the shoes of Private Blackburn, a simple soldier that supposedly knows how to stop a terrorist plot in the USA from being perpetrated.  For the most part, the missions are a series of flashbacks from Blackburn’s operations in Iran, where he first learned about the plot.  The campaign isn’t bad, but it isn’t good either.  At least with the Bad Company series, you had a humorous plotline, but Battlefield 3’s single player believes that the player will care about the plot a little too much.

A new feature in this installment of Battlefield is Co-op mode.  It consists of only six missions, but every time you play a mission, win or lose, you earn points to unlock guns for use in multiplayer.  I was excited about this mode after seeing a trailer for it, so Trevor and I played the first couple of missions.  Everything was going good until the second mission, when I was put into the pilot’s seat of an Apache, and told to provide fire support to two squads of marines.

That’s when Trevor learned that flying a helicopter is not one of my specialties..

Finally, we get to the best part, the multiplayer.  By far, it is the most fun I’ve had with a shooter since the first Modern Warfare came out.  With new guns, updated classes, improved weapon customization, and so much more, I can’t think of anything bad to say about it.  The main reason the Battlefield series is and always will be better than Call of Duty is the huge maps, epic vehicular combat, and the ability to strategize.  With Call of Duty, there is no sniping, there’s just run and gun.  With Battlefield 3, you can change up your strategy the instant you die.  If a tank’s giving you trouble, get in a jet and go all kamikaze.  If a sniper’s got you dialed in, mark him for your teammate in a jet so he can kamikaze him.  This is just one way out of thousands you could go about solving your problem.

While the campaign is meh, everything else is top-notch.  So if you think of yourself as a gamer, buy this game now.  It’s worth every penny.