Fun, but incredibly overhyped.
Let me start off by saying that I enjoy both the BF and MW series (unbiased as I dont prefer one over the other), but this is literally the most over-rated/over-hyped game I can remember in some time. And like everyone else, I certainly bought into it. I started playing the BF series with BF2 and BC2 and I basically feel the same way about BF3 as I did about BFBC2. I will start with the cons first.
-Cons-
Being a FPS junkie, I have played countless FPS games in my lifetime and I can say without a shadow of a doubt, the controls for BF3 are the worst of any FPS I have ever experienced. Piloting a jet or heli feels like a chore and is more frustrating than fun. Ever spawn inside a helicopter that is about to crash? Happens to me all the time because most players dont know how to pilot the damn things. I cant blame them. Instead of getting pissy about it, I literally just laugh it off. If you think the controls for the heli/jet are bad, just try out the EOD bot with the engineers. What was dice thinking with the controls for that thing?!?! Absolutely awful. The controls as a whole are VERY clunky compared to most FPS games.
As far as the graphics go, they honestly dont look that good on console (excluding campaign cutscenes which look great!) and you can tell the game doesnt run at a full 60fps. Its a minor issue for me because I dont care THAT much about graphics, but if you are buying the game for the graphics, stay away from the console version. I have seen the PC version in action and it is literally the best looking game I have ever seen. Just be warned its a night and day difference between the PC and console.
Playing this game with bad teammates is a horrible experience. This game is built for teamwork (especially in rush mode) but I cant tell you the number of times I will see absolutely worthless teammates not covering MCOMs and sniping completely useless areas.
One last con with the game is that joining a server sometimes takes a while. Last night, it took me about 8 minutes just to connect to a server and play. Sometimes when connecting with a pre-made squad, it wouldnt let us all on the same team. Come on Dice :/
-Pros-
With all the flaws that are in this game, it is still incredibly fun to play. The campaign (albeit nothing innovating or new) is pretty exciting and a fun challenge to play on hard. But you dont buy this game for the single player, you buy it for the multiplayer which is remarkable. The maps are expansive, detailed, and allow you so much freedom unlike other linear FPS games. It really gives you the feeling of a war type setting.
Holy unlockables Batman! I am floored at the amount of content you can unlock with this game. It is absolutely the ultimate "carrot dangling at the end of a stick" game. This alone will keep players glued to their screen so they can get a new weapon attachment for their favorite gun.
The classes are all EXTREMELY well balanced and each has its own usefulness in every map. DICE deserves an A+ for the class structure.
I'm sure there are more pros and cons I could think of but that about sums it up. My summary about the game is that it feels like an expansion of BFBC2. The scale of the maps are pretty nice, but to me, it feels like a game I have already played (not necessarily a bad thing). Just don't buy this and expect a revolutionary game.
One last note thing! Damavand Peak. Parachuting down to the MCOMs from the helipad on this map is ABSOLUTELY epic.