By JAMES WITCZAK
When EA revealed the first trailer for Battlefield 3 it was clear what they were aiming at; Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Promising an explosive single-player game and a relentlessly fun multiplayer game that the battlefield series is known for, can Battlefield 3 match up in the crowded military first-person shooter field?
For the most part, yes.
The campaign starts you off in an exhilarating on foot attack on a subway train that’s moving at full speed through New York with a bomb ready to blow, setting the non-stop pace immediately.
The game manages to keep this pace going for the most part with other highlights including taking control of a gunner in a fighter pilot shooting down enemy fighters, crossing a desert in a tank with dusty winds sweeping the landscape and a frantic assault on a French airport trying to prevent a terrorist attack.
These moments are very similar to the Call of Duty kind of “shock and awe” campaign that has made it so popular. And for the most part it manages to hit on most of what makes Call of Duty great. But there are a few costly mistakes that stop it from achieving true greatness.
For one thing it’s short, real short. It will take you less than five hours to complete the campaign on normal difficulty, and you don’t really feel the need to go back for more once you’ve finished it.
And, the game’s story isn’t that great, it’s VERY similar to Call of Duty: Black Ops (almost shocking so), and you can clearly see where the game is going to go.
Overall, the single-player portion of the game is good, but not great.
But if you at all plan to play the multiplayer, then you’re in for a fantastic experience.
Unlike Call of Duty, Battlefield 3 multiplayer requires teamwork to get the job done. You’re not a one-man team and you can’t win a game all by yourself. There are tanks, helicopters, jets and all other sorts of vehicles to get you across the huge maps that can house up to 26 players on the console versions.
There are levelling systems for not only the four multiplayer classes with each of them having their own unique role in the game, but for your overall level.
I could go on for hours and hours about all the impressive features that the game offers but at the end of the day, it truly comes down to the gameplay.
There’s nothing like getting a transport truck travelling at full speed toward an enemy flag with four other players in and launching a full out attack with rockets, grenades and every bullet you have in your gun at the enemy before finally capturing the flag and moving on to the next one with your new online buddies.
The two premier multiplayer modes (conquest, which involves each team rushing toward flags to capture them, and rush, which involves one team defending a set of objectives and another attacking it) are what make this game stand apart.
The game does offer a co-op mode, but it’s not really that fantastic. Each of the six levels will take you and a partner around 15 minutes to beat, and like the single player, you’re really not going to want to go back to play them once you are done.
On the plus side, the game looks and sounds amazing. The graphics are clearly some of the best of this generation, with the lighting truly standing out as something that made my jaw drop and say “whoa” a couple of times. And the loud thunderous noise of a M416 going off really immerses you in the experience.
Plain and simple, if you love multiplayer games, this is a game for you. It’s not Call of Duty, but that’s not really a bad thing. It offers something similar but different in the first-person shooter genre.
If you’re tired of Call of Duty, try this one out, you may find a replacement. The single-player may last you for only five hours, but the multiplayer will keep on going for as long as you’re having fun, which may very well be for many years to come.
I give it 5 out of 5.
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