He hurries upstairs, adrenaline still rushing from the ambush, the door is kicked open as he reaches the roof. The crack of enemy sniper fire sends chills down his spine every shot, hopping the next one won't make contact, he's ready for payback. He crawls to the other side of the building, suspense increasing, every deafening shot chipping away at the precious concrete wall between him and the enemy. "Give it to Black" he is given an AT4 84mm rocket, he readies the weapon, knowing what happens in the next few moments could determine the lives of his friends - SUPPRESSING FIRE! - he stands, time seems to slow as he sends the rocket soaring across the street into the side of the hotel... direct hit.
This is Battlefield 3.
Stunning visuals, amazing realism, and 64 player online war, Battlefield 3 is packing heat and bringing everything to the table. With the surprise success of the previous spin-off title, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, EA and DICE plan to make Battlefield the next who's who of first-person shooters. With the release just over a month away, it's time for my 2 cents on this game and if it's going to stand up to its name. The short answer, YES, the slightly longer answer, HELL YES, and I'm going to tell you why.
First off, I just want to explain that for the most part, this will be mainly about the PC version of the game, and while I'm personally not an avid PC gamer, I've got some friends in the gaming world who very much are; so let us begin. If I had to explain Battlefield 3 in one word, it would be scale, two words, large scale. Players of the most recent Battlefield game, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, or BF:BC2 for short, know that the most impressive part of the game was the sheer scale of encounters, with several single and multiplayer maps and levels spanning over the course of miles. These huge set pieces allowed for intense land, air, and sea skirmishes, and created some of the most memorable moments in online shooter history. Not to mention destruction, BF:BC2 was, and still is, one of the most fun and exciting games out there, and this time around, DICE has raised the bar again.
More than just visually, Battlefield 3 comes equipped with a whole new engine, weapons, vehicles, maps, and more countless upgrades from the previous installment. Outside of the game, Battlefield 3 is setting the stage for potentially the largest shift of industry power in 4 years. Since the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activison has been the most successful company in the first-person shooter industry and hasn't budged, that may very well change. While we won't know for sure until the release, BF3 may be the game that revamps the FPS genre and sets the wheels in motion for a shift towards larger, tactical teamwork based shooters, rather than the prevalent arcade style shooter that is Call of Duty.
For those who were unfortunate enough to not be able to participate in the BF3 alpha beta, the biggest change is fluidity, it's much more fast paced and streamlined, while still retaining that realistic handheld feel to the whole thing. You'll feel right in the action, and there's less running a mile on foot to get in the fight. If the Battlefield series was a car, BF3 replaced the engine, (No pun intended) got some fresh tires, a set of wings, and gave it a shiny new coat of paint. Will BF3 live up to the hype? Yes.
Thank you for reading, I hope to post more previews and reviews soon.
