We got hold of the PC version and downloaded it digitally from Origin, the EA store.

A common things used in literature and movies and game story telling is the flashbacks and flash-forwards. It is used with good results in Battlefield 3 The game rockets the player into action right from the start and then jumps around time to tell the rest of the story, sometimes from the view of other key players in the battles that take place, often with exciting results.

Using Frostbite 2 - Battlefield 3 takes it up to an all new level in visual eye candy. Animation, destruction, lighting, scale and audio all look spectacular in this game. There are lens flairs from light sources like look live and part of an interactive environment. In the pulse pounding opening alone, I actually took the time to just shoot the crap out of seat cushions just so I could watch the particle effects. Now in spite of all the cool visuals though there is some rather annoying overkill here too. Someone had the idea of adding a scratched or dust lens effect as if your character was looking through a camera lese or goggles of some sort. Problem being when you see the outside animations, half the time there are no goggles or glasses on. So while this effect used sparingly and in the right spots would have been just spectacular, used throughout is just freaking distracting. It is toned down the further in you play though.

A few other minor blemishes that distract just ever so slightly are clipping effects. Some characters run or walk through bits of solid objects or blasting a bad guy would cause the body to be half in and out of a wall.

Those aside the story and presentation is spectacular, I measure things on what keeps my interest, what surprises me in the story, am I feeling like I am part of some insane action of life and death in the story? Yes on all points. More than once I found myself whooping for joy, or excitement. There are little snippets of soldiering that just are spectacularly done. You feel like you are part of a team. At one time your part of a team that has to fire off a mortar round with a flare to signal an attack on a city, the rush with the rest of the platoon ahead through rocky ground and trees through incoming mortar rounds is breathtaking and exciting. Yet another scenario the player takes on the perspective of a female weapons officer on an F-A 18 Hornet for some air to air combat action and air to ground attack. All the action is brilliantly presented.

Battlefield 3 has heavy mission based game play going for it with a very wide range of terrain and locations. New York, Paris and Tehran are all visited in the game with explosive results. Vehicle combat is also here armor, and air support infrared satellite imaging is all here in this Battlefield experience. While the single player campaign is pretty freaking awesome, the multiplayer is just off the chain fun.

Both competitive and co-op multiplayer actions support up to 24 players online, and set in the locations available in the single player experience. The environments throw the players into city streets and back alley ways, room clearing and hallways in buildings, metropolitan downtown areas and subways.

Gameplay is bang on and pays it’s tributes to Bad Company 2 though with some improvements. Not only visually but subtle things in game play. Such as going prone, some vehicle control and much better weapon sights all make this a good leap forward in the franchise.

The story in the single player campaign is very involving. It brings the player into this world and invests them on some emotional levels in the gaming and story experience. It’s a roller coaster ride and I wanna ride again mommy.

While some may see the overall story as unimaginative with some bad dialogue. I found it to get the job done, and some dialogue made me smile and nod, knowing that the actor that delivered the lines was living in that moment, just as if it was or had happened to them. It scene and or moment in the game combined with the on screen characters response made me feel emotionally that close call and the incredulous joy of making it through without getting jacked up.

Now some of the things that steal away from the experience, to even getting to play the game and jump right in… Origin. Origin is Electronic Arts digital distribution service for their games. On the surface the idea is great and has already been handled in a spectacular and established fashion by STEAM.

While our experience thus far was a bit on the cumbersome side we are willing to see what EA does with this system. EA set this up for gamers to be able to browse the net and EA online, make EA game purchases and then of course download and play the games. Just setting up an Origin account was pretty straight forward and using this application, players can connect and keep in contact with their gaming friends. It’s new and feels a bit odd after using STEAM for so long. Downloading Battlefield 3 this way was painless and intuitive; the store even uses PayPal and most major credit cards.

In the overall test though the game locked up the first time we tried to load it up, it went to the main screen where it tells you press enter to start and no matter what we did it would not load up. The splash screen just kept reloading over and over again. What we did, we exited and closed Origin, then launched the game from the desk top icon. The game took a bit to load up but once it did we were off and gaming. Once this System gets past the initial launch and any hiccups it may have, it looks as though it will be a viable way to get your EA titles.

The only other thing I could think of and no one could be reached by press time to get a comment one way or the other, is since loading up the game launches an internet browser window… does that mean that you won’t have access to your games if there is no net connection? Joining a game multi player thus far has brought about some varied results. Origin seemed to make the whole multiplayer process just that… processes of waiting just like any other multiplayer.

The game exits after each play session, going to the screen that each new mission that has been unlocked is available. Once you’re in a game though the multiplayer experience is spectacular. I played a game with another player and we did have some AI assistance, and it felt just stellar. We covered each other and assisted each other in taking out enemy tanks and RPG shooters. I would love to see a way to get to know some of the vehicle controls and practice before jumping in multiplayer. My next mission was in a cobra gunship which I unceremoniously crashed on takeoff.

You may check out Origin for yourselves at http://store.origin.com

Battlefield 3 on the graphics and sound effects front with the Frostbite 2 engine is nothing short of breath taking. We used our new Gaming rig in the offices here to test this game out and we are glad we did. We tested the game out on a windows 7 system with an AMD Phenom II six core processor at 3.20 GHz, and 8 gigs of RAM and a GeForce GTX 570 3D capable video card running through an HDMI cable on a full 1080P capable TV. We reviewers bandy about the term breath taking in reviews many times. Here the term is well deserved.

The character models, movements and speaking movements are all far less robotic this time around. Battlefield 3 character animations are looking good. If I had some things I would criticize in the game I would say that the limited configuration in sound is not very welcome. Instead of being able to raise or lower the sound in individual categories, there is just an option for raising and lowering the sound in general. I am a player that likes to lower the music so it is just hiding in the back ground, not making me feel like I am just watching a movie.

In closing I would say that Battlefield 3 ups the gaming bar and stands on its own two feet. Its single player experience is stellar, but it fly’s to new heights with its multiplayer experiences. Battlefield 3’s visuals will just about melt your brain. While the game is not perfection..(What is really?) it comes very close to gaming bliss. As for Origin the EA game store and management system and Battlelog, well the jury is still out and this reviewer is waiting to see what they do with it.

Have fun, play games
Edwin Millheim
Impulse Gamer