Battlefield 3 brings next-generation graphics and sound to consoles, but it could definitely use some polish.
Its got everything a good shooter needs. Lots of guns, lots of customization and a good feel.
Following DICE's last Battlefield game (bad company 2) this game has taken a lot of positive steps. From both a single and multiplayer perspective, the graphics and gameplay are improved, the weapons are more diverse, and for MP the balancing is superior in almost every way.
MP is the game's best feature. It has a level of organic activity and unique content that no other shooter can match. You can do anything from your standard gun to gun firefighting to full blown dogfights in fighter jets. Cars, tanks, boats, choppers, even skid loaders will add to the depth of this multiplayer platform. No two events are quite the same. Literally nothing happens the same twice. The physics engine is arguably the most advanced in gaming for 2011 so the angle of how you shoot, where you shoot, and what is in the way can have a profound effect on the results of an attack. This gives the game a strong appeal with long lasting playability.
At the same time, the game lacks polish. They released a MP beta before the game premiered in hopes to filter out most of the kinks. It did help some, but overall the game lacks a lot of polish. Everything from getting stuck in walls to green flashes on the screen will happen. Randomly dying is common.
The campaign is not necessarily the best that ever existed, but it looks great and the six hours it takes to beat it is worth the time. Unfortunately, the campaign has kinks as well which is less forgivable. For example, sometimes the audio doesn't match the visuals. In my opinion, the multiplayer kinks are more acceptable due to its unpredictable nature, but the campaign is scripted and should not have the same issues. In fact this particular campaign has a level of linearity that can be outright painful. For an FPS, I expect a series of planned events to happen, but this game forces you to basically trace a line they drew for you. If you stray (not far) from the path, you will be automatically murdered, literally drop dead out of nowhere. This takes all creativity out of the picture. All the vehicles and gadgets are nowhere to be found either which can be disappointing, especially since they were present in the Bad Company Series. The story is quite standard. If you have played a shooter or seen a war movie, you can generally figure out where the plot will take you.
Co-op missions are fun but not that fun. They are similar to the campaign missions but with less visual effect. I would argue call of duty did a better job in their second modern warfare game. Also, until the first patch, they didn't offer much for rewards. There were weapons to unlock but it required you beat every mission roughly 10 times to get any decent weapons out of the deal.
Overall, the multiplayer alone is worth the $60 USD. The campaign is playable in a few hours with very little replay value so if you aren't into MP, don't buy this game.