Battlefield 3, a game I spent the better part of 2011 hyping over, when there were much better games to hype over (Skyrim, Mass Effect 3). Mind you, it's a fantastic game, it just doesn't hit the legendary standard set by Mass Effect and The Elder Scrolls.
The technology BF3 brings to the medium is fantastic, I cannot wait to see what EA brings to the table in the coming years using Frostbite 2.0, exploring it, and finding new ways to implement the most powerful engine in the industry.
Though graphics have little-to-no say in how good a game is, Battlefield 3 has a fantastic aesthetic that differs from other modern shooters. It's not just brown this time around, the mix of varying green, blue, and white environments creates dynamic maps that are fun to fight in and destroy.
Oh, and the guns sound AWESOME. The shooting just feels good, like the power of a real gun is in the player's control. It's called immersion, the ability to make the player feel like a true part of the experience. It's something that Call of Duty isn't necessarily good at, due to its arcadey-style, but Battlefield 3 pulls it off quite gracefully.
Is the campaign half-lived? Yes. This is definitely a multiplayer-focused game, non-online gamers buying this game will be disappointed, but the sheer prowess of the multiplayer more than makes up for the singleplayer's shortcomings.
-Chillz
