It may not have broken, or even come near Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s sales record, but Electronic Arts’ modern-military first-person shooter did make its mark.
Since Battlefield 3 was announced and its PC version was demoed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, earlier this year, the game was subject to a flurry of comparisons to what is its biggest rival: Activision’s behemoth Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare 3.
That tag did not just apply to Battlefield though, it seems that any first-person shooter that comes out these days is instantly compared to the Call of Duty games. Whether it be Sony’s sci-fi shooter Killzone 3 or Resistance 3, to any other game that involves
gun and a first-person view, the first thing people seem to ask is whether or not it is better than Call of Duty.
The simple answer is yes and no. This is because none of those games try to be what Modern Warfare or Black Ops are, instead they attempt to carve out their own niche and stand up for what they are. But no, the comparisons still hound them.
In that sense, every game is a hero for having its own identity yet none more so than Battlefield 3. This is because it went toe to toe with a giant and managed to catch the attention and earn the respect of gamers who were loyal to the Call of Duty cause.
Battlefield 3 broke EA’s sales record for the fastest selling game in the company’s history. It sold around 5-million units in its first week, with an astonishing 3-million of those being pre-order sales. That is quite a significant figure and a commendable
feat; being able to convince 3-million gamers to buy EA’s product in a period when other titles such as Batman: Arkham City, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim were all releasing.
In fact, EA claim to have taken a certain share of the market away from Activision’s record breaking series and it would be difficult to argue with that. While Modern Warfare 3 dominated the sales charts, the review scores seemed to have favoured Battlefield
3.
The single-player campaign was not for everyone but between the raids in Iraq, the earthquakes and the various set-pieces, including vehicle missions, the game had its moments. One let down was the jet fighter level, which was a bit boring to be honest although
the sequence where the planes fly through the clouds and the Battlefield theme starts playing in the background was nothing short of awe inspiring.
Battlefield 3’s main strength has to be the FrostBite 2.0 engine and how it takes destruction to a whole new level. What many gamers may have missed was how EA threw their collective might behind the game; the physicality engine was brought in from the FIFA
series and there were moments that reminded us of Mirror’s Edge first-person traversal.
All in all, Battlefield 3 stands out as the number one choice for gamers who want a tactical approach to modern military multiplayer action as opposed to Modern Warfare 3’s Hollywood inspired gun show.
Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not, in any way, reflect the editorial policy of Bettor.com
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