Move out Marines!

I'm back. I was slipping out of my old routine and slacking, so am here to attempt to get back into things. There is only one thing to blame, really (other than myself of course), and that is Battlefield 3. What a glorious, epic game that is. It lives up to all my expectations and surpasses some. The single player is an intriguing story, and although the overall length of the game is a little shorter than most would like, I found it reasonable. The action is intense and varied, thanks to the mechanism of switching between several characters to tell different parts of the same story, with brilliant building of suspense during cut scenes and plot moments.

I think this game wows mainly because of the graphics and effects. The Frostbite 2 engine used by DICE is absolutely breathtaking. The sheer beauty of the world allows you to overlook pretty much any flaw. With lens flare glinting off the spray-flecked glass canopy of your F-18 as you take off from the deck of U.S.S George H W Bush in the Persian Gulf on a stormy, moody day, streaking through clouds towards an Iranian airbase, you really feel part of something on a huge scale, and you absolutely do not care about anything other than nailing those bogeys.

LOOK AT THE SHINY!

The lighting, the shadows, the smoothness of the soldiers' uniforms, their animations, the detail on vehicles, the environment, on your weapon.. everything. It's phenomenal.

Multiplayer is where the game really shines. The maps are great and offer everything from close-quarters inner city combat with tight alleys (The Grand Bazaar, Seine Crossing) to long range vehicle warfare (Caspian Border, Kharg Island), with variations on each map depending on game mode. The weapons are suitably meaty, sound effects are great (especially player call-outs, when they are pinned down or out of ammo), ground vehicles are easy to pick up, difficult to master, whereas helicopters and jets are just... difficult.

There are a few flaws. Some menus are difficult to navigate, and a glaring omission is the ability to quit between games.. you have to wait for the map to load before exiting the game, which does get annoying. Sometimes changes you make to your kit or solider aren't saved between sessions, and EA's whole 'Buy an online pass' thing is a horrific money-grabbing scheme that means BF3 is going to be more expensive as a second-hand game, due to having to buy a new code for online play. There is no manual included with the game so unless you can find the controls in the menus or remember them from the tutorials forever, good luck. Ridiculous.

Still, those technical faults aside, I think this is a truly brilliant game, and one I am not ashamed to be wasting my days playing.