The fantastic multiplayer is brought down by a below average campaign.
PROS (+)
+ Pretty good voice acting
+ The multiplayer is beyond great - its fantastic.
+ Good graphics
+ The ability to fly jets, trucks, helicopters are fun
CONS (-)
- Below average campaign with an uninteresting plot and unrealistic ending.
- The graphics aren't what we were expecting - even with the console version
- Enemy AI can be cheap
- Might freeze on you
- You can't drive any type of vehicle in the campaign except the tank
- No tutorial for the vehicles
I was expecting a huge war between Battlefield 3 and the yet to be released Modern Warfare 3. Now unless, MW3 completely screws up, it looks like MW3 will win easily. Battlefield 3 is just an average war game that is saved by its incredible multiplayer experience.
The campaign is full of war cliches which are expected in a genre that has a game like this every year (aka Call of Duty). However, this game's campaign is probably the worst I have played. All the other campaigns I have played in the war-type genre have been somewhat interesting but intense and suspenseful throughout. Battlefield 3's campaign has little to none of that. You play as a Marine who is being interrogated on how you have information that New York is about to be destroyed by nuclear weapons. After these interrogation scenes, you are brought back a couple of days beforehand and fight in Iraq and Iran.
The campaign, as I said, is boring. The only time I was interested was when I was hiding from an enemy sniper and then blowing him up with a bazooka; beyond that, I got no intense gameplay. The fire fights are okay and constant but you will die from enemy grenades that come from across an area. The campaign is also sort of linear. At times I was told to turn back because I was exiting the battlefield which I get but when I was trying to find cover from enemies and get that notification, I felt controlled as if I couldn't play the game how I wanted it to. Also, you can't fly/drive any vehicle within the single player campaign. You will be in the vehicle but mainly shooting enemies. The only vehicle you drive is a tank.
The campaign also has a couple of glitches. The common one are the enemies. After you kill a couple of them, they remain in the combat position instead of falling to the ground. The game can also freeze if you play for too long. I also found the very beginning to be glitchy as it would restart itself a couple of times. But after that, the game was pretty smooth.
The graphics aren't that impressive either. Don't get me wrong, the game is great to look at but what we've seen before the launch, you don't really see here. Now I know this is the console version but have to be blown away at some point, right? Now the game gives you the option to download a graphics enhancer to get the hi-def look. I saw small changes but nothing that really stood out.
The multiplayer is where the game is at its high point. I only played the multiplayer for a couple of hours but I was loving it. The multiplayer somewhat feels like a different game from the campaign; you can fly helicopters, speed boats and trucks. The combat is fierce and does take sometime to get use to. People, like me, who always play CoD will have some trouble with this multiplayer. You need strategy and work with your teammates to accomplish you goal(s) where in CoD you mainly go around and kill other players. You upgrade your classes as you use them. When you level up your rank, you can gain weaponry for all classes but if you upgrade a certain class, you might be equipment/weaponry that can be used only for that class. Its a good idea to level up the class you use the most and then move onto other classes after you leveled them up.
Battlefield 3 is disappointing in the campaign aspect. The multiplayer is beyond fun. If you are looking for a solid campaign, I seriously recommend you wait for MW3 or at least until a price cut. If you are looking for great multiplayer, try it out and you might like it. Even if you are a CoD player, the multiplayer will be fun but will take sometime to get it use to it. But it all depends on your interests in FPS. If you like Battlefield then by all means get it. If you like CoD more, then rent it first and then decide. But Battlefield 3 is definitely not the game we were looking at this summer.